Newsletter Archive

It is a familiar tale in Southern Africa: The revered liberation-movement-turned-ruling-party, led by heroes of decades past, faces increasing criticism and challenges over enduring poverty, unemployment and alleged corruption. Variations are playing out in Zimbabwe (shown above), Angola, South Africa and Zambia, among others. Why? As a Chatham House researcher explains, young voters are growing in number, and many do not remember the pain of colonialism and oppression. But they keenly feel the pain of unemployment and inequality.

More than half the men and women who have left the United States to join the conflict in Iraq and Syria may actually be battling the Islamic State terror group instead of fighting for it. That conclusion, reached by VOA, is based on a new report by the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue as well as on court records and information previously shared by intelligence and law enforcement officials. The U.S. government has worked to stanch the flow of foreign fighters to the IS conflict, but the report released Tuesday includes accounts of those who’ve encountered little resistance. “That pathway is fairly well-trodden,” says Henry Tuck, a co-author. “The scale of it surprised us a little bit.”

Will they decide to “make America great again” or are they with her? Voters in Scranton, Pennsylvania – a predominantly white, working-class city of 77,000, set in a region buffeted by manufacturing losses – might readily align this November with presidential nominee Donald Trump for the Republican’s protectionist stance on trade. Or, given the state’s tradition of supporting Democrats, they could hew to Hillary Clinton, who also has family ties here. It’s a microcosm of this swing state.

The head of a Pakistan-based militant group fighting Indian rule in Kashmir warns that his followers will storm the cease-fire line dividing the region unless New Delhi ends its current wave of violence against Kashmiris. Syed Salahuddin, commander of the separatist Hizbul Mujahideen (HuM), on Thursday also repeats his call for Islamabad to cut all ties with New Delhi. Tens of thousands of Indian Kashmir residents for weeks have been protesting the Indian government forces’ July 8 killing of a young HuM commander.

Human rights activists joined a call by some of Pakistan’s Hindus to protest alleged forced conversions of Hindu girls to Islam on Thursday, officially deemed National Minorities Day in Pakistan. The call for protest in various Pakistani cities – as well as abroad in Toronto, New York and Houston – singled out Muslim cleric and politician Mian Mithu as the prime culprit for the alleged conversions. The country’s Hindu community has long alleged that he provides protection to those who kidnap Hindu girls, often under age 18, and forcefully converts them to Islam before he marries them off to their kidnappers.

A Turkish admiral posted in the United States has disappeared and reportedly is seeking asylum, following Turkish authorities’ order that he return home to face charges of military espionage. Navy Rear Admiral Mustafa Ugurlu disappeared July 22 after turning in his identification papers at NATO’s U.S. headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. He was among hundreds of Turkish military officers formally discharged that day, a week after a failed coup. The case could further strain U.S. relations with Turkey. Ankara has demanded the extradition of exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of plotting against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

What lies ahead for Japan’s Chrysanthemum Throne? This week, Emperor Akihito hinted in a public address that, at 82, he’s feeling the weight of his duties and is ready to step aside. Might the Japanese consider a rule change so he could abdicate? Or so a woman could ascend the throne? Since 1889, that’s been prohibited. Find out more in this seven-minute podcast.