Newsletter Archive

A drama looms. Up to a million people are trapped in the Islamic State-controlled city of Mosul in northern Iraq. Men, women and children are expected to stream out as Iraqi, Kurdish and tribal forces close in to dislodge the militants. As VOA reports, protecting them will be one of the largest, most complex humanitarian operations in the world.

Peter Mansoor is a self-described lifelong Republican and a “foreign policy hawk.” The retired U.S. Army colonel boasts an unswervingly conservative voting record, backing “every Republican presidential candidate from Reagan to Romney.” But he won’t support his party’s nominee this year. Mansoor is among a growing number of Republicans, especially within the national security establishment, who oppose Donald C. Trump. They’re also taking the extraordinary step of endorsing his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Trump unleashed a political firestorm this week with a comment that “Second Amendment people” – gun rights advocates – possibly could block his opponent from reaching the nation’s top political office and nominating Supreme Court justices. The U.S. Secret Service acknowledged, in a tweet, that it was aware of the comment, which some people interpreted as a veiled threat or incitement to violence. VOA spoke with a former agent, and others, to learn more about how the apolitical agency responds to threats to politicians and candidates.

American gymnast Simone Biles, 19, showed how to execute all the right moves on the uneven bars, vault, balance beam and floor, winning an individual all-around gold medal Thursday at the Olympics. …

… But Summer Games host Brazil faces a challenge more daunting than backflips on the balance beam: finding its economic footing. VOA visits one of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, Cantagalo, where a bar owner tries to resuscitate the business he opened in 2010 – before the economy tanked.

Russia’s prime minister said the country could dissolve all diplomatic ties with neighboring Ukraine in light of recent security concerns. “If there is no other way to change the situation, the president could take this step,” state media quoted Dmitry Medvedev as saying Friday. Russia has deployed an advanced air defense missile system to Crimea, the military said in a statement.

This week, long-simmering political tensions between Afghanistan’s top leaders spilled into the open, as President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah sharply criticized each other, raising questions about the survival of the fragile national unity government. Abdullah, in a speech Thursday, called his governing partner unfit, accusing Ghani of failing to work collaboratively at implementing reforms. The president, hitting back Friday, said such statements contradicted “the spirit and morale” of their governance.