Newsletter Archive

You can find America’s immigrant stories in the most unexpected places. For example, the largest Kurdish community in the United States is in the American South. The Kurds of Nashville, Tennessee, are reaching into the wider community and exploring public service. This is the story of how U.S. Kurds have become part of the fabric of American society.

VIDEO: This presidential election is especially momentous for first-time voters, whether they’re older naturalized citizens or native-born Americans who’ve newly reached the U.S. voting age of 18. We wanted to know how they feel about this colorful campaign season.

Never before has a major-party candidate claimed an election was “rigged,” as GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has, just weeks ahead of balloting. Early voting is underway in some of the 50 U.S. states, but only a few million out of an expected 130 million votes have been cast so far. Could Trump’s comments signal that he expects to lose, or do they reflect sexism?

VIDEO: About 700 Muslims ran for political office in the United States in 2000. By 2002, that number had dropped to less than 70. Over the past year, VOA followed the campaigns of four Muslim American immigrants seeking political office at the local, state and national level. Here’s how they fared.

For refugees in Iraq, the defeat of Islamic State can’t come quickly enough. VOA is at a camp in Debaga, Kurdistan where more than 30,000 displaced people have taken refuge. Families tell stories of ruined relationships and lives, property destroyed and unimaginable trauma.

Russia has dispatched its largest naval deployment in a quarter-century, sending a flotilla of warships through the English Channel Friday en route to the eastern Mediterranean Sea to support its air campaign in Syria. The show of force sends Moscow’s message that “Russia is once again obtaining the status  of a great power and that we are globally present everywhere,” an analyst says.

Thanks to a California-based technology startup, the reputation of drones could soon get a overhaul. Zipline International isn’t using drones for surveillance or military attacks; instead, they’re delivering vaccines, medicine and blood to some of the most hard-to-reach populations in Rwanda. The company designs and manufactures the small airplanes called Zips that inspire hope, not fear.