Newsletter Archive

Republicans are beginning to echo the Democrats’ assumption that Hillary Clinton will be the next U.S. commander in chief. With Donald Trump lagging in the polls, Republican candidates running for Congress are urging voters to elect them as a way to contain a President Hillary Clinton.

The polls tells us that most Christian evangelicals plan to vote for Donald Trump. Many nationally known leaders of the Christian right, who were critical of the New York businessman during the primary season, are now aboard the Trump train, because while some might view Trump as immoral, they do approve of his moral agenda.

Two Cambodian-born candidates are facing off in a state legislative election for the first time in U.S. political history. They’re running to represent a Massachusetts district that includes the town of Lowell, home to the second-largest Khmer diaspora community in the United States. Despite their differences on the issues, the two naturalized Americans share similar histories. Both survived the Cambodian genocide and ended up in refugee camps, before embracing a new life in the United States.

As the child of immigrants, startup founder Xiao Hoa Michelle Ching always faced an uphill climb. The Laotian-American former teacher says that was certainly the case when she tried to bring her educational mobile app to market in Silicon Valley’s white, male, Ivy league-dominated culture. But she prevailed, partnering with tech experts to create an app called Literator, which is used by more than 900 teachers in eight countries.

The antics of Ramzan Kadyrov, the man Russian President Vladimir Putin picked more than a decade ago to rule the southern republic of Chechnya, have made him a media star in Russia. He recently launched his own reality TV show and appeared at an official function in a medieval suit of armor. Does Moscow find these distractions helpful? Or has   Kadyrov’s outrageous behavior undercut his Kremlin support?

Faced with losses in the Middle East, Islamic State might be turning its attention to Southeast Asia.There are signs supporters of the terrorist group are networking with local militant groups. VOA reports from Bangkok as hundreds of fighters return to Asia after IS military defeats in Iraq…at a time when law enforcement agencies in the region appear unprepared to battle the new threat.

QUICK TAKE VIDEO: Residents are returning to the Christian town of Al-Hamdaniya this week. Iraqi troops liberated the area following two years of Islamic State control. VOA accompanied the townspeople who arrived home to find destroyed houses and churches.

The green-eyed woman who was subject of an iconic cover of National Geographic three decades ago is behind bars in Pakistan. Sharbat Gulla is an Afghan refugee who is accused of illegally obtaining Pakistani national identity cards for herself and her two sons. The 46-year-old’s arrest outraged human rights activists who see Gulla’s predicament as evidence of an ongoing harassment campaign to force Afghan refugees from the country.