Newsletter Archive

With its 38 electoral votes — second only to California — Texas is the foundation upon which any Republican victory in a presidential race is usually built. GOP candidates often win the Lone Star state by double-digit margins, but recent polls show an unexpected tight race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Since early voting began October 24, lines have been long, and turnout is expected to break records.

Gun battle at the ballot box: Enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and celebrated as a part of America’s heritage, gun rights inspire passionate debate and can play an important role at the polls. The issue divides voters in swing states such as Pennsylvania and Virginia.

VIDEO: It’s not always easy to run a small business in the United States. From a farmer, to a family-owned factory, to a small manufacturer, we set out to discover what matters most to small businesses.

Iranian Kurdish fighters have smuggled themselves across Iran’s porous borders to join the Kurdish peshmerga in the fight against Islamic State. In Bashiqa, Iraq, about 30 kilometers outside of Mosul, VOA joins up with a detachment that includes five female Iranian Kurdish fighters.

Reporter’s Notebook: As journalists dash around covering stories in the Iraq war zone, they might seem brash and brusque to people whose lives are in turmoil. But as VOA’s Jamie Dettmer reflects from Irbil, the stories of the people he writes about stay with him long after he’s moved on to the next assignment.

In Ethiopia, millions of dollars in investment recently went up in smoke as protesters attacked foreign companies. The violence prompted the government to declare a state of emergency. But one foreign company managed to stave off an attack with the help of community elders.

Clinton and Trump are ‘headed for a showdown.’ Much of today’s political jargon is rooted in America’s history. What did phrases like ‘on the stump’ and ‘the gloves are off’ originally mean? And where did they come from? Here’s a roundup.