Newsletter Archive

In Islamic State-held Mosul, being a barber is a dangerous job. The terror group insisted all men wear a scruffy beard and the same length hair. Modern styles were forbidden. At the Khazir Camp about 30 miles outside of Mosul, VOA caught up with a young barber who was arrested, whipped and forced to dig graves for giving clients the haircuts they wanted.

When US jobs move to Mexico, some workers win and others lose. Thanks to a deal struck by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, 800 Carrier manufacturing jobs won’t be moving from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Monterrey, Mexico. But another 550 Indiana union jobs are headed south of the border. While the deal drew a lot of attention, it’s the individual workers who are most affected. As VOA learned when we traveled to both Indiana and Mexico, although their working climates and conditions differ, the workers’ concerns are pretty similar.

Voices from Ferguson: Two years after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black man, sparking nationwide riots, the Missouri community where Michael Brown was killed struggles to come together and offers lessons to other American towns torn apart by police shootings.

A church is supposed to offer sanctuary and nowhere is that more true right now than in South Sudan, where St. Mary’s Cathedral has taken in more than 8,500 people who are fleeing nearby violence. VOA goes to Wau, South Sudan, where thousands of families are living on church property. Keeping them fed and sheltered is an undertaking of almost biblical proportions.

While Indonesia’s Islamic hardliners crack down on Christmas, Muslim moderates in the Southeast Asian nation are pledging to protect Christians as they celebrate the holiday. Recent polarized discourse has empowered critics of minority groups, including the LGBTQ community and Christians, and is testing Indonesia’s founding political philosophy, which protects religious diversity.

QUICK TAKE VIDEO: To promote tourism, Jakarta’s governor plans to redevelop an area that contains two of the city’s oldest and poorest neighborhoods. VOA visits the impoverished residents, some of whom refuse to leave in a battle that’s taking on political and religious overtones.