Newsletter Archive

Several public school districts in California have declared themselves to be safe havens in an attempt to reassure undocumented children who worry the administration of President Donald Trump might try to deport them. VOA visited one border town school where bilingualism and multiculturalism are viewed as assets that can empower students.

Police chiefs from different parts of the United States are reacting to President Donald Trump’s executive order to strip federal grant money from sanctuary states and cities that harbor undocumented immigrants. For police departments, the loss of federal money could mean cutting funding for key programs such as interstate background checks for gun buyers, training for active shooter situations, and combating drug trafficking.

Some scientists are stepping into the uncomfortable role of advocates after early moves by the Trump administration set off alarm bells in the scientific community. The president has called climate change a ‘hoax’ and, since the inauguration, news reports have described a halt in grants and contracts at the Environmental Protection Agency, and a silencing of communications from the EPA, Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture. A Facebook group promoting a Washington ‘March for Science’ has drawn hundreds of thousands of followers.

Surviving a tsunami could be as simple as climbing into a spherical aluminum pod and buckling up for the ride of your life. The ball, which looks like something NASA would produce, is the brainchild of aerospace engineer Julian Sharpe, who wondered how he’d save his four children if a tsunami hit. So he decided to design a capsule he could throw his family in to save them from drowning.

Social media activists famous for promoting liberal views started vanishing at the beginning of the year in Pakistan. At least five bloggers, who also criticized the country’s powerful military, disappeared from major cities like Islamabad, the capital, and the country’s second city, Lahore. Pakistan’s government has muzzled a controversial television host for accusing the missing activists of blasphemy and treachery.

Yazidis in Iraq plan to construct a new town next to their former homes in Sinjar. The northern Iraqi town was destroyed by Islamic State militants who killed or enslaved thousands of Yazidis. Sinjar’s mayor tells VOA that painful memories of the IS massacre are the reason people don’t want to return to their destroyed town, which will become something of a memorial. Creating a new Sinjar nearby enables Yazidis to both rebuild and remember.