Newsletter Archive

In Los Angeles, illegal sidewalk sales are often an economic lifeline for undocumented immigrants, but being brought up on charges puts them at risk of deportation. VOA hits the streets of LA, where some vendors credit President Donald Trump for a new city plan to decriminalize street vending.

Muslim immigrant Hewad Hemat probably never expected to be in the same room as the president of the United States. But there he was Tuesday night, listening to Donald Trump address Congress. A former interpreter who faced daily threats of violence while helping U.S. and U.N. forces in his native Afghanistan, Hemat was thrilled to witness the ‘best part of democracy.’

He’s famous for his spotless image and calls for public sacrifice and spending cuts.  But now Francois Fillon, a conservative ex-prime minister of France, faces a formal inquiry into whether his wife and two children cheated taxpayers by accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars for work they did not do. VOA is in Paris where the politician once known as ‘Mr. Clean’ is mired in scandal.

Islamic State fighters are trying to force civilians to fall back with them as the fierce battle for Mosul rages around them. VOA visits a new refugee camp that has taken in 8,000 people since Monday, where people who’ve escaped IS talk about fear, hunger and making a risky break for freedom.

A former top U.S. spy views the killing of the estranged half brother of North Korea’s leader as a strategic move designed to head off any outside efforts efforts to replace Kim Jong Un. John McLaughlin, a former CIA acting director, tells VOA a series of executions carried out by Kim Jong Un could indicate the North Korea leader isn’t securely in power.

How much water’s in the snow? In some U.S. regions, melting from winter snowpack is crucial for filling reservoirs, irrigating crops and providing drinking water. In northern Colorado, for example, communities get 80 percent of their water from snowpack. Knowing the water content of snow helps these communities plan ahead, but the reflective nature of snow makes it hard to measure the depth of a snowpack from space. That’s why NASA is stepping in to create a snow satellite.