Newsletter Archive

The United States admitted more than 31,000 refugees from around the world between October 2015 and September 2016.  The US government has programs in place to get these newcomers on the road to self-sufficiency as quickly as possible. VOA’s Urdu Service visits an adult learning program in the state of Maryland where refugees are taught the most basic skill they need to thrive in America.

President Donald Trump wants to cancel a decades-old program that has improved water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the country. Following up on a campaign pledge, Trump has begun rolling back water-quality regulations and cutting funds from the EPA’s budget. That’s alarming news for fishermen like Ean Reed, who live off the water, and now worry the Chesapeake Bay will be ‘trashed and dirty.’

VIDEO: What are Tomahawks? The U.S. launched 59 of these cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase in response to a suspected chemical attack that killed scores of Syrian civilians in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun. Here’s the rundown on what these ‘smart’ missiles are capable of.

Speaking of surgical strikes like the one in Syria, the experts question whether they work in the long run. The strikes against a Syrian military airfield last Tuesday appear one-off and limited in scope. We asked military experts whether this latest assault could alter the course of the 6-year-old Syrian conflict.

The US missile attacks on Syria are a warning to North Korea and China that the United States is ready to use military force if necessary, according to a senior official from the Obama administration. But how far would the US go?  For example, would President Trump use force pre-emptively to destroy North Korea’s nuclear or missile program?

About 30 percent of Ugandan girls from poor families miss school because of lack of sanitary towels. However, providing sanitary pads to schoolgirls can be a controversial subject in the African country. VOA is in Kampala, where female students at one school are taking matters into their own hands.

Cameroon’s colonial past continues to cause divisions in the present day. The Central African nation was once ruled by both Britain and France, so some parts of the country speak French, while others converse in English. Cameroon even has parallel legal systems inherited from its two former colonial rulers. VOA is in Yaounde, where a teachers’ strike in English-speaking parts of the country is helping expose Cameroon’s great divide.