Newsletter Archive

Once threats and disappearances in Chechnya’s underground gay community began adding up, hundreds of gay Chechen men reportedly fled the region amid allegations of abduction, torture and murder. VOA met some gay Chechen men hiding out in a house in Moscow, where they live in fear that their lives, and those of their relatives, could be in danger.

President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into whether foreign steel imports are damaging US national security. A 1962 trade law allows the president to restrict imports if security interests are at stake. Trump insists the probe is not directed at China, which has been accused of dumping excess steel on US markets. The US steel industry supports the move, but skeptics argue the probe is a ploy to limit imports.

Unemployment and low wages are driving young people in southern Europe to look for work in countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium. Only three percent of Europeans live in a different European Union member state, and many of these young professionals who are migrating north feel they’re being forced to move.

After fleeing persecution in Uzbekistan and repression in Russia, Yasha Ismailov found welcome, peace and, eventually, prosperity in the town of Charlottesville, Virginia, located about three hours outside of Washington, DC. Ismailov, who now owns his own home and runs an auto shop business, is grateful to be living the American Dream and feels for other refugees still looking for a place to call home.

Vietnam expects its energy use to jump 200 percent over the next two decades. VOA is in Ho Chi Minh City, where some  believe the way to meet this need without damaging the environment is with a combination of technology, renewable power, and greater energy efficiency. But to decision makers in Hanoi, the answer isn’t so simple.

A martial art developed centuries ago by African slaves in Brazil is spreading a message of tolerance to young people in the Central African Republic. Fighting between armed Christian and Muslim groups displaced hundreds of thousands of people in 2013 and 2014. But five Christian and Muslim youths returned home with capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that combines dance, music and acrobatics and they’re now spreading its message of tolerance to their fellow citizens.