Newsletter Archive

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What’s it like to fly aboard the iconic US presidential aircraft known as Air Force One? VOA correspondent Steve Herman was assigned to cover the White House shortly after President Donald Trump took office in January. Here, he gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the seats, food, special treats and overall experience of riding high with the president of the United States.

On Monday, President Trump said he’d be ‘honored’ to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ‘under the right circumstances.’ White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer later clarified that the conditions are not there right now. In Seoul, VOA examines what would have to be in place for a Trump-Kim summit to become a reality.

Best in class: An alliance of Asian universities organized by China aims to take on western educational institutions which now attract many of the best students and teachers from Asia. The world rankings of universities are largely dominated by western institutions, but the Asian alliance hopes to change that by pooling their resources and attracting more research dollars, which could benefit China.

‘Dr. Hero’ is how some US lawmakers refer to the Pakistani physician who allegedly helped find al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden. Shakil Afridi reportedly ran a fake vaccination clinic — near where the CIA believed bin Laden was hiding — to get DNA samples to confirm the terror leader’s presence. In his native Pakistan, Afridi is viewed as a traitor and he’s been locked up for almost six years.

Too sick to go to school? No problem, a robot can go instead. An injury is keeping Cloe Gray home for a prolonged period of time, but her Maryland school has a solution. An iPad attached to a pole on wheels named Clo-bot — which can raise its hand to participate in class discussions — fills in for her.

Inside burned-out houses is the charred evidence of lives left behind —pots, pans, and bicycle frames. Resurging violence in the Central African Republic has left full villages destroyed. A fifth of the country’s population — more than 400,000 people — is displaced. In Paoua, VOA catches up with some of the dispossessed, who wonder what will happen to them now.

Since fleeing the Syrian city of Aleppo for Lebanon four years ago, Majid Muhammad has been evicted from his makeshift home three times. With each relocation, the financial and emotional burden increases, and now the Syrian refugee family is on the move again.