Newsletter Archive

Kurdistan is paying a heavy price for trying to break away from Iraq. Iraqi forces have shut down access both in and out of Kirkuk as fighting with Kurdish Peshemerga forces grows worse. Both the Kurds and Arab Iraq claim oil-rich Kirkuk. VOA is in the embattled city where Kurdish civilians are grabbing their personal weapons and joining the fight.

Shut out. Minorities make up almost half of the population in Lowell, Massachusetts, but zero of the seats on the all-white city council. Asian and Hispanic residents filed a voting rights lawsuit against the city government, alleging that the winner-take-all electoral system dilutes the minority vote and discriminates against the candidates of color.

The end game. Turkey is rapidly expanding its latest military intervention in Syria, sending in more special forces and commandos in a high-risk plan agreed to with Moscow and Tehran. The most recent incursion has several aims, deepening efforts by Russia, Turkey and Iran to shape an end-game to the long-running Syria conflict that doesn’t involve Western priorities or participation.

Refugees are cooking their way into the hearts of Geneva residents. Over the past week, a Refugee Food Festival has showcased the culinary talents of refugee chefs from five different countries. The aim is to change the way people look at refugees and to help the guest chefs land a job.

VIDEO: Need a tractor to plow your small farm? In Kenya, there’s now an app that allows farmers to schedule tractor time to till the land for a fraction of the cost of buying a tractor outright. After a significant drop in farmers’ earnings last year, there’s an effort to modernize the country’s agriculture sector.

Bringing the farm to the city. New York City just gave the go-ahead for two urban farms in public housing developments. The new publicly-funded farms will join private ventures that bring fresh, affordable produce to city residents.