Newsletter Archive

Residents of al-Shadady have become used to having a new sheriff in town. First, it was Assad’s government, then rebel and Islamist groups took over. Eighteen months later, IS swept in. Last year, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces showed up. VOA meets townspeople — from jewelry store owners to vegetable sellers — who’ve lived through the upheavals and are eager for the dust to settle.

EXPLAINER: Two men who worked on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign have been indicted on charges of conspiracy against the United States, money laundering, tax fraud and failure to register as lobbyists for the former government of Ukraine. Here’s the rundown on who they are, what that means, and what’s next.

Imagine swiping your smartphone over a piece of fish in the supermarket and instantly seeing its entire path through the supply chain — from how it was caught in Indonesia to when it shipped and how it was processed in your home country. Blockchain, the  technology that powers bitcoin, could soon help major Asian business hubs clean up and simplify transactions, while adding transparency for consumers.

Foot warmers. Americans often give food, coats and other clothing to homeless shelters, but few think about donating socks, which help keep people warm in cold weather. When shelter volunteer Tom Costello realized how much socks mean to residents, he set a goal to make sure every homeless person in the US has a pair to keep their feet warm.

Not exactly Utopia. Russia’s use of the internet to try and influence the US presidential election has changed many Americans’ once-idealized view of the global communications network. Meanwhile, scrutiny of how Russian-backed operatives used Facebook, Google and Twitter to meddle in the election lands some of the country’s best-known tech companies in the Congressional hot seat this week.

India won’t let Pakistan get in the way of its own version of the Silk Road. Islamabad doesn’t allow rival India to transport goods to Afghanistan through its territory, so New Delhi is turning to Iran for help. India hopes to develop a strategic Iranian port as a regional transit hub to link India not only to Afghanistan, but also to resource-rich Central Asian republics.

VIDEO: ‘Made of mud.’ Bogolan is a traditional cotton fabric made in Mali that’s dyed in special tree leaves and painted with fermented mud. In Bamako, VOA meets a man who left his office job to pursue the craft of making bogolan full time and now offers jobs to young unemployed men.