Newsletter Archive

British lawmakers are reacting with fury after President Trump retweeted three inflammatory anti-Muslim videos posted by a far-right British leader who’s been convicted of hate speech. Even normally pro-Trump British politicians blasted the US president for sharing posts from the anti-immigrant group that calls for a return of ‘traditional British values’ and an end to ‘Islamization,’ an ideology that may have inspired the 2016 assassination of a British lawmaker.

Zimbabwe’s former first lady was present at times for talks that led former president Robert Mugabe to resign, says a Catholic priest who helped mediate the talks between the president and military generals who moved to oust him. Days after Mugabe, 93, ended his 37-year reign as Zimbabwe’s supreme leader, Father Fidelis Mukonori gave an exclusive interview to VOA’s Zimbabwe service.

Hundreds of people have vanished in Bangladesh in recent years and the country’s security agencies are alleged to be responsible for the disappearances. Some of the missing have been found dead, others were later formally arrested and some returned home. However, many others remain missing. Most of the forced disappearances involve opposition leaders and activists like Sajedul Islam Sumon. VOA talks with Sumon’s mother four years after her son disappeared along with five friends.

More women than men are attending a global entrepreneurial summit in India, which is fitting since the focus of this year’s event is women, who still lag behind men when it comes to starting businesses and securing funding for them. VOA meets some of the attendees in Hyderabad, including those who come from cultures where women are still expected to stay at home. 

Iran has trained thousands of Afghans to fight in Syria, according to Human Rights Watch. Many of those recruits came from the more than two million Afghan refugees who live in Iran and others from Shi’ite dominated areas of Afghanistan. VOA is in one such city, Herat, where locals say recruitment for the war in Syria was done openly. With tensions between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran increasing. Afghan officials worry returning Afghan fighters could also become proxies in a battle between the two regional rivals.

3-D scanning is turning out to be a good fit for foodies. An augmented reality application lets people check out a 3-D model of a dish before deciding whether to order it. Kabaq is the tech startup behind giving traditional menus a digital twist.