Newsletter Archive

Los Angeles is trying to get smart. From phones to televisions to refrigerators, more and more devices are being connected to the internet. L.A. plans to experiment with connecting sensors placed around the city with this network of connected devices — known as the ‘Internet of Things’ — to make L.A. a ‘smart city’ of the future. But as connected devices become more omnipresent and the flow of personal data increases, so do old-fashioned worries about privacy and security.

A southern Philippine ethnic group’s unique clan structure and chilling family feuds are complicating efforts to rebuild a city that was recently demolished by war. Some of the land where new houses could be built is ancestral, making clan hierarchy a factor in who resettles where. VOA visits Marawi, a contested area with many informal settlers, which could lead to even more sticky land-rights issues.

What is this thing? Earlier this week North Korea launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile that Pyongyang claims could reach any target in the continental United States. A US intelligence official confirmed to VOA that the missile’s flight time was the longest of any of the Kim Jong Un regime’s previous launches. Here’s what else we know about North Korea’s Hwasong-15 missile.

Moussa Hassan Hamede is fed up with the huge pile of trash that burns daily outside his Lebanon home. Cash-strapped municipalities across the country have resorted to the cheapest option when it comes to rubbish – piling it up anywhere they can and burning it. And that’s a serious health issue for people like Hamede and his three young daughters, who are inhaling the potentially carcinogenic air.

Propaganda with a little ‘p.’ Islamic State suddenly went almost completely silent in October, perhaps a sign that one or more IS media centers had been destroyed. Some of that noise is back, but since IS can’t exactly claim military victory as it loses almost all ground in Iraq and Syria, the terror group is taking another approach.