Newsletter Archive

It turns out that North Dakota is the ‘Silicon Valley’ of drones. The state’s drone industry is part of a global market that’s expected to grow to $140 billion by 2025. Why North Dakota? Here are the four things the Roughrider State has to offer that give it the edge in the emerging drone industry.

Many Catalans feel the weight of history behind the region’s independence campaign. Barcelona was the last bastion of republican resistance in the Spanish civil war before falling to Franco’s forces in 1939 and enduring the 40-year dictatorship that followed. The mayor of a village at the forefront of the independence campaign says the desire for republican freedom has been transmitted through generations.

Mary Awate spent two days hiding in the bush before fleeing to the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is one of hundreds of South Sudanese refugees who fled clashes between troops and rebels earlier this week. VOA met Awate in the Congolese town of Aba, where  30,000 others have also taken refuge since the 2013 start of South Sudan’s civil war.

VIDEO EXPLAINER: Obstruction of justice charges have figured into two presidential impeachment cases in modern US history. But can a sitting US president be criminally prosecuted for obstruction of justice? It’s never happened before, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it never could.

President Trump’s approval ratings aren’t great, according to the polls, but don’t tell that to residents in Susanville, California. The rural area voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016. The last lumber mill there closed a decade ago, a loss many blame on over-regulation. While they’re worried about the sagging local economy, many feel the president is cleaning the swamp in Washington, just as he promised.

Postcards from the edge of DC: Sometimes it takes a newcomer to see things natives take for granted. In Washington, DC, a Mexican immigrant is capturing the unique rhythms of the city by drawing them. Inspired to create a work that represents the city’s visual identity, artist Carlos Carmonamedina has created almost 100 postcards depicting daily life in Washington, DC.