Newsletter Archive

VIDEO: Fear and uncertainty follow the Trump administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected status for 200,000 Salvadorans living in the US. TPS has allowed people like Jose Hercules to live and work in the US for 17 years. The loss of his protected status threatens to destroy the American Dream life the Virginia man has built for himself, which includes starting a business, marrying and fathering two American-born children.

Toilet paper is barely affordable in Venezuela, where a 4-roll pack costs almost half of the new minimum monthly salary established by President Nicolas Maduro. He also added a monthly food bonus to help offset the hyperinflation that’s put goods and services beyond the reach of many Venezuelans. VOA stopped in at a supermarket in a coastal community about an hour’s drive from Caracas where shoppers say they still can’t afford the basics. 

An Indian-born man is the first person to be stripped of his US citizenship as a result of a Department of Homeland Security probe that exposed rampant fraud among citizenship applicants. Prosecutors say Baljinder Singh, 43, fraudulently obtained his citizenship after entering the US under a false name in 1991. A 2016 audit found that at least 858 immigrants facing deportation — as Singh allegedly was – were mistakenly granted citizenship.

Rape is now against the law in Somaliland. It’s the first time the self-declared republic has recognized forced sexual intercourse as a crime. Up until now, elders have often mediated between the victim’s family and that of rapist. But now mediation and attempts to solve rape cases outside the court system is also banned. In Hargeisa, VOA hears from women’s groups, human rights campaigners and an elder who has performed mediations.

You’ve got a (robotic) friend in me. The number of older adults living alone is increasing dramatically worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, which can lead to loneliness, social isolation and depression. In general, people are living longer and fewer multi-generational families are living together. The solution for these solitary seniors, featured at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, just might be a companion that’s a robot.

Indonesia is considering moving its sinking capital. Jakarta, the world’s second-largest metropolitan region, is sinking up to 18 centimeters per year. It also has fewer roads than other big cities, creating a near-permanent traffic jam. Getting away from volcanoes and possible earthquakes is also a plus, and among the key reasons that, for as long as Indonesia has been a country, there has been talk of moving its capital.

Out with the old? Young voters in Italy appear to be turning their backs on mainstream parties ahead of the country’s March elections. While the populist surge appears to be receding elsewhere in Europe, an anti-establishment, eurosceptic movement could be on its way to becoming Italy’s largest party. Other populist parties are also expected to benefit from young voters’ disaffection with politics-as-usual.