Newsletter Archive

The world’s longest indoor connected walkway is in Minnesota, where temperatures this time of year can drop to minus 10 below zero Celsius. Most downtown buildings are connected by a maze of elevated and enclosed pedestrian footbridges. Thanks to this Skyway, pedestrians can walk in climate-controlled comfort for more than 18 kilometers across 80 full city blocks.  

Extramarital and gay sex could soon be crimes in Indonesia. Just one month ago, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court rejected a petition to ban gay and extramarital sex, but now the country’s parliament is poised to pass revisions to the nation’s criminal code that would make those sex acts illegal. A feminist activist in Jakarta says the proposal has the potential to criminalize women, children, indigenous people and marginalized groups.

VIDEO EXPLAINER: Ballistic missiles are primarily designed to deliver nuclear warheads. But they can also carry chemical or biological agents. These weapons can reach targets half-way around the world in about 30 minutes. There are ways to intercept and destroy incoming missiles but those attempts sometimes fail.

Haiti’s teen women’s soccer team made history this week by qualifying for a FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup berth — a first for the island nation. No Haitian team has qualified for the World Cup since 1973. For the players and others involved with the team, the young women’s victory also makes a political statement.

A British colonial-era law is being used to prosecute two Myanmar journalists who work for Reuters, the international news service. The two are being tried for their investigative work into military operations in Rakhine State. Following militant attacks in August, the military crackdown has driven close to 700,000 Rohingya Muslims into Bangladesh. VOA was in the Yangon courtroom when defense lawyers cross-examined a police witness for more than five hours after a ruling party official declared the journalists had been ‘caught in a trap.’