Newsletter Archive

Humans need not apply. Robots mowing the grass, cleaning windows, making deliveries, or caring for children and the elderly. That future is happening now as machines take over tasks that humans have been doing for years. And often the robots can do the job better, for less money (because they don’t need breaks or vacations) and always with a smile. But there is a way for human workers to stay a step ahead of robots.  

Uniforms made by Nike are out for the North Korea/South Korea unified Olympics women’s hockey team. The athletes will wear uniforms made by a Finnish company instead. It’s one of several moves made to accommodate North Korean involvement in the PyeongChang Olympics without violating sanctions against North Korea. North Korean athletes will also have to skip gifts from Olympic sponsors — including the latest Samsung smartphones worth over $1,000.

Rahma Wako was subjected to female genital mutilation at the age of six. FGM is an age-old tradition in Africa that involves cutting the clitoris of young girls and women. Rahma remembers the hot iron rod that was used on her once the procedure was over and the excruciating pain that followed. After a child marriage and difficult pregnancy made worse by her FGM experience, Rahma left her husband and devoted her life to saving girls from FGM.

Covered in dirt, 11-year-old Hassan Abdullah treks through the rubble of Mosul’s Old City, foraging for whatever pieces of scrap metal he can find. Like many other impoverished residents in Mosul, Hassan tries to make a living collecting and selling scrap metal left behind from the fierce battle against the Islamic State. In Mosul, the boy tells VOA, ‘This is my occupation now.’

Growing up in a war zone is hard enough, but surviving and thriving in those conditions when you have a disability is an even greater challenge. That’s why 22-year-old Ismail Rage’s uplifting story is making headlines across Somalia. Mogadishu has suffered more than two decades of war, and many of its young people, like Ismail, were born and raised amidst violence and bloodshed. Ismail was also left paralyzed by polio, but that didn’t stop him from setting a course for success.

Sweet medicine. A Virginia shop that bills itself as the only historic candy store in the US stocks everything from ancient Greek chewing gum to bug candy and Turkish delight, which was originally made to sooth sore throats. In fact, sweets were first used as a health food and for medicinal purposes.