Newsletter Archive

Reflections on race within the US Military: In recent weeks, VOA visited Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home to the ‘All-American’ 82nd Airborne, which calls itself the most diverse division in the United States, and Joint Base Andrews, the president’s home base just outside of Washington, to get service members’ perspectives on race relations. Service members often work together more closely than co-workers in other occupations and many see their fellow troops as family. However, the military is not immune to discrimination.

The US Postal Service is celebrating the Lunar New Year with a stamp that pays tribute to Chinese culture and heritage. Each year since 2008, Chinese-American artist Kam Mak marks the occasion by designing a stamp for the postal service. For 2018, he’s highlighting holiday traditions with his Year of the Dog stamp.

VIDEO: The next promising investment opportunity could be in Iraq. After years of war the country is ready to rebuild. More than 1,200 business people from 60 countries attended a conference on Iraqi reconstruction in Kuwait City. Iraq hopes to attract private investment to help fund the $88 billion reconstruction effort. VOA gets reaction from those potential investors after Prime Minister Haider Abadi declares Iraq is open for business.

VOA Interview: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was in Kuwait this week for that conference on Iraqi reconstruction. He sat down with VOA to give his take on conflicts in Syria and Yemen, the situation in North Korea, concerns over ethnic cleansing in Myanmar and how Kuwait’s stepping up to help a neighbor that invaded it decades ago gives him hope the stabilization of Iraq can be a reality and that the whole region will benefit.

With Black Panther, filmmaker Ryan Coogler creates a contemporary black superhero in a tale that pays homage to African culture. Instead of presenting a familiar narrative about poverty or stripped resources, the people involved with Black Panther were determined to produce a film that showcases a proud, beautiful and intelligent black culture.

Pakistan has a two-man delegation in Pyeongchang. Not only do they come from the same remote village but the athletes are also related — they’re uncle and nephew. Coming from a rural valley, the two men talk to VOA Urdu about how much it means to them to be together at the Olympic Games representing their country on an international level.

A young jewelry designer who was born in China but trained in the US is among the Asians and Asian Americans putting their stamp on the global fashion industry. In Paris, VOA meets Xinye Jiang, part of a new generation of designers that is changing the face of the fashion world.