Newsletter Archive

When more than 1,000 Burmese refugees in the United States received summons for official US government interviews last month, anxiety spread across the immigrant community. What was the government trying to glean from meeting with refugees who were already in the country, in some cases for years? The letters and interviews have raised eyebrows and questions, keeping the refugees and their advocates on edge.

Sanitation workers Angelo Bruno and Eddie Nieves worked together collecting garbage on the same New York City route for nearly a decade. From getting kissed by nuns to offers of coffee and lunch, Angelo and Eddie developed friendships and a strong sense of community along their route. Today, Angelo is retired and together, he and Eddie get nostalgic as they recall life on the the clean streets.

There’s a growing consensus in the United States to limit China’s acquisition of certain types of US technology. So while the two countries seem to be negotiating in hopes of  avoiding a trade war, Washington is unlikely to relent in its determination to stop advanced technology from leaving America for China.

VIDEO: In the heart of the American Deep South, there is a long-established but seldom-mentioned Chinese community. Two Asian-American photographers from New York traveled to the Mississippi Delta to document these communities and capture the little-told story of America’s Southern Chinese.

A top Pakistani official tells VOA that Islamabad is deepening ties with China as relations with the United States worsen. President Trump suspended military assistance to Islamabad in January saying the US had received ‘nothing but lies and deceit’ in return. In an exclusive interview with VOA in Islamabad, Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir talks about how China has since increased its influence in Pakistan.

Weekly jam sessions offer a break from life behind bars in more than 100 prisons across the United States. Inmates from diverse backgrounds come together to make music, which helps smooth over any differences they might have. Besides indulging in a hobby they enjoy, the sessions give the musicians a chance to be regular guys for an afternoon.

From actress to animal rights activist who spearheaded national legislation to protect big cats, Tippi Hedren is much more than what she is best known for — starring in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 thriller The Birds. She has traveled worldwide to set up relief programs following earthquakes, hurricanes, famine and war. But what might surprise people most is Hedren’s role in launching the beginning of the US Vietnamese nail salon industry.

VIDEO: Hospitals are getting graphic when it comes to patient education and medical care. They’re using comics to help explain complicated health care issues. This intersection of comics and medicine provides a new language for better understanding between patients and their health care providers.