Newsletter Archive

As the world marks Press Freedom Day, journalists around the world face arrests, intimidation or death for doing their jobs. As VOA’s Ayesha Tanzeem reports from Pakistan, while the list of the world’s most censored countries is more or less the same, new hostility against media is emerging from previously friendly quarters. Plus, this week’s Plugged in With Greta Van Susteren looked at the risks to journalists worldwide.

For the first time in more than a decade, new prisoners may be arriving at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  The Defense Department has new guidelines for sending suspected terrorists caught on the battlefield to the prison, as the Trump administration reversed a policy put in place by former president Barack Obama.

Alyssa Alhadeff’s friends and family gathered on Monday – Alyssa’s birthday – to celebrate her life.  But this wasn’t a birthday party, it was the unveiling of Alyssa’s tombstone.  She was one of 17 people killed in the February mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Blanca Alvarez and her husband risked crossing the border to immigrate into the U.S. While they hoped to shelter their children from these harsh realities, Blanca’s daughter Connie tells her mother how much children can really see of their parents’ lives—and the inspiration they draw from their struggles.

A Texas case involving the son of late Guinea President Ahmed Sekou Toure has put the spotlight on human trafficking for forced labor. Mohamed Toure,  and his wife are under house arrest pending a court case for allegedly bringing a 5-year-old girl from Guinea and forcing her to work as an unpaid domestic helper and nanny for 16 years. The couple denies the allegations and said the girl’s father sent her to be raised alongside the Toures’ children.