Newsletter Archive

VIDEO: Is a 16-year-old mature enough to vote? The nation’s capital could soon become the first US city to allow people younger than 18 to vote in federal elections. More than half of city council members in Washington, DC, have agreed to support a bill that, if approved, would make it possible 16-year-olds to vote in both local and federal elections — just in time for the 2020 presidential campaign.

VIDEO: Losing two sons at once. Retired New York City firefighter John Vigiano had two sons who followed him into service — John Jr. was a firefighter, too, and Joe was a police detective. Both were killed on September 11, 2001, when the brothers responded to the call from the World Trade Center. Their father tells us why he has no regrets.

What do Americans think is the biggest problem facing the country? Its own government, according to a new poll. One-in-5 Americans says ‘some aspect of the federal government or its elected leaders’ is the top issue facing the nation.

India is putting its toxic air to good use. A New Delhi start-up is making devices that can capture black plumes of smoke from diesel generators and convert it into ink. Engineers are also exploring more applications of the technology to help clean up the Indian capital’s polluted air, which is among the world’s dirtiest.

They’ve been created by Tibetan monks for centuries. Mandalas are circular images filled with complex iconography, which have great meaning in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Philadelpia, a former Buddhist monk uses colored sand to build mandalas, a creative process that can take many hours. And, after a mandala is completed, it is taken apart.

‘President of the Rich’ is the nickname some in France attach to President Emmanuel Macron. He’s presenting proposals to help the disaffected banlieues, a catchword for the high-immigrant, high-crime suburbs ringing Paris and other cities. But some in those low-income neighborhoods are skeptical that Macron can recast himself as president of the poor.