Published on Feb 17, 2013
Despite the concerns of Israel, the U.S. and its Western allies, Iran denies it’s developing atomic arms under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. Meanwhile, the severe international sanctions are hitting the lives of everyday Iranians in need of medicine, as RT’s Maria Finoshina has found out.
Published on Dec 6, 2012 by VOAvideo
In recent years Pakistan has passed laws protecting women against having acid thrown on their faces or being killed to satisfy the honor of a family. Despite being legally banned, abuses against women continue. However, there are stories of individuals who stand up when the law fails them. Sharon Behn reports from Peshawar on one family whose father died trying to prevent their daughter from being given away to settle a dispute.
Published on Nov 28, 2012 by VOAvideo
In addition to economic challenges and insurgent violence, analysts say Pakistan is facing a growing drug problem that is likely to worsen after international troops leave neighboring Afghanistan, the world’s leading opium producer. The opium and derivatives come to Pakistan from neighboring Afghanistan. Sharon Behn reports on the impact that narcotics, which are easily available, are having on Pakistani society.
Published on Dec 2, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish
A week after the nation’s worst garment factory fire left 110 workers dead, Bangladeshis are starting to return to work in factories contracted by big-name foreign clothing companies. At an annual worth of $20bn, the garment industry makes up 80 per cent of the country’s economy. The fire service is now checking all 4,000 factories in the nation to ensure safety. Despite the risks, the three-and-a-half million people who work in the industry, money of whom had held protests following the fire in in Ashulia, are slowly returning to work because they rely on the $43 a month many of them are paid. Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reports from Ashulia.
Published on Nov 12, 2012 by NationalGeographic
In India, one of the most significant festivals is Diwali, or the Festival of Lights. It’s a five-day celebration that includes good food, fireworks, colored sand, and special candles and lamps.
Published on Oct 10, 2012 by VOAvideo
Child marriage is an ancient practice in India, and despite being illegal, it continues today in mostly rural areas. Nearly half of women in India are married before the age of 18 and many of those become brides much younger. VOA’s Aru Pande reports that one group in eastern India is looking to change this trend.
new report — released jointly by three U.N. agencies and the World Bank — says that despite progress by health programs worldwide in reducing infant mortality, prospects remain dire: a child still dies every five seconds somewhere in the world. The new report calls for renewed international commitments to child survival. VOA’s Vidushi Sinha has more.
Few women go out in Pakistan without being fully covered in traditional dress. But VOA’s Sharon Behn reports from Islamabad on how two women in this Muslim country are combining modern art and a taste for high fashion to create a new fusion of wearable art in Pakistan.
Afghanistan is trying to unify the country through a new national educational curriculum. But a lack of security, books, trained teachers and schools is making it very challenging. Sharon Behn reports from Kabul on the difficulties faced by Afghan students.
A recent study by the Pew Research Center reveals that, for the first time, Asians outpaced Hispanics as the fastest growing immigrant population in the United States. As VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports from Chicago, job seekers of South Asian origin make up the bulk of that Midwestern city’s new immigrant community, filling a critical demand for highly skilled technology workers.
Losing a limb is traumatic in any circumstance, but it can become an ongoing poverty trap for those without access to advanced medical care. The Indian state, Rajasthan, is home to one of the world’s largest charities aimed at empowering amputees with new limbs – and a new life.
The comic book hero says he will become a global citizen after being accused of being a US agent by Iran.
Superman has started a stir with a declaration in the new issue of “Action Comics” that he intends to renounce his US citizenship because he’s tired of his actions being construed as instruments of US policy.
