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Greg Flakus

Produced by Greg Flakus

September 30, 2015
Yazidi-American Activist Seeks Help for Refugees

Social worker Laila Khoudeida, born and raised in a Syrian camp after her family fled persecution in Iraq, says she feels deeply linked to Yazidi cause
September 30, 2015
Yazidi-American Activist Seeks Help for Refugees

The plight of the Yazidis, a religious-ethnic minority in Iraq, drew world attention last year when Islamic State fighters drove thousands of them to a mountain refuge in Sinjar. Far away, in the Midwestern city of Lincoln, Nebraska, the largest community of Yazidis in North America took action, led in great part by Laila Khoudeida, and she she continues to seek help for her threatened people. VOA's Greg Flakus reports.
September 29, 2015
Amigos de las Americas Marks 50 Years of Work in Latin America

Private, nonprofit agency has promoted service projects all over Latin America, parts of Caribbean, and has fostered friendship as well
September 29, 2015
Amigos de las Americas Marks 50 Years of Work in Latin America

Amigos de las Americas is celebrating its 50th anniversary, looking back on the many projects the private, nonprofit organization has promoted all over Latin America and parts of the Caribbean. As the Spanish name would imply, Amigos has fostered friendship as well. VOA’s Greg Flakus reports.
September 28, 2015
Sketch Artist Helps Catch Criminals, Gives a Face to Deceased

Police often face the problem of trying to find a crime suspect based on general descriptions that could fit hundreds of people in the vicinity of the crime. In these cases, an artist can use information from witnesses to sketch a likeness that police can show the public via newspapers and television. But, as VOA’s Greg Flakus reports from Houston, such sketches can also help bring back faces of the dead.
September 23, 2015
China Jails US Businesswoman on Suspicion of Spying

Jeff Gillis is asking President Barack Obama to discuss detention of his wife, Sandy Phan-Gillis, with China's Xi Jinping this week
September 23, 2015
China Jails US Businesswoman on Suspicion of Spying

Chinese President Xi Jinping's U.S. visit comes days after Chinese authorities formally arrested and jailed a U.S. businesswoman from Houston on suspicion of spying and stealing state secrets. Sandy Phan-Gillis was on a trip to China in March when authorities placed her in a residential detention facility. Her husband, Jeff, is calling for her release. VOA’s Greg Flakus reports.
September 16, 2015
Accused Army Deserter Bergdahl to Appear Before Military Court

At hearing in Texas, Army prosecutors will begin laying out case, focusing at first on desertion charge, then on second charge of misbehavior-before-the-enemy
September 11, 2015
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry Quits Presidential Campaign

Republican Party candidate tells conservative group in St. Louis, Missouri, he is suspending his campaign while knowing his party is in good hands
September 09, 2015
Gospel Scion Diunna Greenleaf Belts Out the Blues

Last month, Living Blues magazine named Diunna Greenleaf the Female Blues Artist of the Year. But while the Houston-based artist has become well-known in some other countries, she is still struggling to gain a large following in the United States. She hopes to move her career forward with some ambitious recording plans while performing whenever she can. VOA’s Greg Flakus reports.
September 04, 2015
Noted Blogger on Mideast Advises US: Intervene Less, Not More

Oklahoma academic Joshua Landis says that's 'a plea for modesty and a bit of a sense that America really cannot control this region'
September 04, 2015
Oklahoma Academic’s Syria Blog Draws Worldwide Audience

In 2004, Middle East expert Joshua Landis started a blog called Syria Comment, and to his surprise, tens of thousands of people around the world began reading it. Landis is scaling back his blogging but remains intensely focused on the region through his role as the director of the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Middle East Studies. VOA's Greg Flakus reports.
August 28, 2015
New Orleans Counts on New Levees to Prevent Future Flood

Critics say these are the kind of levees that should have been built in the first place
August 28, 2015
Katrina Brought Enduring Changes to New Orleans

The city’s recovery is the result of the people and culture the city is famous for, as well as newcomers and start-up industries
August 27, 2015
US Student Becomes Yazidi Advocate

Mathew Barber says members of the religious minority in Iraq were abandoned by forces of the government that claims to protect them
August 26, 2015
Arctic Draws International Competition for Oil

Russia claims large area for resource development, and President Obama recently approved Shell Oil’s test-drilling project in territory area under US control
August 14, 2015
America’s Heartland Helps Iraq's Yazidis

Small Yazidi immigrant communities in the US are trying to provide relief to their brethren in Iraq and alert the world to their plight
August 14, 2015
America’s Heartland Helps Iraq's Yazidis

Attacks by the self-styled "Islamic State," also known as ISIL, on the Yazidi religious minority in the mountains of northern Iraq have driven thousands of men, women and children into refugee camps -- where life remains uncertain and difficult. As VOA’s Greg Flakus reports from Katy, Texas, small Yazidi immigrant communities in the U.S. heartland are trying to provide relief to their brethren in Iraq and alert the world to their plight.
August 07, 2015
Anger About Black Texas Woman's Death in Jail Still Strong

A year after the police killing of a young black man in Ferguson, Missouri, and the unrest it provoked, the death of a 28-year-old black woman in a Texas jail on July 13 has become the focus of national concerns about alleged police misconduct. The mother of the late Sandra Bland filed a lawsuit in Houston this week in connection with her death. VOA’s Greg Flakus reports.
August 07, 2015
Anger About Black Texas Woman's Death in Jail Still Strong

Those who believe she did take her life blame the Waller County Jail for being negligent and the state trooper who arrested her for being far too aggressive

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