Joshua Wong, a pro-democracy student activist, was jailed for his role in Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement. He spoke by phone Aug. 17 with VOA about a possible crackdown on the ongoing protests, the younger generation’s identity crisis and Hong Kong’s future.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On August 20, 1975, the Viking I space probe launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on its way to Mars. It took until June 19 of the following year for the spacecraft to reach the red planet, and once there, it spent the first month in orbit scouting for a good spot for its lander, which touched down on July 20, 1976. It was the first American probe to land on the Martian surface. The USSR landed a probe earlier, but it failed seconds after landing. The same day Viking I landed, it sent back the first close-up photograph of Mars’ surface. The last contact with the spacecraft was on November 11, 1982.

Russia on Tuesday criticized the United States for testing a ground-based missile that, until three weeks ago, had been banned under an arms treaty between the two nations.

VIDEO: Russian President Vladimir Putin is marking his 20th year in power this August, a period divided between his first presidency from 1999 to 2008 and his return to power in 2012. Russia’s economy is stagnating, and experts say the Russian leader is trying to counter this by investing heavily in the military as a way to boost his popularity for the 2024 elections.

VIDEO: Seattle is home to giant multinational companies such as Microsoft and Amazon. But it’s also the home of glass art in the United States. VOA visits The Chihuly Glass Museum, which displays thousands of glass artworks by artist Dale Chihuly.

After Hong Kong saw one of its biggest protests yet over the weekend, a social media war has broken out between China and U.S. technology companies over how Chinese state-sponsored media is using social media to spread misinformation about the protesters.