Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. FEBRUARY 18, 2020

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VIDEO: Almost two decades have passed since the tragedy of September 11, 2001. The heroic actions of the first responders have become the stuff of legend. But one story is not well known—the story of the dogs who worked alongside firefighters and rescuers in the rubble of New York City’s Twin Towers. A unique exhibit commemorates those four-legged heroes.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On February 18, 1930, Pluto is discovered by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. The existence of Pluto had long been hypothesized because the orbits of Neptune and Uranus were known to wobble, likely under the influence of another body. Named after the Roman god of the underworld, Pluto is about 4 billion miles from the sun, and it takes 248 years to complete one orbit of the sun. Long considered the ninth planet, scientists in 2006 decided it did not qualify as a planet because its orbit overlapped, at times, with Neptune’s.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has qualified for the next Democratic presidential debate, his first step into the main spotlight of the race to go up against President Donald Trump in the November election.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed horror at the scale of the humanitarian crisis in northwest Syria, which has resulted in widespread deaths and injuries of civilians as well as hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

VIDEO: For decades, many high school and college students have participated in Model U.N., a conference simulating a U.N. gathering to teach students about diplomacy and international relations. VOA attended one of the conferences in Washington to speak with students who traveled from Guatemala to participate.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the African Union chairman Tuesday in Addis Ababa at the end of a whirlwind Africa tour that included Senegal and Angola.