Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. FEBRUARY 3, 2020

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With the campaign in its final days, Democratic candidates for president and their surrogates were back in Iowa, at events large and small, to encourage voters to show up on caucus night.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On February 3, 1959, three of the most popular rock and roll artists in the United States die in a plane crash. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson were killed when the small plane they were on went down in an Iowa cornfield. Bad weather and pilot error were later blamed. Holly, born Charles Holley, was just 22 and was known for hits such as “Peggy Sue,” “Oh, Boy!,” “Maybe Baby” and “Early in the Morning.” Valens, only 17, had already scored hits such as “Come On, Let’s Go,” “Donna” and “La Bamba.” Richardson, a popular rock disk jockey and budding hit maker, was known for his top 10 song, “Chantilly Lace.” The tragic event would later be known as “the day the music died.”

VIDEO: As the deadly coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, it has killed its first patient outside China. News reports from the Philippines say a Chinese man from Wuhan, in Hubei province where the virus was first detected, died in a hospital in Manila a few days after arriving there. Many countries, including the United States, are denying entry to those recently in China as part of a global effort to stop the spread.

VIDEO: According to the UN, about 152 million children between five and 17 years old are engaged in child labor, 73 million of them are in Africa. The UN has called for an end to child labor, worldwide, by 2025–an ambitious goal. VOA takes a deeper look at the issue and the fight to restore the childhoods of millions across Africa.

American fast-food icon McDonald’s on Friday marked 30 years since it first opened its doors in Moscow, an occasion with deep resonance in the formerly communist country.

VIDEO: East Africa is experiencing the worst desert locust invasion in 25 years, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, and the worst in Kenya for 70 years. Desert locusts have ravaged at least 11 of Kenya’s 47 counties, leaving a trail of destruction on farmland. Experts say if the locust invasion is not checked, it could pose a serious threat to food security and livelihoods in the region.