Rahman Bunairee was granted asylum in the U.S. in a hearing on October 19, making him eligible to begin work for Deewa Radio. Bunairee arrived in the US in August on a J-1 visa, but was first detained by immigration authorities and then denied permission to work. Bunairee’s home in Pakistan was destroyed by the Taliban as a result of his reporting for VOA.

On October 1, the Deputy Minister of Information of Puntland, the semiautonomous region in northeastern Somalia, banned three VOA reporters – Nuh Muse, Mohamed Yasin and Abdulkadir Mohamed – from working in the region and ordered all affiliate FM stations to stop airing VOA programs. The ban was lifted on October 9 after discussions between the Puntland government, the U.S. State Department and the VOA Director.