One parishioner argues that the Church should welcome gay members. The Pope is just now cracking open the door by offering a small blessing. Vatican City with an LGBT flag superimposed to seem waving in welcome. Photo illustration by News Decoder. Editor’s note:...
King Charles III now sits on the British throne. In Denmark, Crown Prince Frederik is expected to ascend. What role do these royals have in the modern world? Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark,...
With the ascension of King Frederik X to the Danish throne in January 2024, we reconsider the role of monarchs in a modern world. Using this republished piece from correspondent Harvey Morris, help students develop evidence-based reasoning skills with an accompanying classroom debate activity.
Exercise: Read the article with your class, then divide students into two debate groups. One group will represent a pro-monarchy opinion, and the other group will represent an anti-monarchy opinion. Students will answer the following debate question: Should monarchies around the world be abolished? To answer the question, students should prepare an argument using the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning framework. The claim answers the question. The evidence should be collected from the article or another reputable source. The reasoning should explain why the evidence supports the claim.
Millions of people around the world have no rights and live in the shadows, on the margins of society. Migrants are rescued by a Doctors Without Borders rescue team boat in the Mediterranean Sea after leaving Libya trying to reach European soil, 6 October 2023. (AP...
Hong Kong youth tried to assert their rights three years ago. The repercussions are still being felt. Agnes Chow fled to Canada and feels she cannot return home. Agnes Chow, center, a prominent pro-democracy activist who was sentenced to jail for her role in an...
Map lines drawn on the ocean can’t be seen from a boat deck. But in the South China Sea, a ship crossing these invisible lines could mean war. The Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords crosses the eastern Pacific Ocean in October 2020....
Young people are caught in the crossfire in war. Those who survive are left with long term consequences. But we don’t think to include them in peace making. Ukrainian youth huddle in prayer on 8 April 2022, as the group disbands after spending nearly a week...
For years, governments have engaged in marathon annual talks to try to end global warming. But they often fall frustratingly short. A giant sculpture tops the Museum of the Future in Dubai. Credit: Lyonerov CC by 4.0 Editor’s note: Beginning 28 November, some...
With COP28 beginning in Dubai this week (late November 2023), help your students contribute to the climate conversation with this article originally published in October 2022 ahead of COP27 in Egypt. Climate journalist Alister Doyle runs down what to expect with these global summits — and why they often fall short.
Exercise: Read the article with your class to cover the background and purpose of COPs. Then, have students find current media coverage of the event. How does today’s coverage compare to Doyle’s piece from one year ago? What, if anything, has changed? Is the general consensus on climate change mitigation more or less optimistic than it was a year ago?
Journalists tend to depict conflict as violent struggles between good and bad. There is a different way to think about war. Syrian refugee children in Lebanon (Wikimedia Commons/Trócaire/Eoghan Rice) Editor’s note: This week News Decoder is exploring the future...
Modern colonialism was once preached as a force for global good. Now it is seen as a system of exploitation, oppression and enslavement. Britain’s King Charles III, on carpet left, and Kenya’s President William Ruto, on carpet right, attend a military...
Abortion is wrapped up in politics in many nations including the U.S. But one in four pregnancies ends in abortion, making it a global health issue. A woman demonstrates for the legalization of abortion, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 28 May 2019 (Nicolas...