Conventional wisdom can be comforting, but it can also be an easy way out. We want to challenge moral assumptions. Last week we wrote about female genital cutting in Uganda and laid down a challenge to readers. We said: Help the Sabiny people end...
Our article on female genital cutting has attracted global interest. Now’s your chance to propose an alternative to this age-old rite. A six-year-old girl screams while being cut in Somalia, 17 June 1996. (AP Photo/Jean-Marc Bouju) Earlier this week,...
Recently we published an article on the Rugby World Cup, and a hungry reader asked for more information. We listen to our readers — here’s chapter and verse on one of the world’s major sporting events. For more “decoders” explaining big...
Young girls in an ethnic group in Uganda have undergone genital cutting for generations. An NGO is working to end the practice and empower girls. A six-year-old girl screams while being cut in Somalia, 17 June 1996. (AP Photo/Jean-Marc Bouju) Esther Chebet recalls...
This article is part of a News-Decoder series of “decoders” that explain crucial background to big issues. For more decoders, click here. By Pauline Bock Waves of migrants and refugees are threatening one of Europe’s bedrock achievements — the...
By Colin McIntyre At a time when the European Union’s borders are under siege from thousands of refugees and immigrants fleeing war, persecution and poverty, the prospect of enlarging the 28-nation bloc would seem a distant dream. Yet negotiations continue with a view...
By John Mehaffey An Olympic quiz question, which usually surprises sports followers, is to name the current rugby union gold medalists. The answer is the United States, victors over France at the 1924 Paris Games. Rugby was dropped from the Olympics after the Paris...
The world is grappling with its biggest migrant crisis since World War Two. To understand, it’s important to distinguish between refugees and migrants. See also our Decoder on migration crises. If it were a country, the “nation of the displaced” would be the...
By Hafawa Rebhi The winter of 1949 was extremely cold in France. A plumber sent a letter to Le Monde newspaper denouncing “la belle vie française,” the “beautiful French life” praised by the liberal newspaper. “You criticize repeatedly,...
Soldiers training before heading to the Somalia peacekeeping operation, 30 April 2012 (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) By Pascal Fletcher As the United Nations and African leaders try to push South Sudan’s civil war protagonists towards peace and Nigeria and its neighbors strive...