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On climate, Trump stirs global anxiety, miners’ hopes
The world anxiously awaits Donald Trump’s decision whether to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord. But U.S. coal miners are hoping the new U.S. president will put them back to work.
Our world is at a crossroads
With the election of Donald Trump and Brexit, the world is at a crossroads. We can close our ears to the pleas of the disaffected, or start to listen.
The link between Trump’s rhetoric and hate crimes
Donald Trump may not explicitly advocate violence. But his brash rhetoric has goaded some supporters into lashing out at minorities — a kind of verbal terrorism.
Siberia, where disabled people take wing and fly
A Russian paragliding instructor is teaching disabled people to fly in specially equipped wheelchairs. They gain freedom and soar like birds.
Help News-Decoder Grow
News-Decoder is raising funds so we can realize our ambition to help young people around the world become better global citizens. We need your help to grow.
Kaur, Jain win News-Decoder contest
Alina Kaur of Novosibirsk State University and Nicholas Jain of Princeton Day School have won News-Decoder’s $1,000 contest showcasing young people’s perspectives on critical global issues.
U.S. media oligarchy blinded Democratic voters
The U.S. media is an oligarchy — ruled by a few — with a liberal bias that has ignored the viewpoints of a large segment of society, offering Donald Trump an opening to win the presidency.
Climate change in the age of Trump
Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president has cast a pall over efforts to curb global warming. Is there enough momentum for renewable energy to stave off climate change?
Muslim players make inroads into English cricket
While racial and religious tensions have risen in Britain after the Brexit vote, Muslim players are quietly breaking down barriers in English cricket.
Letter from Castro’s mountain hideout
A small bunch of flowers lie near the bed where Fidel Castro slept as he led his small band of rebels to victory in the Cuban Revolution from the mountains of the Sierra Maestra.
Memories of Cuba under Castro
For foreign correspondent François Raitberger, Cuba mixed austere communism and easy-going Caribbean style. Fidel Castro was admired by many, hated by others. A visionary or a dinosaur?
Musings on the death of Fidel Castro
Michael Arkus, who covered Fidel Castro — winning a memorable interview while swimming with “El Comandante” — reflects on what might have been.
Remembering feisty Fidel Castro
News-Decoder correspondents remember Fidel Castro — in an East German football stadium brandishing a rifle, at the UN podium, on a walk in Algiers. Always feisty, always controversial.
Trump, a Middle East wild card
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump suggested steps that could plunge the Middle East further into chaos. Once President, will he change tack?
Terrorism: Good news and bad news
Worried about terrorism? Here’s some good news and bad news about terrorism’s impact on international relations and domestic politics in Europe and the U.S.
Trump has won. Democrats, now mobilize.
The U.S. is divided as never before. It’s time to stop despairing and to mobilize. We need to acknowledge the disenfranchised and recognize that under Trump, some risk losing much more than others.
Reflections of a Reluctant Hillary Volunteer
I was a reluctant volunteer for Hillary Clinton. I was propelled by fear of how I’d feel if the unthinkable happened. Now I’m angry I did not do more.
Uncertainty is tamed and Trump’s win stokes stocks for now
Donald Trump’s win in the U.S. presidential election threw markets briefly for a loop. But now stocks are flirting with record highs. But for how long?
Memo: Don’t panic yet over Trump
Pulling your hair out over Donald Trump? Don’t panic yet. Soon the President-elect will start feeling cross-currents. It’s the rule of checks and balances.
Trump: Young Voices from the Mexican Border
Four students from a Texas school near the U.S. border with Mexico share their hopes and fears following the election of Donald Trump as President.
Trump stirs angst among the world’s youth
Young people in several countries share their anxieties and fears following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.
Trump: Sobering thoughts on his policy agenda
Donald Trump elicits angst from four experts who reflect on his potentially destructive impact on human rights, the environment, the global economy and international relations.
Ok, Trump wins. Time to get to work.
Trump has won, and Clinton has lost. Half of America is elated, half is afraid. It’s an historic moment in America. Now, time to get to work.
U.S. election and America’s role in the world
This U.S. election is calling into question the post-war world order. Whoever wins will have to address grievances shared on both sides of the Atlantic.
U.S., European populists tap similar grievances
U.S. populists like Donald Trump share grievances with supporters of Brexit, but not all populists are cut from the same cloth, students tell a News-Decoder webinar.
Nurturing voices of reason at News-Decoder
News-Decoder helps young people grasp international issues. Our webinars bring experts together with young adults to discuss the world’s most pressing problems.
Burning climate issues face Marrakesh negotiators
Last year in Paris, world leaders agreed to curb climate change. Now at a global meeting in Marrakesh, the challenge will be to put promises into practice.
“The fate of the Earth is in our hands.”
We have technology to avert climate disaster. But do we have the political will? A leading environmentalist is cautiously optimistic we can save the earth.
Specter of climate change haunts Africa
Africa is facing its worst food shortage in three decades. And the driving force is not so much the usual culprit — armed conflict — as it is climate change.
Lessons from the tragedy of Syria
Five and a half years after its civil war erupted, Syria descends into the abyss as the world watches. What lessons can we draw from this tragedy?
The iPhone is the essence of global trade
Tempted to erect trade barriers to protect jobs at home? Think again, says Alan Wheatley, who holds up the iPhone as “the essence of trade.”
Thailand loses a revered father figure, the king
People would approach him on their hands and knees, so revered was Thailand’s king, who has died after ruling over the nation for 70 years.
Jailing of blacks called biggest U.S. rights issue
The imprisonment of large numbers of Black Americans constitutes the most serious human rights violation in the U.S., an expert tells students.
Trade can help solve our economic woes
Many U.S. voters are anxious about trade and globalization. Incomes are stagnant, inequality rising. But trade can be a solution, not a problem.
World turns blind eye to Yemen war horrors
Yemen’s civil war has accelerated the collapse of a fragmented Arab state, but don’t hold your breath for international action to mitigate war horrors.
What are the biggest threats to U.S. security?
What are the biggest security threats the U.S. will face under its next president? Several hundred high school students have tackled that question.
ISIS doomed, but roots must be tackled
The Islamic State will soon be destroyed militarily, but the roots of the radical group will survive unless Arab regimes promote change.
Beijing’s hutongs: Living relics of China’s past
For Mindy Tan, Beijing’s hutong neighborhoods and old courtyards are living relics of a China that balances tradition and modernization.
News-Decoder spreads its wings
News-Decoder has new partners. Five academic institutions in three countries have joined our pilot program, and we are offering an online course on the big global issues the next U.S. president will face.
North Korea highlights China, U.S. divide
North Korea’s nuclear program is one of the world’s most intractable security issues. China and the U.S. view the menace through very different lenses.
United Nations: friends and foes together
Friends and foes, big nations and small, gather every September at the United Nations. Enrique Shore looks at this year’s assembly.
“You can create change!”
Acts of resistance can make a big difference, a human rights advocate says. And non-violent civil disobedience is more effective than armed militancy.
Sketching News-Decoder’s future
French artist Sandrine Courau has been with News-Decoder from the start. Now, with a new batch of sketches, she helps us build a global forum.
U.S. students ill informed about the world
Young people educated at U.S. universities lack basic knowledge about international affairs and are ill prepared to compete in a globalized economy, according to a new poll.
Here’s why Apple’s taxes are important
Europe is right to order Apple to pay billions of euros of back taxes to Ireland. A failure to crack down on tax avoidance can only fuel populism.
Syrian border town no stranger to intrigue
A Syrian border town recently captured by Turkish-backed forces has for millennia been coveted by smugglers, statesman and spies — including my great-uncle and Lawrence of Arabia.
Brexit butcher’s beef is a weighty matter
A campaign to restore Britain’s traditional, non-metric weights and measures may seem trite. But the Brexit vote tapped into notions of national identity that are serious business.
Apple’s huge tax bill highlights EU dilemma
Apple’s whopping $14.5-billion tax bill from the EU highlights the dilemma for governments wanting to attract jobs without emptying their coffers.
Mother Teresa: Good Intentions to Controversy
Once a diminutive Catholic nun, she is now Saint Teresa. But Mother Teresa courted controversy throughout her life.
Don’t hold your breath for Brexit
Britain is like an awkward housemate who says they will move out but won’t quite budge. The UK has voted to leave the EU, but there’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip.