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A new start
Today intern Pauline Bock and I moved into News-Decoder’s office space, which we share with an adventure travel not-for-profit in Paris.
Glimpses of everyday life in North Korea
Mindy Tan visited North Korea recently. The Singapore-based photographer has given us glimpses of life in one of the world’s most secretive countries.
What’s next after the Charleston massacre
The murder of nine African-Americans has raised uncomfortable questions about the persistence of racism in the United States.
How the world views the United States and Obama
The United States and President Obama win mostly favorable reviews around the world — with some notable exceptions.
Thailand: Living under martial law
Thailand is ruled by a military junta. Yet life carries on contentedly in what guidebooks call “the land of smiles.” For how long?
News-Decoder ambassadors
A special thanks to four young News-Decoder supporters for their work in promoting our mission.
Nouvelles-Découvertes and other updates!
News-Decoder has a new home — and legal guardians.
Bitter fruits of a split in Islam
Today’s upheavals across the Muslim world have their roots in a religious split dating back 14 centuries.
Why care about what’s happening in Turkey?
“Caught in a bad romance…” Lady Gaga’s hit song fits the strained relationship between Europe and Turkey.
Curious, independent and intrepid
When Jasmine Horsey wrote to News-Decoder, she sent five writing samples. They ranged from women’s rights in Guatemala to a TEDx conference.
Dreaming big and global
She published a novel at age 20. A newspaper article she wrote recently has gone viral. Meet Pauline Bock, News-Decoder’s intern.
How Blatter Fooled Me
When he was FIFA general secretary, Sepp Blatter told me categorically that he would never stand for president of football’s governing body.
Competition, FIFA’s disgrace and growing distrust
I can vividly remember the day, more than a quarter of a century ago now, when I felt my job as sports reporter had transformed into fiction writer.
John Nash: Eccentric and human
The first time I met John Nash I was overwhelmed — and amused. The math genius was both eccentric and human.
Iran: Ready for Business
As an American in Tehran, I was reminded that most everyone is already in Iran keen to do business, everyone except Americans.
Canada’s oil province votes out conservatives
If the Canadian province of Alberta were part of the United States, it would be what U.S. locals call a “red state.”
A few facts about Indonesia
At 240 million people, it is home to the world’s fourth largest population. It’s also the third most populous democracy after India and the United States.
Indonesia’s president risks becoming bystander
Indonesia, the world’s third biggest democracy, sparked an international outcry with last month’s mass executions of convicted drug traffickers, most of them foreigners.
Saudi bombs cannot pacify Yemen
Yemen’s green terraced mountains, exuberant architecture and proud heritage of music, poetry and Islamic learning, not to mention its inhabitants’ fondness for whiling away the afternoons chewing mildly narcotic leaves, mark it out from its Arab neighbors.
Boxing is back in center ring
Just when professional boxing is slipping into what many feel would be well-deserved oblivion, a prize fight combining elements that make the sport both compelling and repellent will be staged this week in Las Vegas
From Rawalpindi to New York
We last saw Anusheh Naveed Ashraf of Pakistan alongside News-Decoder’s most senior supporter. Now she has received some very good news that deserves to be shared — she has won a Fulbright Scholarship.
Obama, Cuba and Einstein
When President Barack Obama announced the opening of a new chapter in U.S. relations with Cuba last December, he said, “We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect a different result.”
Big stakes in small Sri Lanka for China and India
You might think Sri Lanka would be small change for Asia’s two powerhouses, India and China.
Another massacre: Why did Kenya fail to stop it?
The Islamist massacre of nearly 150 university students in Kenya last week will accentuate concerns about the capacity of this strategic Western ally to face a mounting threat from al Qaeda’s Somali allies.
A most extraordinary move in China
China’s ruling Communist Party has announced it will put on trial its most senior official to be arrested for corruption since the Party swept to power more than 65 years ago.
Accommodating a rising China
The dollar has been the dominant world currency for the best part of a century because the U.S. economy has had no equal. But the times are slowly changing.
Israel’s Netanyahu and a broken taboo
The golden rule of Israeli politics has always been to avoid any public spat with the Americans.
Need context on headlines? Read News Decoder!
There’s all sorts of interesting research on brains and memories, but one thing to take away is:
If you didn’t live through something, it will probably be a lot harder to remember.
“This is Russia.”
It was dark one night when Boris Yeltsin was still president of Russia, a few tumultuous years after communist rule ended.
Oil continues to flow
When Hugo Chávez came to power in Venezuela in 1999, U.S. Ambassador to Caracas John Maisto said the U.S. government should watch what Chávez did, not listen to what he said.
Can the genie be put back in the bottle?
U.S. Republicans and Democrats have cooperated on a couple of occasions since Republicans assumed control of both houses of Congress in January. But these rare examples are unlikely to signal any breakthrough in the Washington stalemate that has stalled progress in domestic and foreign policy.
Jimmy Who?
When Jimmy Carter ran for U.S. President, he capitalized on the fact he was little-known, adopting the campaign slogan, “Jimmy Who?”
Attacking the roots of civilization
The destruction of ancient artifacts by militants of the Islamic State in areas under their control in northern Iraq goes beyond the ancient tradition of sectarian iconoclasm.
Whither Greece?
Ever closer European integration has been the lodestar of Germany’s post-war foreign policy. Greece’s exit from the euro could still cause the EU project to unravel, which is why Berlin remains unwilling to risk kicking Athens out.
Euro-skepticism goes mainstream
If you run in elite European circles, you’ll rarely meet anyone who seriously believes their country should leave the European Union.
Death in Genoa: A Scoop and a Principle Upheld
Death and violence scarred a meeting of world leaders in Genoa, Italy in 2001, marking the height of two decades of protests against globalization.
Is a Correspondent’s Job Getting Harder?
Is the job of news-gathering becoming more difficult and dangerous?
The World’s Largest Nation Without a State
After so many setbacks, the world’s largest nation without a state has some room for optimism that history is finally on its side.
A Harrowing Moment in a Lifetime of Sports Cover
It was an opening ceremony and the choice of the final athlete to take the torch carried by relay from Ancient Olympia that produced one of the most memorable moments in my career as a sportswriter.
Obamacare, the President’s unkept promise
Obamacare is here to stay. But its impact on politics in 2014 is more of a question mark.
Why shouldn’t China flex its muscles?
China is now the world’s second largest economy. Why shouldn’t it act like the big power it now is?
Crisis in the Congo stirs ghosts of genocide
Why is a remote, landlocked country in the heart of Africa causing so much international concern?
I covered SARS — a health scare long before coronavirus
We were covering the world’s biggest story, about a global health scare, SARS, akin to today’s coronavirus. It reminded me why I love being a journalist.
“Alistair Lyon and Joseph Goebbels, friends?”
Unsettling as it was to be compared with Hitler’s spin doctor, it was a reminder of the intense scrutiny to which reporting on Israel-Palestine is subjected.
Bali: What’s the big deal?
Time costs money, so unpredictable delays do more harm than tariffs. By one estimate, the Bali pact will cut shipping costs by 10 percent, helping Western shoppers.