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Newsplanner: Our thoughts on the week ahead
Here are our thoughts at the start of the week as we look at the global news landscape. What do you think?
Decoding China
China has the largest population in the world and one of the fastest growing economies. Will it be the next superpower?
Transgender people still face an uphill battle
Transgender stars like Caitlyn Jenner have helped foster acceptance, but the path to civil rights for transgender people will be long and arduous.
Obama visit highlights Islamic threat in Africa
Obama’s visit to Kenya and Ethiopia was more than a nostalgic trip to his father’s homeland: both countries are key allies in the struggle against Islamic militancy.
Iran and Israel’s nuclear arsenal monopoly
By far the loudest cries of alarm about the Iran nuclear agreement are coming from the only country in the region that has a nuclear arsenal — Israel.
Can Xi Jinping turn China’s economy around?
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s dream threatens to become a nightmare. Waking up and clearing the head is the most sensible cure.
Syria: Are Kurdish rebels Turkey’s target?
Turkey’s decision to launch air strikes against Islamic State militants raises questions whether its main target is Kurdish rebels.
New barriers in Europe keep people out, not in
In 1989, Hungary opened its border with Austria in a move that helped bring down the Iron Curtain. Today new barriers are going up across Europe to keep migrants out.
Newsplanner: Connecting the dots in the news
Women in politics, Obama’s legacy, the prospect of war in the Middle East, Donald Trump’s popularity: some of our musings on the news agenda.
Letter from Italy: A frustrating place to love
Italy is vulnerable to contagion from Greece’s crisis. But reminders of how things never really change are everywhere.
Making sense of the 2003 U.S. occupation of Iraq
James Clad served as a senior U.S. official in Iraq after Saddam Hussein fell. He draws lessons from the occupation in an interview.
Beach, bread and why we care about Greece
Greece’s debt woes bring back memories to Tiziana Barghini, who says this small country can teach us a lot.
Reconciliation after Srebrenica: A dream?
Adversaries try to heal the wounds of Srebrenica, but the roots of the massacre persist.
An end to Iran’s unwanted exceptionalism
The historic deal signed by Iran this week is not simply nuclear. It paints the first portrait of a world in which the country is not a Middle East pariah.
The long shadow of Srebrenica still falls on Bosnia
Twenty years after Europe’s worst atrocity since World War Two, Bosnia is still split by ethnic divisions and questions persist about how to prevent such tragedies.
Are free markets compatible with Communist rule?
Chinese share markets have fallen sharply, raising a key question: Are free markets compatible with Communist Party rule in China?
Factbox: China’s stock market moves
China’s stock markets have been in turmoil since mid-June. Here are the basics you need to know.
News-Decoder: Staking out new ground
The problem? News without context. The solution? An exchange of viewpoints. The upshot? Global understanding.
The successes of Singapore’s founding father
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister, died in March. LKY’s mix of tough governance and flexible statecraft will be needed in the future.
Grexit: What Greece can learn from Asia’s crises
Greece is a long way from Indonesia of 1997, but the European nation could learn from Asia’s own crisis.
Guns & the US: A baffling love affair
The Charleston massacre prompted shock and an emotional statement from U.S. President Obama — but guns are deeply rooted in American history.
Terrorism: a global phenomenon
Today marks anniversaries of armed attacks in London and Paris — part of a global phenomenon.
Greece & Europe: Shattered trust, game still on
The odds that Greece will quit the euro zone have shortened after Sunday’s decisive referendum. But ‘Grexit’ is not inevitable.
The U.S. and Cuba: Lifting a wall of mistrust
As flags go up at the new full Cuban and U.S. embassies, the path to full “normalization” is likely to be slow and rocky, potentially fraught with obstacles and even the possibility of slips back to the hostility of the Cold War years.
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.