by Jessica Moody | 6 Sep 2021 | Africa, Asia, Conflict, Educators' Catalog, Islam, Politics, World
Islamist extremists are threatening fragile nations in West Africa. Will Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban yield lessons for France in the Sahel? A soldier guards a Western military base in Gao, Mali on 6 June 2021, days after France announced the end of its...
When it comes to world politics, major news outlets often focus on one place at a time, obscuring important events unfolding elsewhere that can cause geopolitical ripples. In this article, News Decoder’s Jessica Moody shines a light on extremist violence plaguing West African nations in the Sahel, the semi-arid region below the Sahara. She draws parallels between French military involvement in the region and the United States’ recent withdrawal from Afghanistan, highlighting the global challenge of preventing extremist groups from proliferating in fragile states.
Exercise: Ask students to search news sites or newspapers for a global story that is not on the front page, then have them share their findings and explain why we should pay attention.
by John Mehaffey | 22 Jul 2021 | Educators' Catalog, Refugees, Sport, World
Wesley Mukerinkindi and Gaetan Ekoondo wanted to help youth pitch their skills to professional sports teams. Here’s what they created. Senegalese boys play football in Dakar, Senegal, 26 January 2005. (EPA Photo/Nic Bothma) Wesley Mukerinkindi was just two years old...
Students often wonder how they can make a difference in the world. Wanting to give back to their communities, young entrepreneurs Wesley Mukerinkindi and Gaetan Ekoondo — whose families fled from violence in Rwanda and the Congo when they were children — launched Search Your Team to create equal opportunities for other refugees and underprivileged youth through sports. News Decoder correspondent John Mehaffey interviews Mukerinkindi to learn how the pair were inspired to start the online platform, which helps youth athletes reach their dreams by showcasing their abilities to professional soccer clubs or college basketball teams.
Exercise: Ask students how their personal passions or experiences might be an inspiration to start their own community project and support other young people.
by Nelson Graves | 1 Jun 2021 | Identity, News Decoder alumni, News Decoder Updates, Personal Reflections, School Year Abroad
Elisabeth Wachtel learned a second language, made friends and lifted her chances of college admission by studying abroad for a year of high school. Why would a teenager pick up stakes and leave friends and family behind for a year to study in an unfamiliar, foreign...
by Elisabeth Wachtel | 13 May 2021 | Americas, Europe, Eyewitness, Government, Health and Wellness, Personal Reflections, Youth Voices
COVID-19 has hit France and the U.S. to a similar extent. But their approaches to tackling the pandemic have been radically different — as I’ve seen. Elisabeth Wachtel in front of the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral In January, I moved from the United States to...
by Jeremy Solomons | 13 Apr 2021 | Decoders, Human Rights, Personal Reflections, World
I was taught that Modern Colonialism was a force for global good. Later I learned it was a system of exploitation, oppression and enslavement. World empires and colonies in 1914, just before World War One (Wikimedia Commons). As the leaders of the Commonwealth of...
