By Djenab Conde The question “Where are you from?” is ubiquitous in modern society, and it is becoming harder and harder for me to answer in a nice, clean way. My mother is from Beijing, China. My father was born in Kankan, the second-largest city in...
(All photos by Sarah Watson) By Akinyi Ochieng I knew it was used in cosmetics. But chocolate and medicine? Before I started working with the Global Shea Alliance in Accra, Ghana, I was familiar with shea as a cosmetic product. So I was surprised to learn that shea...
(Video by Léa Surugue) By Léa Surugue Last April, a fishing boat carrying 800 people capsized off the shores of Italy. Only 27 survived. It was one of the worst human tragedies in the Mediterranean, ever. I had always wanted to cover the stories of people who left...
Russia has launched air strikes in Syria, raising the stakes in its Arab ally’s fight against rebels. Four News-Decoder correspondents explain why. Syrians hold posters of President Bashar al-Assad, far left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Damascus, 4...
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,...
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...
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...
Cocaine seized by police in Panama City, 21 September 2011. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco) This article is part of a News-Decoder series of “decoders” that explain crucial background to big issues. For more decoders, click here. It’s the stuff of...
More than a century after the end of the U.S. Civil War, race relations remain a problem, highlighted by the killing of black men by white policemen. Martin Luther King, Jr. leading the Selma voting rights march in Montgomery, Alabama, 17 March 1965. (AP Photo) This...
Human rights are relatively new to international law. But these values safeguard our dignity and protect against government oppression around the world. (iStock.com/Rawpixel Ltd) This article is part of a News-Decoder series of “decoders” that explain...