by Robert Holloway | 14 Aug 2019 | Donald Trump, Personal Reflections
In a world with nuclear weapons, every agreement counts. So the decision by the U.S. and Russia to scrap a disarmament treaty does matter. Demonstrators with masks of Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump...
by News Decoder | 5 Aug 2019 | Asia, China, Discovery, Identity, Personal Reflections, Youth Voices
By Kaitlyn-Lee Mun It was a Sunday afternoon in early June at Hong Kong’s Kowloon Park. Cicadas buzzed incessantly, delivering a deafening chorus. On this humid day, the air like soup, people gathered to watch a weekly Kung Fu performance. I was in the crowd,...
by Nelson Graves | 18 Jul 2019 | Media Literacy, Personal Reflections
We all have our convictions. But the world’s a complex place, where opposing viewpoints co-exist. Humility can be the first step to understanding. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, seen in London on 11 July 1961, was the first man to orbit the Earth, not U.S....
by Jasmine Li | 21 Jun 2019 | Discovery, Eyewitness, Islam, Middle East, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Westover School, Youth Voices
I used to associate the Middle East with violence, devastation and instability. On a trip to Israel, I discovered hospitality and generosity. Artwork by Banksy in Bethlehem (Photo by Jasmine Li) Sitting in the shade, I touch the sand in my hand, cold and moist....
by Gilda Temaj Marroquin | 12 Jun 2019 | Americas, Immigration, Personal Reflections, Refugees, United States, Women's rights, Youth Voices
I was raised in Guatemala, where I was expected to grow up fast and told that women are not meant to go to school. But I had other dreams. Children attend school in northern Guatemala, 1 July 2014 (AP Photo/Luis Soto) I come from Guatemala, where education is not a...
by David Schlesinger | 7 Jun 2019 | Asia, China, Future of Democracy, Nationalism, Personal Reflections
It’s been 30 years since China’s army crushed protests in Tiananmen Square. Can Beijing come to terms with its past without remembering? A man tries to pull a Chinese soldier away from his comrades as citizens confront troops heading to Tiananmen Square,...
by Gene Gibbons | 6 Jun 2019 | Discovery, Europe, Personal Reflections
I accompanied two U.S. presidents to D-Day commemorations. Then I traced the footsteps of my uncle, a doctor who became a war hero. Captain John Cotter (photo courtesy of Gene Gibbons) Seventy-five years ago today, tens of thousands of American, British, Canadian,...
by News Decoder | 8 May 2019 | Africa, African Leadership Academy, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Women's rights, Youth Voices
I use the human race to play my evil game. I’m to blame for wife-beating, guns, bomb flames. I’m the infamous, rash, spirit of violence. By Chiro Awoke Ogbo Violence I am the model of a modern millennial demon A venomous venerated veteran of a special evil I’m held...
by Kasey Ingerson | 2 May 2019 | Contest winners, Discovery, Health and Wellness, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Westover School, Youth Voices
I used to tell myself, “It’s fine.” But then I presented a project that triggered difficult memories. I now realize I have to overcome PTSD. (Photo courtesy of Kasey Ingerson) “It’s fine. Everything’s going to be fine!” I’ve said that a lot....
by Kiana Tan | 24 Apr 2019 | Americas, Asia, Contest winners, Discovery, Identity, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Westover School, Youth Voices
Mocked and belittled as an Asian-American, I was desperate to fit in with my peers. With time and age, I have learned to straddle the two cultures. Workers make mooncakes, Taipei, Taiwan, 17 September, 2004 (AP Photo/Wally Santana) One morning I boarded the bus to go...