by News Decoder | 7 Jul 2016 | Greens Farms Academy, Middle East, Student Posts
The nuclear agreement between Iran and global powers sealed a year ago is good as it prevents Iran from building weapons for at least a decade. Iranian women in Tehran, Iran, 16 January 2016. (EPA/Abedin Teherkenareh) This is the second of two articles on the nuclear...
by News Decoder | 6 Jul 2016 | Greens Farms Academy, Middle East, Student Posts
It’s been a year since world powers signed a nuclear accord with Iran. This is not a good deal for the United States. Iranian demonstrators pour gasoline on U.S., British and Israeli flags, Tehran, 4 November 2015. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) This is the first of two...
by Bernd Debusmann | 3 Jun 2016 | Middle East
By Bernd Debusmann Good news from the Arab world is an increasingly rare commodity. But there are exceptions. Take the United Arab Emirates, where a determined drive is underway to close the knowledge gap with the West and restore Arab learning to its past glory. The...
by News Decoder | 24 May 2016 | King's Academy, Middle East, Student Posts, Syria
By William Watkins When Syrian armed forces recaptured the ancient desert city of Palmyra from the Islamic State jihadist movement in March, the world may have seen a turning point in the five-year-old war. Whether or not it was a watershed, important lessons can be...
by News Decoder | 16 May 2016 | Islam, Middle East, School Year Abroad, Student Posts, Syria, Terrorism
Syrian refugee holds onto his children as he struggles to walk off a dinghy on the Greek island of Lesbos, 24 September 2015. (REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis) By Annique Browne What’s the biggest threat to U.S. national security? During this year’s presidential...
by News Decoder | 12 May 2016 | Americas, Discovery, Europe, Greens Farms Academy, King's Academy, Middle East, Personal Reflections, Refugees, School Year Abroad, Student Posts, Syria, United States, Youth Voices
By Nelson Graves “We have to find a political solution, in offices and not with arms.” So said Evgenia Chatziadamido, one of four students from three continents who discussed the causes and effects of Syria’s civil war during a recent online round...
by News Decoder | 10 May 2016 | King's Academy, Middle East, Student Posts
By William Close Behind closed doors in the Saudi capital Riyadh, consultants and government officials are developing policies to prepare the country for what until recently seemed unthinkable: an economy without oil. For decades, Saudi Arabia has been the world’s...
by News Decoder | 5 May 2016 | Middle East, Refugees, Syria
(All photographs by Christoph von Toggenburg) By Christoph von Toggenburg I took these photographs on Easter Sunday in late March when I visited various refugee camps right on Lebanon’s border with Syria. The welcome was warm and open. Suddenly, the numbers I...
by News Decoder | 4 May 2016 | Economy, King's Academy, Middle East, Student Posts
This story was runner-up in the high school category in News-Decoder’s inaugural essay contest. By Aisha Malhas The flag of Jordan includes a white star with seven points, one for each of the seven hills on which the capital Amman was built. Today those seven...
by Samantha Schmidt | 2 May 2016 | Indiana University, Middle East, Refugees, Student Posts, Syria, Youth Voices
An American student visits the Middle East’s biggest refugee camp for Syrians in Jordan and discovers a restless and generous people. Zaatari Refugee Camp (Photo by Samantha Schmidt) This story, written and illustrated by Samantha Schmidt, was a runner-up in the...