by Sarah Mende | 16 Jan 2020 | China, Human Rights, Podcasts, School Year Abroad, Student Posts, The Kids Are Alright, Youth Voices
Censorship in China allows the government to control the media narratives. How can democracies protect free speech and sort fact from fiction online? A protester demonstrates against censorship, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1 July 2016 (AP Photo/Denis Farrell) Welcome...
by Bernd Debusmann | 14 Jan 2020 | Decoders, Islam, Middle East, Technology
The U.S. used a drone, controlled from an Air Force base thousands of kilometers away, to kill Iran’s top general. Are drones reshaping war? A U.S. MQ-4 Predator drone at Balad Air Base, north of Baghdad, Iraq, 21 June 2007 (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) The death of...
by Alistair Lyon | 8 Jan 2020 | Donald Trump, Islam, Middle East
Iran has signaled a desire to avoid full-out war with the United States. But the conflict between the two nations remains, and Tehran has other options. Mourners attend the funeral for Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, Tehran, Iran, 6 January 2020 (Saeid...
by Susan Ruel | 7 Jan 2020 | Africa
Among pro-democracy protesters around the world in 2019, youth and women in Sudan led a movement that ousted a ruthless, 30-year dictatorship. A Sudanese boy during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan, 18 July 2019 (AP Photo/Mahmoud Hjaj) Authoritarian-style governments have...
by Jonathan Thatcher | 2 Jan 2020 | Asia
By Jonathan Thatcher WEST JAVA, Indonesia – Rizki doesn’t have a job. A high school graduate, he’s what my mother would have called “a nice young man” — well spoken, polite and conservatively dressed. He’s also too short. He may look of average height and be in...
by Martin Langfield | 30 Dec 2019 | Americas, Decoders
Protests across Latin America target common complaints, including poverty and corruption, and offer lessons for much of the rest of the world. A demonstrator holds a flag during anti-government protests in Santiago, Chile, 6 December 2019. (EPA-EFE/ALBERTO VALDES)...
by Tara Heidger | 27 Dec 2019 | Africa, Human Rights, Terrorism, University of Toronto Journalism Fellows
A governor in Nigeria is recruiting 10,000 hunters to try to accomplish what the army has been unable to do: defeat Boko Haram militants. A Nigerian hunter (Photo by Mohammed Chiroma) MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA — The new governor of Nigeria’s Borno State is turning to a...
by Jessica Moody | 23 Dec 2019 | Africa
Only recently, pirates terrorised ships off of East Africa, crippling sea transport in the resource-rich zone. Now, the scourge has shifted to West Africa. A Somali pirate stands near a Taiwanese fishing vessel in Hobyo, Somalia, 23 September 2012 (AP Photo/Farah Abdi...
by Lindsi Reyes | 20 Dec 2019 | Immigration, School Year Abroad, Student Posts, United States, Youth Voices
My father used to tend our garden. Then he was taken from us — changing what I understood about America’s fundamental covenants. He doused the roots of his white carnations, careful not to soak the generous stems that lived inside this hanging pot. They...
by Jim Wolf | 19 Dec 2019 | Asia, United States
The stark missteps recorded in the Afghanistan Papers recalled an historic about-face by an architect of the U.S. war in Vietnam. He was Robert McNamara, the Defense secretary who played a key role in escalating the conflict, only to end up wrestling with his...