by Alistair Lyon | 29 Mar 2021 | Conflict, Educators' Catalog, Human Rights, World
A civil war in Yemen marked by foreign meddling has created an unparalleled humanitarian disaster with no end in sight, even if a truce were agreed upon. A malnourished child waits to be fed at a hospital in Sana’a, Yemen, 21 March 2021. (EPA-EFE/YAHYA ARHAB) A...
News Decoder is backed by dozens of veteran correspondents who have covered many of the world’s biggest and most complicated stories of the past half-century. Mentors to students in our partner schools, the correspondents are experts in their own right in many of the world’s most intractable and consequential issues. Cutbacks in spending on foreign news means some big stories don’t receive the attention they deserve in mainstream Western media. But Alistair Lyon, a former Middle Eastern diplomatic correspondent for Reuters, won’t let News Decoder readers forget the humanitarian disaster underway in Yemen. Have your students read this article to learn about the complex conflict gripping Yemen and ask them to identify other ongoing humanitarian crises that are not grabbing headlines.
by David Schlesinger | 1 Feb 2021 | Americas, Asia, China, Donald Trump, Joe Biden
A top secret White House document, surprisingly declassified, says the U.S. should seek “primacy” against rival China and promote ties with India. Chinese leader Xi Jinping invites then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) to review an honour guard during a...
by Jonathan Sharp | 1 Jun 2020 | China, Future of Democracy, Human Rights
Hong Kong youth are protesting again against the city’s rulers in China. The stakes are sky-high for the world’s economy and, potentially, security. A protester in Hong Kong, China, 24 May 2020 (EPA-EFE/JEROME FAVRE) Is capitalist, free-wheeling Hong Kong...
by Jim Wolf | 19 Dec 2019 | Americas, Asia, Donald Trump, Islam, United States
The U.S. sends troops far from home on an ill-defined mission. Leaders lie. The conflict becomes a quagmire. That’s Afghanistan — or Vietnam redux. Family members of a U.S. soldier who died in Afghanistan look up as military helicopters fly over graveside...
by Bernd Debusmann | 24 Jan 2019 | Terrorism
Fewer people are being killed by terrorism. But more countries are being hit, and more and more people consider violence against civilians justifiable. Roses on a sports shoe, next to a trail of blood, outside a music club in Paris, France, where 90 people were killed...