by Tira Shubart | 31 Jan 2024 | Decoder Replay, Space
The little space copter that could finally puttered out. But our hopes for stepping on Martian soil? That keeps chugging along. An illustration of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter stands on the Red Planet’s surface. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)...
by Alistair Lyon | 24 Jan 2024 | Decoder Replay, History, Human Rights, Middle East
The Houthis, battle-hardened from years of fighting a civil war in Yemen, have proven to be a formidable adversary to Israel and its allies in the Red Sea. A Houthi forces helicopter approaching the cargo ship Galaxy Leader on 19 November 2023. Yemen’s Houthis...
by Joseph Katusabe | 17 Jan 2024 | Africa, African Leadership Academy, Catholicism, Decoder Replay, Human Rights, Religion, Student Posts, Youth Voices
One parishioner argues that the Church should welcome gay members. The Pope is just now cracking open the door by offering a small blessing. Vatican City with an LGBT flag superimposed to seem waving in welcome. Photo illustration by News Decoder. Editor’s note:...
by Alan Wheatley | 15 Jan 2024 | China, Decoders, Economy
It is the top trading partner for 120 countries. So if China’s economy tanks so will the world. But fears that that will happen may be overblown. A worker checks the growth of mushroom at a modern agricultural company in Laixi city in east China’s Shandong...
by Harvey Morris | 10 Jan 2024 | Decoder Replay
King Charles III now sits on the British throne. In Denmark, Crown Prince Frederik is expected to ascend. What role do these royals have in the modern world? Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark,...
by Helen Womack | 3 Jan 2024 | Decoder Replay, Europe
Millions of people around the world have no rights and live in the shadows, on the margins of society. Migrants are rescued by a Doctors Without Borders rescue team boat in the Mediterranean Sea after leaving Libya trying to reach European soil, 6 October 2023. (AP...
by Jonathan Sharp | 13 Dec 2023 | China, Decoder Replay, History, Human Rights, Politics
Hong Kong youth tried to assert their rights three years ago. The repercussions are still being felt. Agnes Chow fled to Canada and feels she cannot return home. Agnes Chow, center, a prominent pro-democracy activist who was sentenced to jail for her role in an...
by Stuart Grudgings | 6 Dec 2023 | China, Decoder Replay, History, Politics
Map lines drawn on the ocean can’t be seen from a boat deck. But in the South China Sea, a ship crossing these invisible lines could mean war. The Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords crosses the eastern Pacific Ocean in October 2020....
by Irena Grizelj | 29 Nov 2023 | Decoder Replay, Personal Reflections, Politics
Young people are caught in the crossfire in war. Those who survive are left with long term consequences. But we don’t think to include them in peace making. Ukrainian youth huddle in prayer on 8 April 2022, as the group disbands after spending nearly a week...
by Alister Doyle | 22 Nov 2023 | Decoder Replay, Educators' Catalog, Environment
For years, governments have engaged in marathon annual talks to try to end global warming. But they often fall frustratingly short. A giant sculpture tops the Museum of the Future in Dubai. Credit: Lyonerov CC by 4.0 Editor’s note: Beginning 28 November, some...
With COP28 beginning in Dubai this week (late November 2023), help your students contribute to the climate conversation with this article originally published in October 2022 ahead of COP27 in Egypt. Climate journalist Alister Doyle runs down what to expect with these global summits — and why they often fall short.
Exercise: Read the article with your class to cover the background and purpose of COPs. Then, have students find current media coverage of the event. How does today’s coverage compare to Doyle’s piece from one year ago? What, if anything, has changed? Is the general consensus on climate change mitigation more or less optimistic than it was a year ago?