by Alistair Lyon | 29 Mar 2021 | Educators' Catalog, Human Rights, Politics, 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 Bernd Debusmann Jr | 28 Jan 2021 | Middle East, Politics
Donald Trump knit close ties with Israel and Saudi Arabia. The new U.S. administration under Joe Biden is reassessing relations with the Middle East. Then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden sits with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before a dinner in...
by Alistair Lyon | 8 Jan 2020 | Middle East, Politics, Religion
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 Jonathan Lyons | 3 Dec 2019 | Media Literacy, Middle East
Iran’s nuclear programme has held much of the world in suspense for years. But what if the real story, largely overlooked by the media, is elsewhere? Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, hold a poster of a Hezbollah leader during a rally in Sanaa, Yemen, 3 March...
by Harvey Morris | 14 Oct 2019 | Decoders, Middle East
The Kurds are the world’s largest nation without a state. Yet, when thrust onto the world agenda, questions over the group’s identity invariably arise. Supporters of Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party dance during Nowruz, the Kurdish New Year, in Istanbul,...