News Decoder

Being alone is not the same as lonely Society places value on being social. When we choose to bow out, people wonder what's wrong. But sometimes healthy "me time" means: Just me.

Society places value on being social. When we choose to bow out, people wonder what’s wrong. But sometimes healthy “me time” means: Just me.

🗞️ Mahara Mmangisa reflects on social dynamics, friendships and learning to live with social boundaries.

news-decoder.com/being-alone-...

Is judging people on "intelligence" the smart thing to do? Society often puts people into one of two categories: Intelligent and worthy of attention, or stupid and ignored. But who sets the standards we must live up to?

🎓 Society often puts people into one of two categories: Intelligent and worthy of attention or stupid and ignored. But who sets the standards we must live up to?

🗞️ Anotidaishe Chinyadza reflects on intelligence and how our perceptions of intelligence shape lives.

news-decoder.com/is-judging-p...

At what age do you earn the right to speak up? Children are often told: pipe down, keep quiet, sshhh! But just maybe they have things to say that are worth hearing.

🤫 Children are often told: pipe down, keep quiet, sshhh! But just maybe they have things to say that are worth hearing.

🗞️ Ngesihle Dlamini speaks out on #silence and how it shapes social dynamics in #eSwatini.

news-decoder.com/at-what-age-...

Can we help plants thrive even as we consume them? On World Wildlife Day, the United Nations asks us to consider all the things we eat to keep us healthy and think: What if they all disappear?

🐢 Today is World Wildlife Day.

🗞️To celebrate the day, we publish a selection News Decoder stories that explore everything from biodiversity to nutritious algae to the history of tea.

news-decoder.com/can-we-help-...

#WorldWildlifeDay #Biodiversity #Environment

What happens when we grow cold to suffering? We are faced with a world full of disaster and suffering but feel powerless. The result? We stop caring.

Hamza Mohamed Ramadan Zahran explores the quiet power of love and empathy to bring about meaningful change.

news-decoder.com/what-happens...

Decoder Replay: We can't stop scrolling. Whose fault is it? Some think Big Tech is to blame for our inability to get off the social media that has left so many of us depressed. Why is it so hard to turn off the phone?

📱 Social media platforms and apps are so addictive they're having an impact on our attention span, mood and physical and mental wellbeing.

🗞️ Haley Davis explores brain rot, doomscrolling and the effect of phone overuse on our metal health.

news-decoder.com/decoder-repl...

How I unlearned the anger I grew up with Shouting and screaming in anger pushes people away. When we take responsibility for our emotions, we can reach understanding and deepen our relationships.

🗞️ Rihab Smati reflects on learning to recognise, address and communicate feelings of anger before they become problematic.

news-decoder.com/how-i-unlear...

#anger #communication #learning #studentstory

When it isn't what the doctor ordered With access to healthcare limited and expensive, many in Côte d’Ivoire and elsewhere turn to counterfeit drugs.

💊 With access to healthcare limited and expensive, many in Côte d’Ivoire and elsewhere turn to counterfeit drugs.

🗞️ Haude Estefania Yapi explores the effects of Côte d’Ivoire’s illegal medicine trade.

news-decoder.com/when-it-isnt...

#medicine #publichealth #studentstory

Is equality unreasonable? February 20 is World Day of Social Justice. Around the globe, the majority of people accept that some have less while others have more. How does that play out?

⚖️ Today is World Day of Social Justice.

🗞️ To mark the occasion, we bring you a selection of News Decoder stories that address global issues of #inequity, #inequality and the struggle for #socialjustice around the world.

news-decoder.com/is-equality-...

When education stopped making sense Young people across the globe are taking to the streets. In Morocco one demand is clear: Give us an education that helps us navigate the world we live in.

Ahmed Elias Koudir looks at the root causes of Gen Z #protests in #Morocco and how #education is key to understanding and addressing present frustrations.

news-decoder.com/when-educati...

Decoder: Can you trust what's on the medicine label? Natural and herbal medicines are much cheaper than prescription pills. But whether they work and are safe is another story.

⚠️ Natural and herbal medicines are much cheaper than prescription pills. But whether they work and are safe is another story.

🗞️ Maggie Fox decodes the difference between drugs that go through rigorous testing and those that don’t. Link to full story in bio.

news-decoder.com/decoder-can-...

Does facing your own death give you a new lease on life? Every moment could be our last opportunity in life, and this acknowledgement gives weight to our actions while stripping away trivial distractions.

💀 “Death is not our enemy. It is our teacher.”

🗞️ Jack Kapund Kambale of African Leadership Academy reflects on childhood brushes with death in Democratic Republic of Congo and explores how confronting your own mortality can give you a new lease on life.

news-decoder.com/does-facing-...

Should generosity require reciprocity? We learn that it is good to share what we have with those less fortunate. But when those around us simply take, important social bonds begin to fray.

We learn that it is good to share what we have with those less fortunate. But when those around us simply take, important social bonds begin to fray.

🗞️ Ayira Browne explores help turned to duty and changing attitudes toward generosity, entitlement and community.

news-decoder.com/should-gener...

Weighing the good and bad of technology Many argue that technology comes with high social and environmental costs. Others say innovation will save our planet. Can both be right?

📱 Many argue that technology comes with high social and environmental costs. Others say innovation will save our planet. Can both be right?

🗞️ AyanfeOluwa Ayanlade tackles whether technology will be the cause the environmental collapse or the key to saving it.

news-decoder.com/weighing-the...

You lost them at "Hello" | News Decoder Language shapes how people perceive each other. Small differences in pronunciation can affect who is welcomed or dismissed. But language can also connect us.

🗣️The languages we speak and the way we speak shape how we are received by others.

🗞️ Student reporter Fatma Ezzahra Rziga explores how our mastery of language and accents affects how we’re perceived and the degree to which we are accepted or rejected by others.

news-decoder.com/you-lost-the...

The thawing of our tallest peaks The Himalayan mountains hold the largest concentration of ice and snow outside the Arctic and Antarctic regions. What happens when that begins to melt?

🗞️ Sajad Hameed and Rehan Qayoom Mir speak to Kashmir locals and climate scientists to find out more about the effects of the Himalaya's changing climate and its effect on local communities.

news-decoder.com/the-thawing-...

Decoder Replay: Is the United States aging out of democracy? For 250 years, much of the world has looked at the United States as the model democracy. Is that still the case?

🗽 For 250 years, much of the world has looked at the United States as the model democracy. Is that still the case?

news-decoder.com/decoder-repl...

Young people are turning to AI-based chatbots for support with mental health challenges.

🗞️ Jasmine Ryu Won Kang explores the ethical issues, limitations and dangers of relying on AI for therapy.

news-decoder.com/can-robot-th...

Media in Bangladesh get caught up in anti-India attacks Frustrated with their government and inflamed by the death of an activist, mobs turn their anger on the press.

Frustrated with their government and inflamed by the death of an activist, mobs turn their anger on the press.

🗞️ Tauseef Ahmad and Sajid Raina report on recent attacks on media outlets and rising political unrest in Bangladesh.

news-decoder.com/media-in-ban...

Cuts to U.S. health aid jeopardizes a global success story Tens of millions of people get life-saving treatment thanks to decades of U.S. government funds that have now evaporated. In Africa, this is a wake-up call.

🗞️ Georges Ki-Zerbo examines the effects of U.S. funding cuts on HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment programs across the African continent.

news-decoder.com/cuts-to-u-s-...

The danger of overdoing over-the-counter medicine There's vitamin D for bones, ginkgo biloba for memory, St. John's wort for your mood, zinc for an immune boost. If it's all natural, what's the problem?

Tourists flock to India’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites. But without a conservation plan that addresses pollution, will these historic places survive another century?

🗞️ Rajeev Tyagi tackles the pollution and climate realities that threaten cultural monuments across the globe.

tinyurl.com/47z45f4b

Decoder Replay: A week of chaos for one Alpine town At the World Economic Forum, important people discuss global problems. For the people who live in Davos, its a week of cars and people clogging the streets.

⛰ As world leaders descend on the Swiss mountain town of Davos for the World Economic Forum (WEF), this prize-winning student story, originally published May 2025, looks at the effects of the WEF on the day-to-day lives of locals.

news-decoder.com/decoder-repl...

💊 Vitamin D for bones, gingko biloba for memory, St. John’s Wort for your mood, zinc for an immune boost. If it’s all natural, what’s the problem?

🗞️ Mahima Adey explores the risks of using herbal remedies and supplements without seeking sufficient medical guidance.

news-decoder.com/the-danger-o...

Bringing back birds from the brink of extinction Among the lush greenery of Maui, some spectacular birds are dying out. A group of conservationists is working to bring these populations back to life.

🐣 Deirdre Pike takes us to Hawaii to meet the island’s birds and the people at the heart of the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project.

news-decoder.com/bringing-bac...

Decoder Replay: Isn't all for one and one for all a good thing? Under NATO, 32 countries have pledged to defend each other. Is the United States the glue that holds it all together?

With tensions rising over the United States and #Greenland, our Decoder Replay looks back at John West’s July 2024 piece on why #NATO was formed, how it has grown and how it comes into play in times of #conflict.

news-decoder.com/decoder-repl...

Decoder: The United States as guardian or bully Can national sovereignty be dismissed when a superpower claims a sphere of influence? Can U.S. economic interests in Venezuela be considered national security?

🗞️ Political Scientist Daniel Warner decodes the implications of the recent U.S. incursion into Venezuela.

news-decoder.com/decoder-the-...

Tanzanian parents struggle with misconceptions of autism Raising a child with autism carries special challenges. Confronting the ignorance of society shouldn't be one of them.

🧩 Raising a child with autism carries unique challenges.

🗞️ Student writer Ramona-Blessing shines a light on autism and the reality of raising children on the autism spectrum in Tanzania.

news-decoder.com/tanzanian-pa...

Paradise on Earth: A student podcast This prize-winning student podcast explores how faith and power — forces that can be used for good — may be misused for personal gain. The result is tragic.

🎙️ Listen to this student-made podcast from Ghana.

“Jonestown, Guyana: Paradise on Earth” took home third prize in News Decoder’s 18th Non-Fiction Storytelling Contest.

news-decoder.com/paradise-on-...

Ousting Venezuela's leader was high on Trump's to-do list To understand how the United States could send troops to capture Nicolás Maduro, it helps to review the relationship during Donald Trump's first term in office.

🗞️ To put into context why Trump sent troops to capture Maduro, we republish a 2019 piece by Bernd Debusmann that explains the political and economic relationship between Venezuela and the United States.

news-decoder.com/ousting-vene...

Should schools provide more than an education? Many teachers find that their students can't learn if they are hungry or cold. But that often means providing food and clothing out of their own pockets.

🧑‍🏫 Many teachers find that students can’t learn if they are hungry or cold. But that often means providing food and clothing out of their own pockets.

🗞️ Angelica Recierdo speaks to the educators carrying a growing burden of care for their students.

tinyurl.com/33zh76x5