Competiton #3 - THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED
06 February 2026
Making connections through opinions
Welcome to this week’s competition. Every Monday at 10am UTC, a new competition opens and the winners are announced on Friday at 2pm UTC. If you win, you’ll earn three stars, and your entry will be pinned to the top of the discussion.
This week, you’ve been learning about voting and democracy. Democracy means people have a say in how decisions are made. In a democracy, people need information to help them understand what is happening and make choices.
Does the news help people understand what is happening and help them to make important decisions about their lives, communities, or country?
Choose one news story you have seen, read or heard about.
Your task is to explain whether this news story helps or makes it harder for everyday people to make important decisions about their lives, communities, or country.
To enter the competition
- Choose one news story you have seen, read or heard about
- Say why this news story helps or makes it harder for everyday people to make important decisions about their lives, communities, or country.
- Use evidence to support your opinion (a fact, a quote, or something that happened).
You may want to start like this:
One news story I have read about is...
I think this news story helps/ does not help people make important decisions because [your opinion]. One piece of evidence is [a fact, a quote, an example from a reliable source]. This matters because [why you think this is important].
Write up to 100 words.
Winners will be announced at the end of the week.
🥇 Well done to the competition winners for this week for your thoughtful and reflective answers!
Comments (158)
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I think this news story helps democracy because it clearly explains voting and people's rights.
One piece of evidence is that it shares facts about who can vote and why voting matters.
This matters because informed people can make better decisions and take part in democracy confidently. -
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What news story are you referring to?
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but it news report that is giving to the country. so that more people can vote so that there can be big more, watch there are more for 16/17 people in the world so 16 years people can vote for there country and the more country can vote
THANK YOU OF IS TO WORK.. -
Can you pls state what news story you're referring to so we would know what you're talking about.
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TY l know
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I live in Indonesia, Jakarta. Of course, you might think that Indonesia is a beautiful country with over 17000 islands. But let's take a closer look behind all of the beauty that this country holds, because there are serious problems that happens here because of power imbalance. You might be wondering, what does power imbalance mean? Power imbalance happens when decisions are made by those in authority without fully listening to citizens, and when listening to opinions are viewed as obstacles and not contribution, democracy weakens.
One piece of evidence that I have is coming from the Indonesians academic ability test or also known as TKA. The test was held in November 2025, and many students and teachers were protesting because the test results and how the government reacted did not consider their concerns. In my opinion, a democratic system should teach more than just subjects, it should teach how students participate, critical thinking, and the value of being heard. And when the government ignores that, it sends a message to the younger generation that their voice doesn't matter. Ignoring opinions in education fields does not only harm student but also harms democracy it self, and if a democracy is broken its not because of people that stopped speaking but its because of no one was listening. -
i think the news helps improve demoncracy because:
if a news that can help improve the country is online the country will try to do as shown or said in the news. -
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What news are you talking about? I feel like you can add more, a lot more.
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I think this news story makes democracy harder in elections around the world misinformation and fake news have actually changed how people think about democracy and votes. in recent elections ai generated fake videos were posted online which seemed like real news but was actually fake. one piece of evidence for this is the recent incident in Romania where an entire election had to be cancelled because of fake videos, misinformation and manipulated content that spread widely and confused a lot of people. This matters because if fake news continues to spread then there will be no trustworthy news then people will start losing hope in voting itself which leads to less participation and there will be no real democracy at all.
signing off: Fair minded elephant -
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts fairminded_elephant!
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I read news paper named Prothom Alo (which is in our region in Bangladesh ). I think this news story helps democracy because it can give the citizens clear informations.
The news i read recently in Prothom Alo was about elections and people's right to vote. One piece of evidence is that the article explained how it helps the citizens to choose their leader in a fair vote. This matters because fair democracy always works on fair vote and peoples awareness. For a example, when the media shares the true informations, the citizens could easily make their choice's and take their part in referendum. -
Hey fellow topical talkers! There is this particular country I know that claims to be a democratic nation but has no sense of democracy whatsoever. This country's electoral commission is known by citizens for constantly rigging its elections in favour of the most powerful political parties. This is completely anti-democratic. Since we claim that democracy is a government for the people by the people, not considering the people's choice in the leaders they want is wrong in a democratic state. A very practical example is when a political party that previously held power in the last tenure and made life miserable for its citizens was brought back into power again, and everyone knows fully well that the majority of the citizens did not vote this political party back. This goes against democracy, as the people's choice comes before anything else. In my own opinion, elections should be fair, no matter the circumstance.
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I think this news story does not help people make important decisions because it feels like someone else is deciding what matters for you. I watched a story about climate protests where every headline shouted chaos, arrests, and “city in crisis,” but it barely explained what the laws or solutions actually were. One piece of evidence is that people in my own neighborhood were panicking about rules that didn’t even exist yet. This matters because when news makes you feel angry or scared instead of informed, it tricks you into reacting instead of thinking, and that keeps everyday people from making real choices about their lives, their community, or their future.
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I totally agree with this. News are meant to keep people updated on the status quo and aware of how our world is changing, not cause fear mongering.
Such instances, where an event is presented without explanation, is Tiktok, and I've seen it too often. It is most likely because it isn't an official website/app meant to publish news, so there is more liberty regarding who can take the role of a reporter, without necessarily having proved themselves as trustworthy, objective or qualified.
For this reason, in my opinion, it would be better to catch up with the news – local and worldwide alike – from official sources. Even that, however, is rather tricky nowadays. -
I also agree with this. I think the news should stick to telling us how the world is changing, we already have enough troubles and now we are afraid of just walking outside because we think something is going to happen to us.
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I thought on the topic I wanted, and I decided on the topic that is should young people of 16 years of age vote and is it age or maturity in my opinion I suggest that 16-year-old should vote only if they can pass an aptitude test given to them and to test their maturity and now it can affect the country and the reason for writing that test is to separate the mature and the immature one so that they will not make the wrong decision and they can also receive council from their parents.
I think it makes democracy easy because one the government will know who the youth want and why they want him and it also teaches the young that they have a voice that can be heard and not ignored by any one and if you notice the world is changing in various ways and we need to adapt a fact well known to me is that we are tomorrows leaders and we need this to show that we will not make the mistakes of our predecessors and we will show that we can accomplish anything if we work hard and in this case be able to choose who will govern use because it is affecting us to as I write to you today. THANK YOU -
I agree because... it helps us to get useful information and be sure of that we do
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hi
about lowering the voting age, I would say it don't have a very huge advantages because 95% of children of age group 13 to 17 yrs old are on the media and are familiar with the news around them, this means that they will be delighted if given the opportunity to express themselves .
But on the other hand voting is a responsibility that needs proper attention and critical thinking it comes with a lot of expectation and requirements which some teen can not meet up to because some of them are still focused on academic excellent and if the age for voting is lowered it can lead to become a source of distraction and failure.
if lowered it can affect democracy by leading to democracy instability because if the decision is made and the after effect affect many citizens this can make them change the rule or bring about other decisions that will be hard for citizens to adapt to .
democracy is a way of choosing leaders so it should not be used to distract young growing mind that are filled with potentials.
evidence will voting should remain at 18, during the poll at the students websites 79% agreed that voting remains at 18 while 21% disagreed .stating that most 16 are not interested in political issues and are not up to the age of decision making and if allowed manipulation rate, and decision made not by choice but by force will be the result.
SOURCE STUDENT ROOM NEWS. -
I think the news does help people understand what’s happening around them, especially with many of the trump things.
Things president donald trump wanted to do-
1. Take over Greenland as it doesn’t belong to a state or country (i think)
2. He kidnapped the president of Venezuela
3. He’s been giving valuable information to putin, Russia’s president/primeminister.
I think that younger people should be allowed to vote as the party in charge will affect them too, especially with Mike tap where we are, or Keir Starmer, Green Party or the conservatives.
I’ve been told that the conservatives were in charge for 16 years running, and they weren’t very good or nice.
Communism is where the party in charge makes it that everyone in the county is the same, doing the same things, looking the same and living the same. Communism is bad as it takes away unique-ness and creativity. -
I think that everyone should be able to have a say but if someone has an opinion they can always tell a 16 year old and they can vote. I think if there is news about where you live everyone should have the right to get informed because everyone has there own arguments and opinions.
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I think that if teenages of 16-17 yares of age begin to vote it can build their minds for the future and other big plans they have in mind like;
1. their future occupation
2. their life style and many more -
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Its a good comment but it needs more information.
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The winter Olympics displays incredible talent of the competitors. They have years of training, dedication and natural ability, showcased in sport such as skiing, snowboarding and figure skating. However technology plays a huge role as well. Advanced equipment like aerodynamic suits, high -tech skates, helps athletes perform at their very best. Furthermore, sophisticated timing systems, scoring technologies and even the venue themselves are often designed to enhance the competition and ensure fairness.
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I think the Supreme Court of India 's order today to form a water tribunal helps every day people make important decisions because it provides legal certainty for the future.
The court directed the national government to resolve a dispute between two major southern states Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, over the Pennaiyar river . One piece of evidence is the court's strict one -month deadline for the government to act. This matters because for the millions of people in these region, water is not just for drinking , it is their primary source of income. With a clear legal process finally starting ,farmers can now make better long -term decision about which crop to plant and how to invest in their land. -
I think this news story does not help people make important decisions(mainly elections) because it makes the public feel unsafe and unsure about politics in Tamil Nadu. A famous Tamil actor has started a political party, and many young people aged 18–20 strongly support him, while elderly people are worried about the future of the state. This matters because a public meeting held in Karur reportedly caused nearly 40 deaths due to overcrowding, which makes people fear large gatherings and question whether leaders are truly responsible for public safety.
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News Story: The UK General Election
One news story I have seen is about the UK General Election. This is when people in the country vote to choose who will lead the government and make important decisions. The news explained when the election would happen, who the main leaders are, and what they want to change if they win.
I think this news helps everyday people to make important decisions. This is because it gives information about different political parties and their ideas. When people understand what each leader believes in, they can choose who they think will do the best job. This is very important in a democracy because everyone’s voice matters.
However, sometimes the news can be confusing if it uses difficult words or focuses too much on arguments. This can make it harder for some people to understand what is really happening. Overall, I believe the news mostly helps people, because it teaches them about their country and helps them take part in voting and democracy. -
I have been reading about 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who was detained by ICE and has now finally been allowed to return to his home in Minneapolis.
I think news stories about him will help empower people to choose to raise their voices to injustice, as I believe the public outcry when Liam was taken helped significantly in his release.
Evidence includes the CBC news article title: “Judge orders U.S. to free 5-year-old boy, father detained by ICE in Minnesota. Images of preschooler Liam Conejo Ramos surrounded by ICE agents sparked outcry" which shows the power of people speaking up. -
I think the news can help people understand what is happening and make better decisions.
One news i have read in Daily News Egypt was about the National Council for childhood and Motherhood working to stop child marriage in Egypt. The news explained that even even though marriage under 18 is not allowed, the council wants to discuss new laws with punishment for caregivers or people who do this. This helps people understand that child marriage is dangerous and can harm girls health, education and future.
The news also mentioned that helping girls by teaching them skills and supporting them in their education journey with the help from UNFPA.
To sum up, I do think that this news helps people make better decisions because it explains the problem clearly and shows how the country is trying to protect children. This is important in a democratic climate as people need information to understand and support good choices. -
One news story I have read about is the spread of false political information on social media during elections. This makes it harder for people to make important decisions because misleading posts often trigger fear or anger instead of sharing accurate facts. For example, during recent elections, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X removed or labelled thousands of posts after fact-checkers confirmed false claims about voting or candidates. However, many posts were already viewed and shared by millions before action was taken. This matters because misinformation can influence votes, increase polarisation, and reduce trust in democratic institutions worldwide today online.
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One news story that I have read about is the launch of the 24/7 animal cruelty hotline by the Montreal SPCA after there was a large increase in the number of cases of animal cruelty. This news story helps people make crucial decisions because it opens their eyes to the suffering that is usually invisible, also putting more emphasis on how serious the situation really is, and how the common person can make a difference when they witness the suffering. One piece of evidence is, In 2024, there were more than 9,000 cases of cruelty reported, 25 calls made every day, and now the common person can report cases anytime.. This matters because animals cannot speak for themselves, and without public awareness and action, their suffering would continue unseen and ignored. I wish this 24/7 hotline can be accessed in all countries around the world so all animals would be safer and beloved.
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One news story I have read about is the rising global temperatures affecting agriculture. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because it allows farmers to choose better crops for the changing seasons. One piece of evidence is that news reports often share scientific data about rainfall patterns. This matters because, in a democracy, people need information to protect their food supply and the economy. When we have the facts, we can vote for leaders who care about our environment. 🌍🌾🇧🇩
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One news story I have read about is the terrifying rise of AI-generated "deepfakes" during elections. Honestly , this story has been stuck in my head for days because it feels like we can't now decide if this thing is reel or fake . I saw a report about how someone used AI to create a video of a politician that looked and sounded 100% real , but the things they were saying were totally fake ! It's just so frustrating to think that anyone with any device can control what we see and hear.
I think this news story makes it much harder for everyday people to make important decisions . Think about it : in democracy, our power is our vote . But we can only make a better choice if we have the truth. If I am scrolling through social media and see a fake video , how am I supposed to know it's a lie ? It creates this huge cloud of doubt.
When people stop trusting the news, they stop caring and that is a really bad problem for our communities. It makes us feel like we are know controlled by robots .
One peace of evidence isa study I read which showed that misinformation is now one of the biggest global risks . It is no just a small problem it's everywhere! This matters because democracy is build on trust and shared facts . If we can't detect or even agree on what is real , how can we build a good future ? It really unfair for my generation to grow up in a world where truth is so hard to find 😞. We need to fight back and demand honestly because our voices deserve to be based on reality not computer- made lies . -
In my country,The July Revolution helps people make decisions about life.Through the fall of the fascist government in the July Revolution,the people regained their voice. For long time, citizens suffered from oppression, injustice and their rights. The revolution became a powerful expression of the people’s anger.It showed that❝when people stand united, even the strongest dictatorship can fall❞.This revolution inspired people to fight for justice,freedom and a better future for their country.
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I think the news stories helps people make important decisions because they allow us to be able to know about what is actually happening in their country. For example, South Korean president suddenly declared martial law last year trying to dictate South Korea and break the peace. The formal South Korean president even tried to suppress broadcasters and journalists, but they still conveyed the news to the Korean people. This was the only way for Korean people to be able to know the situation at that time. Likewise, news is not just something that only gives some normal new information, but it's a bridge connecting situation/incident of the country and the citizens who have the right to vote and sovereignty of the country in democracy.
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Hi, I'm from Indonesia. If you follow the news in Indonesia,you should have known about the large demonstration in August 2025. If you haven't heard about it, I will explain it for you. So, the main reason of the large scale demonstration is the amount of wages that are receives by the House of Representatives members. Most people think that the People Representatives is just a institution filled with incompetent politician. Many aspirations from the people have been ignored by the House of Representatives and there are also many picture of them sleeping during meeting which caused a negative view of The House of Representatives. In early August 2025, there has been a leaks about their wages which is very big compared to the average wages of workers in Indonesia. In 25 August 2025, a small scaled and controlled demonstration started. However in 28 August, a online motorcycle taxi driver, Affan Kurniawan was runned over by a special forces vehicle. This caused a large scaled demonstration in Indonesia which only stopped in September 2025. This thing proved the incompetency of the Indonesian government. Many corruption have also happened in the government since a long time ago. If this kept happening, Indonesia could fall to a economic crisis.
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One news story i have read about is reopening the Rafha border, crossing between Gaza and Egypt on February 2 of this current year.I think this news story helps everyday people make important decision because it gives critical context on humanitarian acces in the conflict.One evidence is that few people that were sick and injured were allowed to leave.This matters because now families can get more prepared on the sanitary emergency that there is in Gaza.
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I strongly agree that news story help citizens to take important decisions because it's a way to inform people about reality.
For example,one news story I have read about is the fire that occured in Crans-Montana.
There are different evidence which prove that the fire was caused by the spark of a firework which set down the ceiling,causing the death of 40 teenagers.
The most important information is shared days after the accident: no checks were carried out at the venue since 2020.
I think this news story helps people know reality: the risk of dying due to the few security checks.
So the important decision the government took in Italy is to increase safety controls and to increase the number of emergency exits.
This really matters because we can save lives with a new important decision,a new action. -
You people may think that indonesia is a wonderfull place but actually it's what you think. Personally i have lived in Jakarta my whole life but to be more specific, i live in Jakarta Utara (North Jakarta). One day after school i saw this news story that caught my eye. It's about a massive corruption scandal at the state-owned oil company, Pertamins. Iinterpol has issued a "Red Notice" for a person, i won't expose their name but he is a suspect in a corruption case estimated to have cost state 285 trillion IDR (roughly $17 billion USD). The investigation alleges that between 2018 and 2023, high-ranking officials and business leaders conspired to import crude oil at inflated price from overseas instead of sourcing it domestically. Until now my local gas stations dont even have the oil or gas to fill up cars, only one type of gas that was provided for spesific type of cars. So now me and my family have no choice and forced to fill up pertrol at Pertamina.
This really effect the Indonesia economy, leaking bilions of dollars/IDR. Seeing this story, seeing the sheer scale of this big loss helps citizens understand why certain public services might me underfunded and encourages them to demand more transparency from state-owned enterprises. -
One news story I have read about is the recent release of approximately three million pages of documents from the Jeffery Epstein investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, which includes new details of his crimes and connections to powerful figures.This story makes it more difficult for everyday people ton make important decisions about their lives, communities, or country.It deepens public distrust in government institutions and the justice system by suggesting that influential individuals may receive special treatment or avoid full accountability.This uncertainty can make citizens less confident in voting, supporting policies, or engaging in civic matters, as it becomes harder to trust leaders and systems.Evidence includes the fact that the Department of Justice recently released one of its largest batches of files around three million pages which has sparked widespread media coverage and ongoing public debate about the fairness and thoroughness of past investigations, further increasing skepticism and confusion for ordinary people making important decisions.
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One of the recent pieces of news in india that has a significant impact is the leakage of competitive ezam papers, such as the NEET exam paper leak controversy. This piece of news that has made the lives of students and parents more difficult because it shakes the faith in a system that holds the keys to their future.
For lakhs of students, the result of one exam (especially NEET) can mean the difference between college and career and even financial security. When news emerged about the leakage of question papers and the sudden surge in marks, honest students were left bewildered and worried. Many of them had worked hard for years, only to realize that their hard work has no longer a guarantee for a fair deal. Some parents had even held back on important decisions, such as college admissions, loans, or shifting to another city, because of the disputed results.
The fact that the matter was admitted by the authorities themselves and investigations were called for makes it clear that it was no mere rumour. When such news emerges, it not only impacts the toppers or rankers but also every student who has worked hard and followed the rules. This story matters because when the trust breaks, young people start doubting not just results, but the whole system itself. And a country can't move forward when it's students feel the ground beneath them is unstable. -
One news story I have read about is the surge of federal agents and ICE activity across the country. I think this news story makes it harder for people to make important decisions because there's uncertainty about immigration enforcement. One piece of evidence is that many families don't know what their rights are or whether they should contact the authorities. This matters because people need clear information to feel safe in their communities.
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one news story I have read about is the global climate change.i think this news story does not help people make important decisions because the weather changing a lot can cancel people plans can be canceled or ruin.one piece of evidence is.james made a plan for a hot day tomorrow he wanted to go to the beach and have fun with his friends around like 4pm tomorrow afternoon.james wakes up at 11am and sees that its freezing cold outside right now and raining so he checks the weather forecast and sees its going to be raining all day and that hes plans are canceled because of the weather condition.this matters because. if someone had really important plans to attend and the weather change from what the expected the weather to be when they made there plans.
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One of the news stories that I have read about is the recent news about climate change and warnings about extreme weather. I believe that this news story is important for helping people make key decisions because it links scientific information with reality. For instance, the news media reported that scientists about climate change have said that " record breaking heatwaves and floods are no longer rare events but a new normal". It is important because people can take action about climate change policies, communities and even change their behaviour, such as saving energy, because of scientific information rather than disregarding the dangers.
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I want to talk about basic economic problems here in Nigeria.
first I shall begin with the introduction to the topic.
Basic economic problems rise because human wants are plenty and unlimited while resources are limited(SCARCE).
What to produce:this deals with choosing the type and quantity of products produced. -
One news story I saw was an Egyptian TV show discussing the game Roblox.
The main message was that many Roblox players have been getting hacked. Our parents had told us this a million times, but we kept arguing that it was a safe game. However, watching the show finally made us change our minds.
Seeing the reality on the show gave us a different perspective. It helped us understand the danger and make a better decision to protect ourselves, rather than just ignoring our parent's advice. -
I think younger people should be able to vote from the age of 10 and it is the most quiet people who shout the loudest and who are most understood by others
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One news story I have read about is about a man who stole from a shop and when he was caught he was set on fire immediately. I think this news story helps people to make important decisions about how their country should be run. My reason is because the man who might have stolen from the person's shop might have wanted to feed his family, because he had applied for job every where and no one could accept him. the man might have not gone to school and was not able to learn any skill so that might have been the reason why he stole but because of he was not really heard they thought he just had bad intentions and that was it. One piece of evidence is , we say that we have the right to be heard and at that point his right was violated. If citizens are able to vote, and based on that news citizens that want change would vote for a president that would make sure that right is been adhered to, so this is why i think it is important, because no one knows what everyone is passing through and people whose news story are heard they can be given a better life and bit by bit the world would be changing. Why I choose to say this is because there are lots of people in Nigeria who are not heard all because of this same reason and up until now it is still going on.
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I agree with majestic deer because many Nigerians lack basic amenities and are desperate for survival. Basic things like access to clean water and medical services are a luxury for most Nigerians.Some people do these various things (unhealthy practices) just to pay hospital bills, pay school fees,or even feed their families, not because they are bad people. Many Nigerians do this because they might not be able to get a job or they couldn't futher their education any more so they droped out from school so if he or she have nothing to do they either find a skill they are good at and hustle or they do something legal.
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I agree with majestic deer. In Nigeria we are currently navigating how we can stop a major problem affecting most Nigerians which is access to proper Medical Care; In Nigeria, we have less equipment. A week ago, a heart breaking news of a young rising star that was bitten by a snake. The news indicates that there were three snakes in her room, and was unaware, a snake bit her while she slept,she woke up and tied the hand and was rushed to the hospital. The first hospital didn't have anti-venom, the next, a Federal Medical Centre in the nation's Capital, didn't give her proper attention. Rather than assessing the situation and administering the anti-venom immediately, the nurses fixed a drip and loosened what she had used to tie the hand prevent the venom from moving to other parts of her body, her condition deteriorated quickly and she died. In my opinion, the lady died of medical negligence not really because she was bitten by a snake, and this is something that happens in the health sector every other day in Nigeria. An important decision for people to make from this story is that, people must be proactive by making sure to keep their enviroments clean, make sure that every hole or opening around the house are tightly sealed, and people must learn the culture of Fumigating their environment as regularly as possible to keep harmful reptiles and insects far away from our homes.
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One news story I read about is Huda Kattan being criticised for a social media post about Iran. I think this news helps people make important decisions because it shows how powerful online influence can be. When a famous person shares something unclear, it can spread fast and cause boycotts or anger before facts are checked. This matters because it can make people react emotionally instead of thoughtfully, and it might stop others from speaking up at all out of fear of being attacked. The news reminds us to think carefully before trusting or sharing posts.
In a democracy, respecting different views and discussing calmly helps people learn. So should people with huge platforms have extra responsibility in democracy? -
In the past ,ive seen a news about some teens bullying another teen and i think this kind of news help us understand that making a world with less bullying we need to be more careful about what we are saying to our classmates because they might be in a bad mood and we might make them feel worse even if its just a joke.
It also makes us think whether kids are really saying what happens to school to their parents and if they really believe them to tell them what really happened.As a result,i believe it is very important to teach kids from a small age that we shouldn't be handling problems by threatening or hitting someone and we should try to talk to them instead and that we shouldnt do bad things to others that might hurt them physically or mentally just because they are different because that would count as a kind of racism which also can be qualified as a form of bullying.
There are also small differences ive noticed from different countries and cultures that have slightly different views about bullying with us which is also very interesting because in my opinion,talking about bullying to others that have different opinions might also help you to be on their perspective and think about problems about bullying on a different level.
One piece of evidence was a story ive heard on the news which i dont remember very well from what country a girl suicided because she was bullied my 3 other girls and she didnt told anyone because they were threatening her that if she told anyone they would bully her worse. -
Hello! I live in Spain and I recently watched a news story about the regularization of the immigrants (which caught my eye since I am learning about this at school), this means that the government is planning to give many immigrants that are living in the country the nationality along with the rights.
I think this news story helps people make important decisions by explaining to them what the situation is and how it could affect society with true facts and not just rumours, thank to this you are able to know if you want to vote for parties that are in favour of mass immigration or not.
This matters because depending on what you vote you can help a lot of people that comes looking for a better quality of life. -
A news story that has been a talk among people is the Middle East Diplomacy and Conflict. A war happening between Israel and Iran, as we call the "Axis of Resistance." The concerning part is President Trump of the U.S, where I live, threatened Iran with "great power," specifically military strikes to end Iran's violence. The Iranian Supreme Leader responded by threatening "A Regional war" if the U.S does attack. This means if the U.S attacks, Iran won't only attack the U.S, but also our allies. We, in the U.S. Are in great danger currently if our President decides to attack.
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One news story I heard about was the fact on how we can save money by This news story helps people make important financial decisions because it provides actionable, modern, and specific, rather than generic, advice for the 2026 economy One piece of evidence is they mute or block creators who are pushing new makeup and delete shopping apps that make it too easy to make purchases.
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I think that 16 and 17 year olds should not be allowed to vote.I think this is because most teens are on social media a lot.In addition most teens have favorite people to watch on social media which makes a higher rate for the teens to have misleading information or getting manipulated into voting some with bad intentions. Another reason is that with the misleading information teens can pick the wrong person or bad choice who is trying to do bad things without the teens knowing because they might have been misled.In conclusion most teenagers make rash decisions without researching.
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I think that news about inflation are main reasons why decisions nowadays are harder to make,because of prices of food and electricity some people have to think carefully.They can't go on holidays or just buy something for their happiness.If one family has to buy food,pay rent,pay for car expenses,in some countries pay books for education,that all can cost a lot,thats why one family can't afford something to keep them happy ,simply because they dont have enough money.And its much harder if there is one parent,I mean there is probably people out there that work multiple jobs to afford some necessary things for them and their kids.For example,The University of Michigan made the graph that shows that conditions of purchase are bad because of high prices and inflation.On graph there is 3 lines:red(Household supplies like furniture),blue(Vehicles),white(Conditions to buy a house).On graph we can see that:The red line shows people's opinion about buying large household goods.It rises strongly in recent years, meaning these products have become too expensive for many people.The white line represents conditions to buy a house. It is very high today, showing that many people believe this is a bad time to buy a home because prices are extremely high.The blue line shows buying vehicles. It has increased recently, which means cars are becoming harder to afford due to high prices.There is also comment on X-app that I found,Person wrote that inflation is rising because of supply issues.Supply shortage means that people are forced to buy one same brand over and over,making price rise.
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Hello everyone. I’ve been researching how news stories can influence the way people think and behave. For example, there have been reports claiming that Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were “mortified” about their mother, Sarah Ferguson, being linked in the media to Jeffrey Epstein. Stories like this show how media coverage of public figures can have emotional effects not only on those directly involved, but also on their families. When private matters become public headlines, it can lead to embarrassment, judgment, and widespread discussion.
News stories can also encourage people to share their own thoughts and experiences. When people see a situation in the media that feels familiar, they may feel more confident speaking out or discussing similar issues in their own lives. In this way, the news doesn’t just report events — it can start conversations and help people feel less alone in their experiences.
At the same time, the news plays an important practical role, especially in areas like public safety. Reports about road accidents, reckless driving, and motorway closures can help people make safer decisions. For instance, if the M62 is closed and the news provides diversion routes, drivers who stay informed can avoid danger and reduce their risk of being involved in an accident. Those who don’t follow the news may not be aware of these risks and could end up in unsafe situations.
Overall, news stories influence both our emotions and our actions. They shape how we view public figures enormously. -
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I do agree with you. News stories can influence the way people think and behave. For example, this news story about the kidnappings that occured in Nigeria in the month of November 2025 shaped the way people went about their daily lives. This occured in most part of the country. It made the people of the country more aware and alert , doing things more consciously.It also made the government take immediate action about the happenings to keep the people safe. They closed schools to make the action reduce drastically and helped calm the situation. The people have also reduced their social media updates to not posting their live locations but "throwbacks".
I believe news stories helps sensitize people about happenings in their society and help them take informed decisions. -
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I agree with you. I remember it affected schools in the state where we live and all schools had to be shut down. Parents did not prepare for this sudden closure of schools, some parents had to look for where to keep their children while they go to work, some i believe who did not have have nannies or baby sitters had to take time off work and some who own business had to take them to their place of work. Some parents because they stayed at home to take of their children did not make enough money that period. Schools wrote the term's examination online, some who did not have online facilities had parents come pick the questions from the school, it was a period of uncertainity, people feared for the safety of students. Some schools were unable to pay their staff, this affected how these families celebrated the Christmas season. Security issues in any country need to be dealth with, it is not right for community to live in fear, not be able to go out and engage in their daily activities. I think individuals, communities and nations should rise and do something about this.
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I agree with you, News stories can influence the way people think and behave. For example, as stated earlier the news story about the occurance of kiddnappings of childeren fom schools in Nigeria this story affected the way the "Goverment" thought and how the goverment saw things in their own perspective .
The "Goverment" shut down all the schools in "Nigeria" through out December 2025. This news story influenced how the "Goverment" thought about the safety and education of childeren, and it also affected how parents thought about their childeren's education.
In other words news story helps people who are ready to learn about the news, know the world around them, and what decisions they are going to make in their everyday lives.
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I think that the most disastrous problem in the world are the wars and conflicts. Wars make everything hard for adult, young people and even babies. Wars stop education and decrease security and health.
In my continent, Africa, there are many wars like in Sudan, over 4.8 million people are experiencing hunger. It is worsening every day because of the civil wars there. Ethiopia also is dealing with a huge war since 2020 especially in the Tigray region (a state) between the government and Tigray people's liberation. This war caused hunger and economy struggles. Furthermore, in the Sahel Region area which includes countries like Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. This area faces a lot of violence from groups such as the JNIM and the IS Sahel.
In Asia, there are a lot of conflicts like between Japan and China. Japan is increasing its military and defense with the alliance with the USA and China is preparing its military. Pakistan is facing a lot of terrorists. The last attack was in January besides 200 people were killed. The military of Pakistan is cracking down, and it became extremely weak. Hamas and Israel too. There were many attacks from Israel but fortunately the war stopped.
In Europe, the war between Russia and Ukraine is affecting the whole world like in Egypt, the rice increased in the cost because we stopped importing the grain from Russia. This war also decreased the education in Ukraine.
To conclude, what did the innocent people do to be born in a country full of wars? All people are struggling even babies cannot find milk in wars. Let's spread peace. -
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A typical example is the recent attack between two villages in Nigeria, leaving at least 162 people dead. It happened in Kwara state which is believed to be a safe haven. This attack did not just take lives but also targeted farmlands. Because farmers are now afraid to go to their farmlands, some of them are even attacked and kidnapped while working on their farmlands. Currently, Nigeria is opened to the risk of facing severe food scarcity due to these attacks. For an average person, it means even if you are not kidnapped, you are still suffering.
For places like Kebbi and Katsina, children have not been able to go to school for months.
There also has been a rise in rents in urban areas because people are now moving from their 'insecured' villages to the 'secured' cities.
This really is not a good situation where people want to find themselves. -
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Thanks fearless_starfish - which source did you use to get your information about the news stories you have described?
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One news story I have read about is how banks raised home loan interest rates in 2026, making it more expensive to buy a house. On February 3, 2026, major banks in Australia increased the cost of monthly mortgage payments after the Reserve Bank raised its cash rate to 3.85% to help control inflation. This means families might have to pay more each month for the same loan. I read about this change in a Reuters article about the rate increase and how it affects everyday borrowers. This matters because higher loan costs can change people’s decisions about buying homes.
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How does this link to the competition question about why this news story helps or makes it harder for everyday people to make important decisions about their lives, communities, or country?
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One news story I have recently heard about and watch on social media is about The Omani's government investment in renewable energy to meet its target of 30% electricity generation from renewable energy by 2023 and net-zero emissions by 2025, as a part of our Vision 2040.
I think this news story help people make important decisions since it is about how our country is preparing to follow the suistainabliy in the future.One piece of evidence is that our government has launched large solar power projects like the "Ibri Solar Plant" which produces clean electricity for thousands of homes.This matters so that people can understand why saving energy and supporting renewable projects is important for the economy and the environment. It also helps young people think about the future careers in green technology.The news links local decisions to global challenges like climate change and energy security,helping our citizens making informed decisions that can be beneficial for both Oman and the entire world. -
A recent news story I read was from Cable News Network (CNN), an American news media company that covers politics, the environment, the arts, and more. The news article I read was about grocery prices and our economy's current state. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because it examines the current administration and its economic policies. In this article, CNN analysts use the price of steak ('$14.03') to illustrate 'a roughly 5% increase' from the previous month, which fits into a larger context of policy. Although the government does not regulate and stimulate the economy directly, policies enacted, such as the high tariffs, disrupt a society's supply chain. This matters because the people most impacted are low-income, commonpeople, making it harder to sustain their families. This sentiment should be the same one that impacts the way people decide their political beliefs and loyalty, and influences their voting decisions to better the nation as a whole.
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One news story I have read about is people killing more deers because there are to many and that doesn’t help because there are other ways without killing them, otherwise after they kill them they will just leave them alone on the side of the road to be ran over by a car. So that’s one of the news stories that I have read about .
🌸BYE TOPICAL TALK 🌸 -
Hello! I am Illuminated Owl from Spain and in this competition I am going to write about the most recent news in my country. Because, do you think that children and the youth should need a determined age for having social network?
Yesterday, the Prime Minister made Spain the latest country setting out the ban of social networks for people under 16 years old. Spain won't be the first country doing this, Australia was the introductory of this prohibition, and countries like France, Denmark and Austria has followed this idea. Also, many others are thinking about this important decission that will affect young users of these platforms.
But why doing this? As the president said, social media is a place of addiction, manipulation and violence, where us, the young people, cannot navigate alone. It is dangerous and can have really big consequences to their victims if we do not use them correctly. This is not acceptable and we have to protect our next generations. However, mentioned alternatives to this is the investigation of apps such as TikTok or Instagram so that they can arrive well to the youth.
And what do I think about this? I am very recent in the social media and I don't use them so much, but it is true that it can have problems of addiction to their users and really hard and false content that can change feelings, cause harassment or even suicide. Teens do not have to pass under these situations and must have a good time without problems of this kind. Now, Spanish youth is anxious to know the final decission and future changes that will be applied. -
I said that we should hire it to 20 and above, but you can make your own choice and my question is a do you think we should lower it to 16 and 17 or b it should stay normal and c you want to hire it
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One news story that I heard about was Israel and Gaza having war . This has been happening for over 2 Years! This affects all people that are suffering in Gaza and even Palestinians because Gaza is in Palestine.
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One news story I have heard about is how some flavours of Cheetos give you cancer.
I think this news story helps people to make important decisions because if everybody kept on eating the cheese flavoured versions of Cheetos for example then you would get cancer. One piece of evidence is that they are packed with additives. This matters because most people would die because of Cheetos if they didn't watch the news. -
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Is this news story backed by scientific evidence?
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Yes, I think the news story helps people make important decisions in their life. When you know what's going on around you, it helps you to make smarter, educated decisions. For example, if you are voting for a president, you'd want to see the canidates' past activities, so that you don't make a poor decision. One piece of evidence is from a news story on January 12th, 2026. This story is about how the US president, Donald J. Trump, has increased tariffs on US imports from all global partners. This would influence you not to vote for him in any upcoming elections.
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The news story I heard about is inflation. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because it provides clear information about rising costs that families face daily. One piece of evidence is the grocery store prices remain around 20-30% for prices. With our "new" president Donald J. Trump, Talked about inflation on January 21st, 2026, and also on December 16, 2025. In the words of Donald J. Trump on January 21st he stated, "We have defeated inflation". This shows we are going to have slower price increases,Stabilization,and Distinction from Deflation.
That's what I have heard on the news in our word about inflation. -
Recently I read a news story about how Indonesia's democracy is leaning towards performative actions to persuade younger citizens to boost their chances in elections. A recent example is propaganda videos are shared on the internet with humorous intents hence getting more interactions.
Indonesia as a developing country has a great potential because of it's natural assets. Sadly most of our politicians are known to be either underqualified, gained access through nepotism or corrupt.
This highlights the stigma in our government, many are still hesitating to vote because of the common generalization of our government because of digital platforms. -
Democracy is all about equality in voting. Democracy is by the people for the people and with the people. The news I am hearing currently is about the age by which different countries are allowed to vote, and I think I have been hearing 16 and Nigeria is the country I heard that the age is 18, Thank you topical talk I really appreciate.
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A news story based on the gold rate, investments and mainly on job vacancy ,and how many jobs are been replaced by AI would be the important news story for youngsters as these things are connected to their career because if they get a proper news about the gold rate then the youngsters would be able to invest on it and get profited but my opinion is instead of just compressing all types of news in one channel is a bit crazy as if they had separate segment for different types of news like political ,international ,local ,financial then this would give more freedom for the viewers as many time my family members neighbours had said this as a concern .
these segmented news stories can create eagerness among public these stories will become more important when they are said in detail -
One news story I have read about is about wars, especially the one in Gaza. I think this news story definitely affect on people and how they think everyday because, especially by this war, we don't know what will tomorrow bring us and it shows how serious and dangerous conflicts are. One piece of evidence is everyday increasing number of dead and injured people who suffer because of what? Some people wanted a fight and now tens of thousands people died, including women and children - according to the 'Reuters'.
People often asks themselves why younger people are so agressive and why there is bad things happening around new generations. We need to just look at the world we live in. I don't say that everything is negative but I can probably say a lot of things like that. Especially younger generations can see a lot of negative sides and videos throught social media and it definitelly affect on them.
For everyone who don't know about the war,in 2023 Hamas (''Islamic Resistance Movement'') launched an attack on Israel and killed around 1,200 people there. Some people think that the third World war started and it will if the politicians and other people around the world don't calm down and make some compromise. This news matters because it shows us how peace and clever decisions are so important. Why world to be black and negative when every person can be happy and optimistic about the future? -
One news story I have read about is that Spain is planning to stop people under 16 from using social media platform to protect their mental and psychological health. I tink this news story will help people make informed decisions because they need to know how the governements are taking action regarding the harm caused to teens when they are online. I have watched the video in which one of the Spanish officials claiming the social media may increase anxiety aming teens leading to screen time addiction. They needed stronger erstirictions on the age of using soal media plat media. This is really important because parents ,teachers,students and voters cand make the decision whether to support these new laws or they want different solutions for teen safety online. It is the responisibility of families to decide more than the officials.
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Recently in the news, there has been talk about banning cell phones in school. The ban for cell phones is reasonable. In Texas they have banned students from bringing their phones to school and that's unsafe, anything could happen at any moment and they wouldn't be able to call their parents, and parents won't be able to see if their child is ok. Phones may cause distractions but could also help with learning by doing educational activities, even though students have limited use when using their phone in school they are also able to enjoy their phone in educational way.
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CNN 10 is one of the news stories that helps, because It gives us information on different topics everyday. One piece of evidence is '' At #cnn10 we give you the days news in just 10 minutes,'' which is a quote from their news channel. This matters because you need to know everyday what going on around you in the world. It also helps by being conveniently 10 minutes long.
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One news story I keep reading about is the tragic story of Renée Goodman, Renée was a US citizen trying to leave her home she was shot in her car buying an ice agent who who said “I feared for my life” he mentioned that because of Renée driving trying to make a three point turn going less than 5 km/h I do believe that sharing these new stories give young people an amazing point of view of what is happening in the world even if it does scare them, because I do feel that young people should know that the world we live in can be scary but they’re also new stories that ensure them that not everything and everyone is out to get you, ice agents are taking it too far and that is something I will standby the Donald J Trump administration supporting this behaviour is cruel ice of killing loved ones and I live in fear for the ones I know who have immigrated to America from South Africa purely to make livable wages. So once again I do believe new stories help many people especially young people know what is going on in the world they live in in the world they are going into the world that they might want to change.
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I think the news help people and is iprotent thing.I think this because the news tells what is happing like a horrecand or a storm that can be happing.It can also help the country because it tell the people about the ecodumy and how the country is doing.If the news did not inform people what is going on then they woudent know what to do.like for example,in 2021 when covid was happing,if the news did not inprmd what was going on then that cuod have cost lots of lived and put the country in problums.The news also help us make dusigens to,for exlemple,you don't know who to vote in the president election.But in the news it tells you what people think and which is a better option. This is why I think this.
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One news story I have read about is ICE escorting illegal immigrants back to their homeland. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because you are aware of what's happening globally around the world in everyday situations. One piece of evidence is a quote from Donald Trump's Advisor: "To all ICE officers: You have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties. Anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to obstruct you is committing a felony." This matters because citizens of the United States of America should have a large amount of knowledge about what's happening around us. Everyone deserves to look behind the curtains to our world, so we can be safe, alert, and well informed so we can come together as a community and be under the protection of ICE.
- Written By Empowered_Quince :) -
I think that the news does help people understand what's happening around the world and helps them make important decisions about their life. I say that because the news tells you and shows you live things that's happening around the world. Recently iv'e heard a news story about how ice has been in down town atlanta and in Georgia and someone passed away because of ice. and I think that can help people to make good decisions that live in America because if all this is happening in down town atlanta they would have to make an important decision to not go down town so you wouldn't get caught up into all the things that is happening in down town Atlanta and in Georgia.
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I feel like voting should be 17-67 because at 17 most people are smart at making decisions and they should get a test in high school to see if your good at making decisions and if your not you should not be able to vote
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I think this news story does not help people make important decisions because sometimes you hear what is there opinion then you think about it then you say or do the same thing as them so for what I think it does not help because your getting it from another person and not your opinion this is why we can't pick the same thing as the person because that's there reason not your reason of things or what you pick yes you can think about it but you have to think in your opinion. For example the U.S was supposed to take a country away but they never did so that's why we can't just say yes and believe what they say or do because sometimes we don't believe in them sometimes.
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One news story I have read about is that trump suggest republicans should nationalize voting.Here's what to know President Trump suggested Monday that Republicans should "nationalize" voting, the latest escalation in his and his administration's efforts to step into federal elections ahead of the 2026 midterms.During a podcast interview with former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino, Mr. Trump repeated his claims that people who are in the U.S. illegally are voting in federal elections and urged Republicans to "take over the voting" in at least 15 states.
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One news story I have read about is that a man named Ryan Routh, he had a plan to kill our president which is donald trump. Ryan been stalking and lying to assassination US president at a golf course in Florida in 2024, which was taking place on september 15. Ryan was a secret agent and he was order to kill the US president. He built a sniper nest at Trump's West Palm Beach which he failed terribly and which he was given life in prison for his attempted assassination on wednesday.
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I feel that the news and story's about ICE makes it harder for people to make decisions about important stuff, and for their community and Country. Because for American citizens and other people in The USA, It would think what to do for people, for them, And their country making it hard seeing what people go through every day. Making It hard for them about live and what to do about it.
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I've read many news stories on Trump, as I'm sure we all have, but one that especially affected me are the ones relating to the Epstein files.
For those who don't know, the Epstein files are documents, images and videos portraying horrible criminal activities, such as rape, sexual assault and abuse of minors. Trumps name has been mentioned many times in said files.
He has been repeatedly accused of sexual assault, in and out of said files, but still continues to lead a country. I have found this information in the New York Times. This is so important to me because I believe no person who has caused and form of sexual trauma to another human should walk free at any point, much less head up a country.
On top of this, he has been convicted of multiple felonies, and has made some difficult political decisions. For example he withdrew funding for HIV and AIDS in South Africa, leading to many lives being lost. This is especially important to me as a South African, seeing my country in such a state of disrepair.
This information is so important as people have clearly voted for Trump. They like Trump, and I can only think they support him so unwaveringly because they do not see the whole picture. Propaganda is more common than you think, and we need to combat it by showing both sides of the story as truthfully as possible.
I hope my short piece has inspired you to further research people in power and their misdeeds, and if you are American, think a little more about who you and your family could be putting into power. Read the news whenever you can! -
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I see where you are coming from but I disagree with you, no I'm not invalidating your experiences but not all what Trump has done is bad, for example a more personal story, recently there have been a lot of insurgents in my region of the country and many of us here were out of school for almost two months, and Trump is currently helping to fix this, he is working with our government and recently launched an attack of the areas where the insurgents where, leading to the destabilisation of their activities and thanks to Donald Trump, I can freely attend school again. Trump being in the Epstein files is very much still a theory that has very little backing, and you might bring up the fact that he postponed the files for so long seemingly because of guilt, but how come when the Democrats were in power they didn't bring it up? Once again, I'm not invalidating your experiences I'm simply asking you to take your own advice and look deeper into the situation, Im not even a Trump supporter myself, but I will not deny that he has brought some good to this world.
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A newspaper article I came across goes into details about the UK local government reorganization scheduled for 2026 and, specifically, in Surrey where new councils will be created. According to me, the article aids the citizens in making the right choices by elaborating on the change, over schedule and voter registration until April 20.
The Guildford Borough Council report also states that the council members elected at the next election will be in charge of the "shadow authority" during the handover.
It is, therefore, crucial, that the people are given the opportunity to choose the representatives who will attend to their local community's needs, for example, solutions to housing and waste collection problems. -
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I think a really important news story is about using technology whilst playing sports. I think that this is important because it could change many rules or maybe even the whole game! I heard about this news story on Topical Talk.
This makes it harder for the opposing team\teams because they might not have as much money as their opposing team and players. It may influence younger athletes that look up to their favourite team players as role-models and may look at it as cheating so it might make them want to use technology to cheat.
For example if you look at the tech swimming goggles they, show you your time in an Olympic sport which could count as cheating if the other swimmers didn’t have the same equipment as you. -
One news story I have read about is the US withdrawal from dozens of UN and international organizations. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because with this decision can affect the US peace and democracy. To illustrate, the changes that come with this decision would cease participation and overall cut all funding to the affected entities, Trump included. These major organizations include World Health Organization and UN Framework on Climate Change, which also affects the ability to coordinate responses to health crisis, climate change, and peacekeeping. Also this sudden shift being able to reshape how the US handles ally peace projects, global health emergencies and prevent climate disasters. Overall, this decision can tremendously impact the US democracy as a whole.
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Scientists in Hawaii have found a way for fungi to consume ocean plastics. It is critical to allow ocean coral, and marine ecosystems to regrow. Over 60% of the fungi was able to consume and create fungi out of the plastic. It's a ray of hope in a sea of pollution, and the start of regrowth. This should help influence our decisions, because it’s a lesson that collaboration and perspectives are key to finding solutions, so make the choice to help. It should also influence your environmental decisions, as now that it’s healing, we must be ever cautious.
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One story that has recently happened in Egypt is about deleting roblox, so first of all what is Roblox? Roblox is a game which has a plenty of games inside and also has Roblox players that play in these games so recently, the news and some trusted shows in Egypt started talking about Roblox and how harmful it is to kids, and started talking about how they want to delete it, at first Egypt kids did not believe that because they thought it was just a joke and some rumors that that are going to go away but then the kids noticed a serious called ( لعبة وقلبت بجد) which is translation means a game but it turned true so the serious was talking about a couple of kids and a family that were playing Roblox and then they were playing a normal game and then they see a guy and I think that they friend him and then they start to voice chat and video call (which is not even in the game) and the guy was manipulating or taking advantage of the kids and telling them to do dangerous stuff to get robux (the currency of Roblox) and if they refuse he starts to threaten them that he is going to hurt his family. The serious went viral and everybody started to talk more and more about Roblox and then finally today it got deleted. So the only people that were happy about it were older people and parents of course because they always warned of it but the harm people was the kids because some kids had Roblox at their childhood, including me, on Roblox being deleted made it hurt a lot, plus the serious is full of lies but everyone just believed it, which referred to us (children in Egypt) being hurt.
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United Nations reporting that women still earn approximately about 20% less than men on average. (Gender inequality)
I think this news story helps people make important decisions because it still shows how gender inequality is still a main issue worldwide. One piece of evidence is the comparison between men’s and women’s salaries across different regions and jobs, “women globally earn around 20 percent less than men”, UN’s data.
This matters because it shows the gap between men and women in different jobs, even though women are extremely capable doing the same work as well as any man could do. -
I am from the UK and I believe that 16 should not be the lowered voting age, i say this as a 17 year old myself I believe that our minds are stull underdeveloped and uneducated, a while ago during the election there was a popular youtuber who ran for PM, if 16 year olds would of voted for him potentially making him our
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One news story I have read about is the discovery of microplastics found in human blood. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because it shows how everyday choices affect our health. One piece of evidence is that researchers at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam found plastic particles in 77% of blood samples they tested. This matters because it encourages people and communities to reduce plastic use and push for cleaner environmental policies that protect public health.
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One news story I have heard about is about the ICE organisation in the USA. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because it makes the rest of the world aware about the dangers of such an organisation and how governments can prevent these forming in order to ensure the safety of legal immigrants wrongfully impacted and to live in a fear-free society.
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One news story i have read about online is about the global Crowd strike software outage that disrupted airlines, hospitals, and banks. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because it shows how dependent everyday life is on digital systems. One piece of evidence is that flights were grounded and some hospitals had to cancel appointments due to computer failures. This matters because it helps people and communities understand the risks of technology and the importance of backup plans when systems die.
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One news i have heard about is the rise of political hoaxes in social media.
In the past few months, i have seen a lot of political news in social media. Most of it was posted by an unknown user which miraculously have a lot of followers. I have began speculating that most of his/her videos were hoaxes. People mostly make hoaxes as a clickbait.
I think this news doesn't help people make important decisions. It can make people lost or confused in making a decision. One piece of evidence is the pizzagate conspiracy theory. False social media and tweets caused violence to happen. This matters because some people might go outrage, causing violence. -
One news story I have read about is US must be prudent when supplying arms to Taiwan. I think this news story does not help people make important decisions because people may worry about their country, and it feels like someone else is deciding what matters for you.. One piece of evidence is news tells people what happened everyday and as the media they may give their opinions to public which cause public worry their lives, communities, or country (e.g. speculation about the possibility of a Third World War).
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One story I have read about is the covid-19 public health guidelines helps people make decisions about their lives and communities. Reports showed that wearing masks, getting vaccinated, and staying home when sick reduced the spread of the virus. For example, news coverage compared areas that followed health advice with those that did not, showing lower infection and death rates where guidelines were followed. This helped everyday people decide how to protect themselves and others. The story also showed how individual choices affect the wider community, encouraging responsibility and cooperation during a national crisis.
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One news story i have read about is that the city government is expanding public transportation system by adding new bus routes and extending train hours. This change aims to reduce traffic congestion, lower pollution and make travel more affordable for residents. News like this helps everyday people make better decisions because it informs them about new options that can save money and time For example workers may choose public transport instead of driving and families can plan safer cheaper travel.
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One news story I have read about recently is Spain announcing plans to ban social media. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because social media can be a big influence for people today and as most kids are still developing social media can cause a negative affect on how they think or act. One piece of evidence is my brother, before he would hangout with the family all the time, but now he just watches his phone and if u try to talk to him he's glued to his screen and doesn't even respond. I think that if more countries continued this ban it wouldn't stop all under 16s from using social media but it hopefully would reduce the amount of kids on social media or even take the pressure off of having social media.
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A news story from the "National library of medicine", they have stated that "coffee increases risk of heart disease", then later said in other news reports (like Harvard Health) "coffee is linked to a longer life span" from this it could influence peoples thoughts on the health care world and have negative views on contradicting news being published within society, from this it would make individuals think differently about everyday decisions about their diet, medicine and treatment due to the uncertainty of this information. Overall, I think that this is important because people rely on health news to make real decisions about their bodies, families and futures, from this misleading information this could possibly lead to misconceptions within healthcare systems leading to unsafe choices, delay treatment or possibly may lead to inequity. Overall, misleading news can make individuals lives harder in who to trust in when getting professional medical support.
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The news story I have read about this week is
recently is Donald Trump pushing to get a hold of Greenland and colonise the country personally I think that that is wrong because America is already successful and if I was was from Greenland this would be my perspective if I had a chance to talk to Trump . For our country we have to do better to make it better than the rest and the rest is history is and the world has to do more to get the best of us and we are the ones who have to be better if you want to colonise us and the ones who can make it a fair deal for the world have a chance of getting to the top and getting a fair chance to win in this country -
In recent times, some countries ,like Egypt, have banned some electronic games because of their effect on children and teenagers, including the electronic game, "Roblox".
I think this news story helps democracy because it informs people (especially families) about risks in games.
One piece of evidence is that official reports have warned of risks such as inappropriate content, exploitation through open chats, addiction, and overspending on virtual currencies.
Some people use VPNs to bypass banns, risking their safety. This really matters because accurate information helps citizens make wise choices, protect themselves and society and strengthen democracy, not just entertainment followers. -
if people have different opinions that should not change
if they ar nice or not when you ar unkind, mean, how will you make a different to the world -
I have to say that,
Though we all like having ideas it make sense that democracy means we all vote in a specific way and some 18 year-olds up to maybe 61 year-olds don't vote every election so if we let 16 and 17 year-olds vote then increase might go down a good 45% -
THE PROBLEMS RELATED TO MISINFORMATION IN VOTING.
Actually, most information heard are best analyzed before feedback is given, so one is not expected to give an information without learning the true nature on what to give out or reply back.
For example, while countries like ice lands were being recognized for holding the highest quality election, others like Iran ranked at the bottom, continuing log stand trends of electoral malpractice. Don't you think that information during voting is one of the basic reason why some countries makes it out through successfully in making right decisions on votes because they are accounted with good information that have not been misplaced by others illegal defaults in votes, so I think misinformation has highly led to most downfall of countries during voting and it is required to be put an end in order for real information to get to right citizens that could possible make right choice on voting.
Information is a means of communication, and this is why it is necessarily important because in a political system you make strong lasting decision based on what is required to help all and not what we can only benefit from.
So, people should be mindful of being misinformed during voting, stand on your own legal points even with the help of other voters or by social media to avoid involving the engagement of lowering voting ages where children would be accounted or held responsible on any form of practice. The children's turn should be allowed to come and not forcefully imposed on them to avoid distractions that tends to rule their future dreams. -
An important knews I have come across and is affecting a lot of schools and religious institutions all round Nigeria is the kidnapping of students and religious members. As of 21 November 2025, 303 students and 12 teachers, 50 of which escaped immediately at St Mary's school in Papri, Niger state, Nigeria.
This makes it harder for many individuals to make important decisions about their own lives because this news (along with other similar news) puts fear in the hearts of many individuals, making them question the security in their own neighbourhood. It also has many other parents afraid to leave their children in school as they fear the worst for their children.
This also makes life shrink to safe zones as people keep wondering when or where they should or should not go. This makes life harder because with this, many are traumatised and become overly paranoid for themselves and for their loved ones. -
Hello everyone, I'm reasoning_strawberry and the news story I have heard about is the constant ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids that are going on in America. This needs to be talked about because they are killing and taking innocent people from their families. ICE is doing nothing but harming local communities and it is making it harder for people to feel safe in this country. For example, an innocent woman named Renee Nicole Good was killed by an ICE agent in her car in Chicago and a man named Alex Jeffrey Pretti was shot down by ICE in Minnesota recently. This matters because they are causing more people to avoid community activities and public spaces like school and jobs for example. They are making it harder for people to make important decisions in this country because of the constant fear that they are causing and there is less movement in local communities because of them. It is crazy what this government is doing to us citizens.
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I feel like lowering the age would make me feel like me in the middle because if it was lowered to like 5- they would not be that mature so I think it should be lowered to 15-16 also they would not know if it was to a high age but if it was lowered genuinely I think it should be lowered to 15-16
so they would know what to do if they were going to vote when older but genuinely I overall don't know if it should be lowered or kept 18+ -
One news story I have read about is the recent national debate over cellphone bans in schools.
I think this new story helps people make important decisions because it highlights the direct link between distraction free environments and student mental health.One piece of evidence is a report from the U.S. Surgeon General stating that social media use can lead to sleep deprivation and anxiety in adolescents.This matters because it empowers parents and schools boards to prioritize academic focus and well being over constant digital connectivity when setting community standards. -
One news story I have discovered about is Lowering Ages to Vote, people in the UK/United Kingdom are thinking about lowering ages to vote. The United Kingdom was thinking 16 and 17 years old could vote, but I think they should not let 16 and 17 year olds vote. The reason I do not agree is because 16 and 17 year olds are still developing their brains, still have to manage school and are considered teenagers not adults. What if they are not sure on who to vote and choose a bad President that could lead to bad things to happen in our community.
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One news story I have explored is how countries have lowered the voting limit to 16 .I think this voting limit doesn't help people make correct decisions because, younger people get persuaded more easily because of one thing: they haven't truly learned from their mistakes. Adults between the age of 18-21 have already learned from mistakes that give them life lessons, however 16 and 17 year olds are still young and haven't truly learned from their mistakes. One piece of evidence is how in neurobiology and psychology 18-21 year olds are more responsible since they have a more developed brain allowing them to learn from past mistakes. This lets people know 16 and 17 year olds aren't ready for voting.
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I've discovered a news story about ICE taking immigrants that are not from the U.S. and placing them into random countries. As I learned, there are 192 countries excluding the U.S. meaning, there is a 1 in 192 chance that the immigrants will fall back in their original country. In my opinion, this is not fair. Anybody, whether they are from the U.S. or not, should be free to stay in any country of their choice. This can also be bad for tourists because if no-one will be able to visit our country for a tour, what is the point of the job? The whole point of a tourist is to tour countries, but if they don't have anybody to tour, then the job will go extinct. Going back to the immigrants, Donald Trump, the U.S. president actually somehow supports ICE. If we make sure he is not the president, we can probably delete this issue. Overall, ICE is a terrible influence for the world and should not be used because of the forbidden actions that it can cause.
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one news story I've seen is about lowering the voting age to 16 . but I think 16 year olds should not vote because they met ask someone what to vote for then we got a bad president . that what I think
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I think under 16's should be band from the internet because they need to have more time outside and need to meet people in real life. They also need time of a screen to stay healfy and to not see things that ant sootable for them and get nightmars.
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One news story I have explored is about the UK government lowering the age for voting to 16. I don't agree this is how people make important decisions because some teenagers already have phones and some use chatgpt plus the other AI apps that the phones have, adding that 16 year olds are pretty young to start voting. One piece of evidence is that on the news it explained how they should be decreasing the age to vote which means 1.5 million new people to vote.
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The news information I learned about is that the United Kingdom is trying to change the law that 16 year olds can vote for presidents but I don't agree. One of the reasons I don't agree is because people would post videos to influence people of ages 16 and plus to vote for the president. They support, but you don't and they are going to say false information to persuade you and I don't think of the age of 16 or above to vote isn't mature enough because the age of 16 are going to look at social media more often and believe the information they see in social media because they don't have the enough knowledge to know if it's true information or false information from the president the Internet are not trying to people that can vote to not vote for the president they don't agree with
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One news story I read about is that the UK wants to change the law to vote at 16 instead of 18. I agree when you turn 16 you basically have the knowledge to vote.Some people know how to vote at 16 because they know about good presidents to vote for because you can ask your mom for good people to vote for,also many countries already changed the voting law to 16 and,the UK is trying to make their law to 16 too. Voting at 16 isn't a bad a age to vote for some people know good presidents even kids, by asking their parents.
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That's an interesting point around younger people having the knowledge to vote. Do you think parents and schools should be doing more to inform younger people about election processes, and what are some of the ways they could do this?
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Yes I think that parents and schools can do more to inform younger people about election process. One way school can do this is to move theories on a page to action in the world. This can be done by making mock elections and campaigns in school not to just vote for a person but let the students vote on school policies, let students create poster, give speeches and maybe even run a campaign. Schools can also invite government and local officials to come interact with the student, bring the government closer to them rather than government being a distant entity. Aside teaching some of these in Civic Education, it can also be integrated in a Math where the student can be taught about how election votes are counted and data analyzed. Parents can also practice mock election by giving the children opportunity in decision making. This can teach children how ways of making decisions and standing up for what they believe in. They can also teach them to look up candidates, check their main goals and tell how they think their plans will change their neigbourhood rather than telling them who they like. Parents and schools can also look up campaign ads or whenever a political ad comes up at home, they utilize that teaching moment by asking them for example how does the ad make you feel? Happy , excited or sad? Using this can help build critical thinking and also solve issues on campaign messaging.
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One news story I read about is that the UK wants to change the law to vote at 16 instead of 18. I agree when you turn 16 you basically have the knowledge to vote.Some people know how to vote at 16 because they know about good presidents to vote for because you can ask your mom for good people to vote for,also many countries already changed the voting law to 16 and,the UK is trying to make their law to 16 too. Voting at 16 isn't a bad a age to vote for some people know good presidents even kids, by asking their parents.
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I live in Cambodia, and Cambodia has just been in conflict with it's neighboring country Thailand. Thankfully both countries are in cease fire at this point but tensions are still moderately high. Naturally, lots of news stories about the conflict is coming out. I have lately seen a lot of stories like casualties, soldier activity and government activity between the two countries on the news. These kinds of news makes it harder for normal people to make important decisions.
News about conflict and war can effect people emotionally. People may feel more insecure and might have a hard time in making good decisions. Also I see a lot of my friends and neighbors who think very negatively about Thailand after looking at the news stories. Their life choices change a lot as Cambodia has a lot of Thai products that was used commonly before the conflict and now the people have to replace what they usually had and they need to get used to a new way of living in some way. In result of the conflict the people might not trust the government as much meaning some people may have a hard time voting or taking part in political decisions as well.
I know this is a very sensitive matter to talk about. Me writing this already makes it difficult for myself to decide what words to use and what is appropriate to write. War always impacts humans in so many ways and I believe one of them is making it harder for people to make important decisions in life. -
The news story I will be debating about is lowering the voting age. For those who don't know, the UK government is thinking about lowering the ages of voting to 16 and 17. Which, in other words, means 1.5 million teenagers being able to vote. As you know the government currently has allowed only adults: 18 and up to vote. I think this is a bad idea because teens this age are in school and they could be influenced by their teachers and peers to vote for someone bad. Another bad influence they could come across is their algorithm on social media. Here's an example: let's say you come across a friendly meme on your for you page, it seems normal at first, like any other video you would see. But you realize it has a president Now, after you watch that video you get LOTS more like that. Persuading you and making you believe misleading facts. The teens will believe this and vote for the wrong person. In conclusion, I think that 16 year olds should NOT be able to vote.
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One news story I have seen is about how the UK wants to lower their voting age to 16. Originally I thought it would be good since they are almost in college and may be mature enough. Now I realize they probably aren't mature enough. I also think social media and their family can influence their decision a lot, since everyone has different opinions which may cause them stress by not knowing who to choose. They also may not know who to vote for since they may not like any of the candidates which causes them not to vote at all. Overall I think they should not pass this law because they haven't even graduated highschool and their brains are probably not as developed as an 18 year old with making decisions.
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One news story I have just heard about is how they are not letting some people speak freely/democracy, and the UK want to change that law and let 16 year olds vote for themselves. I think its not fair and people should be able to speak freely and have right to vote. I think that 16 years old should not vote because some 16 years old might listen the other people who are telling them who to vote for and might regret after and might be disappointed. The 16 year olds in my opinion should not vote until 18 so they can make better decisions for themselves and think more about who they should vote for and why. Before the lesson I just learned my opinion was that they should vote, also my opinion changed from before the lesson I learned. Before they vote they need more discipline.
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It intrigued me that people are allowing lower ages as I believe 16 and 17 year olds voting being possible is a very reckless action for the government, because ages below 21 don’t have the fully developed brain that adults do. They might even make mistakes and get too excited that they can vote, including them getting influenced by the internet choosing what the influencer wants instead of what they want . Influencers are usually choosing what they want, however they sometimes work for others, possibly the government.
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During Topical Talk, I have heard about the United Kingdom planning to decrease the electoral voting age to 16. Though this may give 16 and 17 year olds the opportunity to take an important decision for the leading president, the idea of letting younger people vote is not good, because they won’t have fully developed minds. According to HealthyChildren.org, “The brain continues to change and mature in this stage.” Also, according to the NIMH website, “The brain finishes developing and maturing in the mid-to-late 20s.” These quotes prove how a 16 year old’s mind isn’t fully developed, so a 16 year old isn’t mature enough to take important decisions on their own like voting for their president.
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I think this real life incident will help people to empower themselves because it Shows that Even in The Darkest Times, We Can Find a Way to Survive Although it was not covered in the News it was spread over our area like a Wildfire because it is a story of Pure Courage. There was a little girl living happily with her parents, younger sister and grandmother and till images disaster hit them, she lost her father and her mother was on her deathbed. The only ones left by her side are her 4 month old sister and her grandmother. In my opinion this story helps people make important decision because it prove that strength is born From love when the main pillars of her family were lost this 3 year old become her pillar of herself. This was a path of sacrifice her grandmother sold everything to save her mother and make sure the girl joined School for 2 years she manage her school life alone without help of her parents looking after her sister and her grandmother, while her mother faught to live by the times she turned 5 her mother finally became healthy again. We can find one piece of evidence in the fat that "Family Resilience is a Strongest Predictor of a Child's success after a Tragedy". From this story we want to understand that no matter what we lose we have the power to re-built our life. I think from this incident people may learn how far they can face the problems if they say together. Thank You!
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One news story I have read about is immigration. President Trump thinks that deporting everybody that is not American , even some are citizens. Some also have legal documents, but Trump disagrees with everything. Chicago is one of the most affected, more than 1,000 immigrants are arrested per day! This is also followed by many kids being detained even if they were born in the U.S.A. Many people have opposed this and Chicago has had many protests. Renee Nicole Good was killed by ICE in an ice patrol. The social media is influencing people to protest for immigrants.
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One story I have read about is the banning Roblox in Egypt for the safety of the children.
I think this news story helps people make important decisions because many children in Egypt are playing Roblox without knowing about deceiving predators, and their poor parents didn't know the dangers. The ban made parents to monitor their kids' online activity. One piece of evidence is that everybody started talking about it and as a result media made a drama show that reflects the issue. This matters because kids were being kidnaped via Roblox, but after the ban kids became much safer. -
One news story I have learned about is concerning ICE removal procedures, almost in our whole country. This is the worst thing that Donald Trump has done. The news I agree with is the news story that helps the immigrant community (me and my family) be aware of ICE. If ICE gets all the immigrants the whole country will have a massive imbalance. Because all the hard work jobs and the unfairly paid jobs that nobody will touch the immigrants will do because we need money to survive. This can make those companies go into bankruptcy, losing millions of dollars. It could affect the whole world. So that is why is important to the immigrants to watch the news.
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One sensitive new story I've read recently that has pained me deeply is about how ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.) has violated america. I read lost of news stories about ICE and how the used their power to interrogated and arrested people for their skin color or speech, invaded previously off-limits sensitive places like schools, hospitals and churches, broken into homes without a judicial warrant, detained arrestees incommunicado for days, violated hundreds of court orders, and used aggressive tactics that resulted in the shooting deaths of American citizens. They used their power for Abuse encounters and arrests, losing the trust of american citizens, making them harmful and terrifying. Even children are to afraid of going to school because of this.
There was an innocent five year old detained by ice, that incident sparked outrage in Social Media, resulting in protest, and so many people across the world getting together through campaigns to fight back.
Even tho its illegal and potentially dangerous for illegal immigrants to stay in america, is it right for ICE to use their power and take the lives of innocent people...
But even wih campaigns and protest, ICE is still going through this mission. American citizen must feel like they've lost ability to speak out against this and lose their ability and right of judgement. Were torn between matters of legalness and justic of the immigrants.
My heart goes out to all the people who have suffered andis suffering from the power ICE holds, i pray for all of them. -
One recent news story I have been following is the ICE in America right now. ICE has been responsible for killing harming and desrupting many peoples lives. I think this news story does not help people make open comments because they are scared. Another Bad thing ICE has done is putting people In fear, when in fear people are scared to show how they truly feel about topics. One piece of evidence is the killing of Alex Pretti. This matters because he was just a normal guy and Ice killed him because they assumed he was a terrioist. He was an innocent guy that they killed out of hate. This new Task force is terrible for democracy and does not let people expresses themselves becuase they are terrified. In conclusion we need to get this task force out so everyone feels safe with their opinions.
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The news in deal is quite interesting including a bar and restaurant damaged in an early morning fire is likely to remain closed all the way throughout January and February according to the staff members .Luckily no one was hurt or sent to the hospital and
everyone is safe .
Also a major overhaul of Kents local government is moving to the next stage which can see all councils including Dover District Council replaced by the new large unitary authorities, it is very important for everything to be done at a responsible level and that the fire gas been set out and they are trying to be very careful with redoing the store .
What new is happening for you ? -
One news trending online this 2026 is about The Winter Olympics.
Many athletes around the world would be competing in this winter sports. This is a worldwide game that sports. The Winter Olympics was originated in 1924.
This news story helps people to know and to pass information unto the other people that don't know about this news. This news can be heard on the internet or or sometimes communication. It helps people make important decisions like if someone or a family has money to go for The Winter Olympics or know who is competing how when it's starting and everything.
One piece of evidence is that you can find it on the internet. As another piece of evidence, starting tomorrow The Winter Olympics will start tomorrow, Feb. 6th 2026. People will also get ready if they want to watch it on TV or experience this wonderful act. This event/news matters because it alerts other people because this information is vital . -
I've recently come across a news story from El País, a newspaper from my country, that mentioned the tax evasion that's carried out by 0,001% of rich people over the world according to the last update of Piketty's Observatory on Inequalities.
This rich men and women handle loads of money and still try to evate tax to earn even more.
I hate the innequality this situation brings into the world and thats why I believe it is important for my comunity to be able to know about this news story and stop idolizing the wrong people. -
i believe that the age limit to vote should be dropped but not to 16 most 16 year olds in GA are not as politically focused and if the age limit is dropped it should be dropped to at least 17 not 16 because in most high schools here they are in their mid teens late teen years learning where donald trump is gonna be next not so much in the other grades with the younger ages
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I was watching TikTok it stated that Donald Trump was trying to start world war 3 and was trying to bomb Iran. Then it said Iran was trying to bomb us now for revenge or payback on USA.
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A story circulating in Cape town this week captured my attention and I did some further research. This was an investigation into a Virgin Active gym trainer allegedly linked to international drug trafficking. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because it exposes a serious risk in a place many people trust, including me. I go to this gym myself, and this trainer was my own BEST FRIENDS personal trainer who had even greeted me and kindly spotted me many times before, which made the story feel real and unsettling. A piece of evidence is that the trainer was named on an Interpol Red Notice, leading Virgin Active to alert authorities after the report. This matters because investigative journalism can directly protect everyday people by revealing hidden dangers and holding powerful institutions accountable.
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I news that I read it's about the increases in the price of electricity.
I think this news helps people make important decisions because it makes them realize that they need to save more energy and also helps people make important decisions because it affects their family finances . One pice of evidence is that thise responsible for the electricity sector have explained that the price increase is related to the higher generation cost and of delivering energy to homes. This is so important because, knowing this, people can reduce their consumption, better manage their income, and demand solutions from decision-makers in a democratic system. -
One news story that I read about is "What is SEND and why are councils struggling to pay for it?". SEND stands for Special Eductaional Needs and Disabilities. It applies to children that need additional educational, physical, emotional or social supports particularly in school settings. In England 5% of pupils receive additional support which is paid for by the state. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because of the questions it raises such as the increasing cost spent on SEND education, a staggering £3 billion in 2024 compared with the £1.6 billion spent in 2018, and meeting the needs of children by making making important decisions such as hiring more people or even complete system reform. One piece of evidence is the shortage of special school places and staff. This matters because 1 in 5 pupils receive support for educational needs and that number is still rising.
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Hi topical talkers, I'm fierce computer, and I'm from the UK, here to discuss 2 (no space for 8) issues where I live with references and proof.
The first issue i'm here to talk about is the rising cost of living. The rising cost of living is a big problem not just for my family, not just for the UK, but for the world. We have not had any rapid inflammation like this since the 1970's and the consumer price has risen by 5.4% in the 12 months to December in 2021. the rising cost of living is effecting people by causing restless nights of work overload or paying until your bankrupt. Many children have to starve each day because of this however this is not an easy problem to fix because if we lower the price, farmers won't get payed enough as they are already facing the problems we have now due to poor pay. I got this information from https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001bb4b.
The second issue I am reporting today is the NHS waiting lists. This used to be a vey big problem (not to drastic change) with desperate families hopelessly waiting for treatment as the lists used to be 781 300 in a list (imagine your mum or you in pain waiting for treatment for years and your only 592 547 in line) with a drop of 23 400 to 757 900 in 2026. This is not an easy problem to solve as the treatment they are looking for my take long to develop and hard to make precise. I got this information from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74wwqw5wveo.
I hope this economy gets better. Bye for now:) -
One news story I have followed is the increase in misinformation during election campaigns. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because it encourages citizens to think critically about what they read and share. For example, several reporters have shown that false information online can influence voters and damage trust in democracy. This matter because reliable news allows people to separate facts from rumors , make informed political choices and protect their communities from harmful manipulation.
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One news story I have read about is the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2026 funding report, which warns that humanitarian health systems are reaching a "tipping point" due to a $2.4 billion funding gap.
I think this news story helps people make important decisions because it provides clear evidence of how global problems affect local communities. For example, the report states that over 53 million people have already lost access to healthcare due to facility closures. This helps voters decide whether to support leaders who prioritize international aid or those who focus only on domestic issues. This matters because it shifts the influence on our vote from emotional social media posts to factual, global data. -
One news issue I have read and learned about is the spread of misinformation during elections, especially on Social Media. Because it cautions individuals to be more careful on what they read or share, I believe this news issue can help people spend more time on these crucial decisions. On Elections Canada, they have documented how misleading information can affect peoples opinions on Candidates and how they vote, which is one piece of evidence. This is very important because on apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, users can often share false or biased content that can sway others, which shows that correct information is necessary for people to make decisions in a democracy, and being aware of false information can help preserve elections and public confidence as well.
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A women's rights instagram page: womensrights_group made many videos critiquing the Trump Administration. In one video they used a MAGA hat and changed the words to Make Men Useful Again. While they may have been trying to raise awareness, this video ended up gaining lots of attention and led to many people having a negative perspective of the account due to the unprofessionalism. When creators make these slightly provocative videos it shifts attention away from the real problem and makes choices difficult. This matters because the Feminist movement can lose many supporters which is necessary to create change!
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One news story I have read about is the Amanda Knox case. I think it very clearly illustrates how much the news influences peoples decisions unhelpfully. In 2009 Amanda Knox was convicted of murdering her room-mate, Meredith Kercher, despite there being no concrete evidence. Although she was eventually definitively acquitted, she spent 4 years in prison. I think people's opinions were shaped by the sexist way the media portrayed her, which had a big impact on her trial. I think people need to think more critically about what they read, and notice how their opinions are being influenced.
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One news story I have read about is that the US and Russia is looking over the new START nuclear pact. I believe that this could help us because the new START nuclear pact is the thing that caps the use 85% of the US and Russia’s arsenal. If the US and Russia extend the time of this pact, there would still be a cap on how much arsenal these countries are able to use. But there is a twist. This could also have a negative affect on us because if these countries overview the new START pact and they don’t extend the time of this nuclear pact, they could abuse the use of this arsenal and could cause war and other problems. And this pact expires on February 5th, 2026, so as I am writing this, the pact has already expired, and we are waiting on results to see if these countries would extend it or not. Also I think others should be informed about this problem and up to date on what is going on around the world. Even though only Russia and the US have the pact, if they don’t extend it, it could have a very negative affect on other countries, especially how things are going now
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One news story I have recently read about is the ICE agency ( immigration and customs enforcement)
I wasn't informed about this agency before but when I continued reading more, I couldn't imagine how unstable it is right now in Italy as there were many protests refusing the presence of an ICE unit during the 2026 winter game that will be held in Milan, Italy. This ICE unit is expected to be sent as kind of security, but clearly, Italians aren't approving of their presence as this controversial decision raises human rights and political concerns.
I think this news story makes it hard for people to make decisions as the protests in Italy right now are a clear signal that citizens aren't accepting this situation and decisions are still unstable in Italy. So, any decisions taken now would raise some serious consequences. -
One news story I have read about is ICE(Immigration & Customs Enforcment).
I think this does not help people make important decisions in life because many of the people that have been taken from ICE or are illegal are hispanics and most of hispanics are innocent.
According to Cascade PBS, a women named Alejandra Guzman is affected by this too.Alejandra was excited and full of joy because she was going to graduate from college until her dad, Pedro Guzman, was denied from staying in United States of America and ordered deportation.two months later Alejandra cannot even sleep or take a break because of the incident with her father.Unfortunatly Pedro Guzman father of Alejandra Guzman was deported in May.
According to Cascade PBS 13% of immigrants say that they or any family member are limited from day to day activity,like going out for groceries,community events,work,And even scared of seeking medical care.This also affects immigrants with mental health,it makes them have anxiety,stress trpuble sleeping,and even eating,ever since Trump took office earlier this year.Even till this day people around America that voted for Donald Trump, are now against Trump,and are even wanting to switch Trump as president for someone else.Immigrants and people that are not even supposed to be worrying about ICE are being attacked ,like Renee Good was killed by ICE and she was not an immigrant she was just defending other immigrants that were going to be captured by ICE,but sadly ahe was killed.
Therefore, this is why I think ICE(Immigration Customs & Enforcment) affects immigrants & others. -
One news story I have read about is Trinidad and Tobago. They decided to not lower the voting age to 16-17. I agree with Trinidad and Tobago since people under 18 have minds that are not fully developed or in other words "mature." Several kids under 18 don't have mature minds enough to vote, either they could vote on mistake, make an imprecise vote, or could vote when they wouldn't want to. In addition, 16-17 year olds are mostly on the internet, which can cause someone to influence a person into voting for someone like Donald Trump.
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One news story that i have heard of is how ICE have arrest people that does not have legal status to stay.I think this news does not help people make important desision in my oppinion.I say this because some kids have skip scool because thay are offraid that ICE will arrest them or their parent. It states from F0X10, "Some teachers in Georgia said ICE activity is leaving students from immigrant families afraid to come to school".This make many people offraid that are not from here and it could leed to stress that can make bad desision like skipping school.This is important because kids won't get propper education that they need.It could also make them live in fear whitout living the live they want.In conclusion, this is what I heard and and the effect that it have.
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One new story I have read about is the war between Cambodia and Thailand
This news makes it harder for everyday people to live, survive, and stay in a peaceful environment and feel safe due to the ongoing conflict between Cambodia and Thailand that started on the 24th of July 2025. One piece of evidence is the people living on the border, where their homes are being bombarded and destroyed everyday one by one. Donald Trump and other countries have tried telling Thailand to stop attacking us, which thailand did accept but later attacked us again. This matters because I am a Cambodian student who lives in Cambodia and is being affected by how our country is getting destroyed slowly, bit by bit. This hurts a lot to know because Cambodia is my birth country, and as a Cambodian citizen, you are forced to endure what happens to your country and see the burden of unlucky people who live by the border and get killed by the attacks from thai military.
News of the Thai attack has been announced worldwide, and everyone knows that it is Thailand's fault for attacking Thailand, and Thailand is wrong in doing so, but the Thai government is still not taking this seriously and is still attacking us. News of this is announced on the Khmer Times, BBC, and even on the New York Times -
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Hi witty_song, I am sorry to hear that this newstory is affecting you. Does the way that news of this conflict is reported where you are help people, or do you think it makes it harder for people to make decisions?
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One news story I have read about is how many online scams, like bad things on the internet, are happening more and more around the world lately. These scams can trick people into losing money or believing wrong things. I think this news helps people make important decisions because when people know about scams, they can be more careful, aware, and not get tricked. One piece of evidence is that new reports say scams have gotten so much more serious and expensive for people all around the world. This matters because if we know the truth, we can protect our families and make smarter choices.
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One news story that I think helps people make more important decisions is the recent attacks happening in Nigeria . Terrorists have been bombing, and burning down houses which resulted in loss of lives . Donald Trump gave a speech, and warned that the killing of Christians in northern Nigeria must stop.
Sometimes last year, schools were forced to go compulsory break because terror alert in my state, Plateau. We remained at home for two months, leading to lost of academic time.
Currently, there is a military collaboration between Nigerian and the American government. Sometime last week, the American government sent in tactical military team to help in intelligence gathering.
I strongly believe that this collaboration will go a long not just creating awareness to the activities of terrorists but will ultimately help us to as a country to completely eliminate the terrorists. -
I think the news story helps people make important decision. The news recently I read is 'Australian government banned social media under 16 on December 10,2025.', Australia became the first country formally bar users under the age of 16 from accessing major social media platforms, and other governments worldwide are watching. Australia government aims to reduce, anxiety, depression, and self harm associated with long time social media use. It's can also help to take pressure off parents and middle and high school. The Australian students can manage their spare time with a more healthy way, and it helps people to make decision clearly and be more considerate when they are making decision, because young people are easier to be influenced by social media which means that's easier to make decision irrationally. In case the government banned social media under 16, young people be shaped by the people surround them, they have chance to have conversation with them to get wider experiences and different perspectives are different from social media, these can help them to make important decision.
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One of the new stories I have heard and seen for myself too is about the governor of Plateau state and the things he has done for the state. One of those things is the introduction of "Metro Bus" for workers for easy transportation to and from work, it also came with a highly subsidized fee of irrespective of the distance. . This has helped ease a lot of burdens off workers neck as transportation has become more stress-free, affordable and cheap. He also repaired bad roads for smooth transportation. He has stopped hawkers from littering the market roads and streets and placed them in the market.
He is contesting for the office of the governor again and if I could be granted an opportunity to vote, I will definitely vote for him so he can keep up with the good work and even do more -
I really don't hear, listen or read news but i think that in my country they want to bann the social media apps for people younger than sixteen year olds and I think this could have two possilbe repercutions, one that positive and the other negative. The positive is that children and teenagers could concentrate more in their studies or do other productive activities, but, the negative is that maybe,not the country,but the government could have a problem with these people. One piece of evidence is the depenance that young people have to the mobile phone and this would be a very big problem for the decision makers. This is a very important news and matters a lot in my country, Spain, which people want to know if it is going to happen of not.
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Hello, I'm a student. Name congenial grasshopper, I'm very excited about the topic, like this. Yes,I agree that news help the people understanding and make important decisions for their lives,communities or country.
NEWS — N=north, E=east, W=west, S= south
That means the news come from 4 direction. That is the news,which give us many useful information.personally I have many opinion about this, but when I read newspaper today, I saw, in my country get new president, means election. My home, community, country, everywhere are talking about this news.they take decision, which they want. It’s a amazing news now.
I have no word to describe, because i'm confused about this topic. But i want to say,
People make decision by hearing the news.
Without news, people can't know the truth.
– Walter lippmann
This quotes says the importance of news.
Isn’t it’s???
Thanks -
I think news story helps people make important decision because in my opinion which it could the borderline between dead and life. One piece of evidence is the recent happenings in the medical sector in Nigeria, from tensions between the government and healthcare workers resulting in disruptions in healthcare service delivery in government owned hospitals over pay and working conditions to concerns over medical negligence and accountability to outbreaks of diseases in certain parts of the country. It is important for individuals to take care of their environment, families keep track of the vaccinations children need to take, and local authorities advocate for upgrade of primary healthcare. I believe it is time for patients to become aware that they have a right covered in the patients bill of rights, they have a right to information about their diagnosis, a second opinion where possible and risk to treatments. People should always request for copies of their medical record, prescriptions, test and result in case there is negligence on the part of the hospital. People should also learn to fire complains whenever they suspect foul play.
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I live in Indonesia, and one of the news stories that I've heard is that our Government will start to implement strict regulations for the use of social media, known as the PP Tunas (Government regulation No.17/2025) starting on March 1, 2026. They started to implement this rule to protect children from online harm, where starting from March 1 2026, they will enforce minimum age requirements for social media, online gaming, and e-commerce. After this news was issued publicly, people online started to talk about it. Some people said it was a good choice to keep children from social media addiction, but some other people said that it was unnecessary.
In my opinion, this is a good choice from the Government. These days, children have started to get really addicted in social media, and some even watch videos that are not meant for their age. I think that it's important for children to have limited time in social media, so their minds won't get too addicted. There are also some cases where some adults exploit minors on social media, taking advantage of the fact that minors have not yet fully developed their decision-making abilities. Overall, I think that this news story helps people make important choices, mostly parents, to make decision like limiting their children screen time and paying more attention to their social media feed. -
One thing that has been on the lips of some families in Nigeria is immigration and visa restrictions on Nigerians, this restrictions as a result of dificencies in security is a major concern.The US government has placed a pause on the giving of visas, so people who desire to further their education or parents who want to send their children to study there might have to have a rethink and think of alternative options. For some they have to defer their admissions which is another stress on parents or individuals. Since not everyone has dual nationality so no second passport, I believe it is time for Nigerian government to begin to look inwards, do things that change our economy, work on making our educational systems a lot better.
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One news story I have read about is that homeowners in the U.S are experiencing high rates of home insurance. I think this news story helps people make important decisions because homeowners struggle with home insurance because of inflation. One piece of evidence is with higher construction costs and the natural disasters, according to LendingTree and ValuePenguin. With rates jumping homeowners are being forced to reevaluate their budgets and their homeownership status. One fact according to LendingTree, "Home insurance rates climbed 40.4% cumulatively across the U.S over six years." One quote from Rob Bhatt," Insurance companies have been raising their rates to keep up with their escalating expenses...The early 2000s saw an uptick in natural disasters and inflation. Insurance companies have had to rebuild more homes than normal, and the cost of rebuilding each one has become more expensive." In summary, with home insurance rates climbing people can mitigate these costs by changing the insurance approach.
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One news story I have read about is the situation between "undocumented immigrants" and ICE agents. I think this news story does not help people make important decisions because research and reports show that intensified ICE enforcement often leads to negative, rather improved, decision-making and behaviors for the community. The US president has significantly expanded ICE, its budget and its mission since returning to the White House. The agency enforces immigration laws and conducts investigation into undocumented. It also plays a role in removing undocumented immigrants from the US. Ice sees its mission as encompassing both public safety and national security. However its powers are different from those of the average local police department in the US. Despite this, according to the news organization ProPublica, there were more than 170 incidents during the first 9 months of Trump's presidency in which federal agents held US citizens against their will. And this includes Americans being suspected of being undocumented immigrants
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One news story I have read about is how ICE agents are taking many citizens, illegal or legal. I think this story might help people who are aware of ICE because it helps people be more aware. It helps citizens to be aware because this news story can make sure citizens know what is happening, and how they can avoid it. One piece of evidence is the recent news about how many people spoke up about ICE at the 2026 Grammys. Also, there are a lot of recent news about how ICE agents are deporting people, which is 600,000 illegal and legal citizens. This can also potentially make it harder for citizens to go out everyday, and also make citizens scared to go out in their country, (America). It helps them make important decisions for their lives. There is a source on the news, 66.7% percent of Americans think ICE has gone too far.
This matters because it shows how much ICE is affecting people, and can potentially cause much of these "illegal" Americans to be scared of being deported. I also think this matters because it would possibly make other people that want to visit America nervous to come to America. Another piece of evidence is how the deportation affected America by implementing a "mass deportation" campaign, which has also spread fear through immigrant communities. Studies also say Americans think America is ruining their country. Not only does this affect the little children and adults that are being deported, but it also affects sectors who are reliant on immigrant labor, which includes agriculture, construction, and manufacturing. -
I think this news story does not help people make important decisions because this story offers zero practical utility for your financial planning, health, or career, but it does confirm that somewhere out there, someone is having a very high protein afternoon. According to a February 2026 report from the Funny Time, police at Purdue University recently responded to reports of a man walking around campus covered from head to toe in peanut butter. While witnesses expressed minor concerns about potential safety issues for those with nut allergies, investigators were largely baffled, suggesting the incident might have been a "sticky" hazing prank or simply a bizarre personal choice.
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One news story I have read about is about how the president of the US is trying to take over greenland. I don't think its fair since greenland is a beautiful place and I don't think the citizens of America should be able to pollute it with trash.
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One of the recent news I've heard is based on the Nigeria security and violence.
Earlier these week, A group of bad fighters attacked villages in Kwara State, Nigeria. They hurt many people and burned their homes. This was such a big and scary event, the president sent soldiers to help protect the communities afterward.
Why This News Makes Decision-Making Harder
Security Affects Daily Choices
When people fear violence or kidnapping, they must constantly make risk judging about basic activities like:
letting children go to school, People may avoid markets or change travel plans entirely because of insecurity — not because they choose to, but because they feel unsafe doing otherwise. This reality changes not just immediate decisions, but future livelihood planning.
Undermines Trust in Government and Institutions
News of large attacks signals to citizens that, security systems may be failing, and important duties of the state protecting lives aren’t always reliably enforced. When communities cannot trust that the government can keep them safe, they may make decisions like: moving away from home, avoiding public enforcement agencies, joining local vigilante groups for protection.
All of these choices shift life paths dramatically. The absence of confidence in public safety reduces people’s ability to plan for long-term goals like education or business expansion.
Distorts Community Cohesion
Violence weakens trust between neighbors and within the community, making people less connected, cooperative, and likely to work together on common problems
“162 killed; how decide life?" -
I believe the news story about ICE(immigration and customs enforcement)helps make things easy but it has its effects on people. Theses news stories make things easier because it tell citizens what's happening like the news story of when ice killed 8 people for no reason but, these news stories also makes citizens scared because of the methods ice is using to deport illegal immigrants. This is also dividing opinions some believe what ice is doing is wrong because america is supposed be a ''dream'' while others believe its right an the way ice it is being dealt with is wrong and what should not use violence and kill people.Its one news story titled “increased violence & scrutiny” in this news story talks about how attacks,assaults,and death threats to ice this tells us that what effect these news stories have.
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I think health news story helps people make important decisions because like they say health is wealth and a country's national wealth can only increase when the workforce of that country is healthy. The health ministry in Nigeria recently announced the outbreak of lassa fever in some parts of the country. People of any country need to stay healthy, individuals, families have to learn how to handle food and waste especially during this dry weather. Food items must be kept in rodent proof containers and these containers must be left open on the counters. it is necessary that people should avoid drinking garri one of our staple food if it has been left exposed in the open market and refuse must be disposed far away from the house, communities must be advocates of cleaner markets. Families must also protect themselves when they lose a love from this outbreak by not touching the body. Safety should be everyone's primary concern.
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Hi everyone, I'm diligent_potato! In my opinion, I think one of the most concerning and alarming cases in the world happening today is murder. One piece of evidence, based on my research from the news, is the incident of a suicide bomber killing at least 31 people and injuring approximately 169 others. This happened during prayers at a mosque in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, a few hours ago. Even if I'm not from there, it is very devastating, and it increases globally every day.
I think this kind of situation makes it harder for people to live peacefully in a society without fearing whether they are going to be next or not. This is an issue to take note of because if not taken care of, it can lead to a decrease in the world population, a lack of trust between communities and countries, and people going into hiding because of the fear of getting killed.
It is advisable and necessary that we come up with ideas to help support the people of the world and help put an end to murder. As someone once said, "Justice is never advanced in taking a human life." So I urge us all to help our world and make it a better place, BY SAYING NO TO MURDER!!!
ineffable_tornado | SMPK 4 Penabur Jakarta | Indonesia 02 Feb 2026
I live in Indonesia, Jakarta. Of course, you might think that Indonesia is a beautiful country with over 17000 islands. But let's take a closer look behind all of the beauty that this country holds, because there are serious problems that happens here because of power imbalance. You might be wondering, what does power imbalance mean? Power imbalance happens when decisions are made by those in authority without fully listening to citizens, and when listening to opinions are viewed as obstacles and not contribution, democracy weakens.
One piece of evidence that I have is coming from the Indonesians academic ability test or also known as TKA. The test was held in November 2025, and many students and teachers were protesting because the test results and how the government reacted did not consider their concerns. In my opinion, a democratic system should teach more than just subjects, it should teach how students participate, critical thinking, and the value of being heard. And when the government ignores that, it sends a message to the younger generation that their voice doesn't matter. Ignoring opinions in education fields does not only harm student but also harms democracy it self, and if a democracy is broken its not because of people that stopped speaking but its because of no one was listening.
straightforward_artist | Shri Natesan Vidyasala | India 03 Feb 2026
One of the recent pieces of news in india that has a significant impact is the leakage of competitive ezam papers, such as the NEET exam paper leak controversy. This piece of news that has made the lives of students and parents more difficult because it shakes the faith in a system that holds the keys to their future.
For lakhs of students, the result of one exam (especially NEET) can mean the difference between college and career and even financial security. When news emerged about the leakage of question papers and the sudden surge in marks, honest students were left bewildered and worried. Many of them had worked hard for years, only to realize that their hard work has no longer a guarantee for a fair deal. Some parents had even held back on important decisions, such as college admissions, loans, or shifting to another city, because of the disputed results.
The fact that the matter was admitted by the authorities themselves and investigations were called for makes it clear that it was no mere rumour. When such news emerges, it not only impacts the toppers or rankers but also every student who has worked hard and followed the rules. This story matters because when the trust breaks, young people start doubting not just results, but the whole system itself. And a country can't move forward when it's students feel the ground beneath them is unstable.