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Rediscovering her Muslim faith after climbing the corporate ladder

by Ashley Walls
Aneelah Afzali hasn't always been so involved with the faith in which she was raised, but she rediscovered and recommitted to Islam as an adult.
May 26, 2015

Culinary Cinema: SIFF 2015 offers films for food lovers

by Anna Goren
This year, SIFF is a place where the food-obsessed can really let loose. With its Culinary Cinema program, SIFF rolled out 11 films for foodies, including seven international films.
May 25, 2015

Essay Contest Winner: The Water Crisis

by Zara Rupp
In our increasingly interconnected world, it is important to be informed of issues and events around the globe in order to better understand and engage with the people around us. If you were a foreign news correspondent, where would you like to be assigned? What story would you cover and why is this an important […]
May 23, 2015
President Obama delivers a speech from the White House announcing an expanded military campaign against ISIS.

Essay Contest Winner: Disappearance to ISIS

by Ruby Whorton
If I were a foreign news correspondent I would like to be stationed in London to try to figure out how, and more importantly, why these three young girls left the country and their loving families without saying good bye.
Cocoa beans in a cocoa pod. These are harvested to eventually make chocolate. (Photo via Agricultural Research Service)

Essay Contest Winner: The Effects of Boycotting Chocolate: Good or Bad for Child Laborers in Cote d’Ivoire?

by Katie Wade
In our increasingly interconnected world, it is important to be informed of issues and events around the globe in order to better understand and engage with the people around us. If you were a foreign news correspondent, where would you like to be assigned? What story would you cover and why is this an important […]
A still from the 2011 documentary "Bully" part of an international campaign to raise awareness about peer-to-peer. Some Muslim Americans say the movement hasn't done enough to confront bullying of Muslims based on religion.

Anti-bullying movement has ignored Muslims

by Sarah Stuteville
A Saturday event at Bellevue College is designed to take a stand against bullying of Muslims.
May 22, 2015
Seattle hip hop artist Draze performs at the EMP's Black History Month Kickoff on Saturday. (Photo by Jama Abdirahman)

5 unlikely highlights at this weekend’s Folklife Festival

by Olivia Fuller
The Northwest Folklife Festival sheds its hippy image with some incredible free events celebrating global and local cultures this weekend.
Natnael Moges and Eyobe Alemu play two boys living in the Yesler Terrace housing project in the 1990's in the short film "Hagereseb."

What Seattle is losing in Yesler Terrace redevelopment

by Ijeoma Oluo
Two short films playing at SIFF this weekend present the changing face of the Yesler Terrace housing project.
May 21, 2015
Peyton yawns and stretches as my sister Katie holds her during our first Skype conversation. (Screen grab by Janelle Retka)

Learning to bond between screens, across borders

by Janelle Retka
As immigration and military deployment separate families across borders, many rely on social media to stay connected.
May 20, 2015

Seattle vigils honor Eritrean, Ethiopian men slain by ISIS

by Agazit Afeworki
Seattle’s Eritrean and Ethiopian communities held separate vigils to honor the men brutally executed in a video by the terrorist organization ISIS.

John Kerry makes case for Trans-Pacific Partnership at Boeing visit

by Venice Buhain
Secretary of State John Kerry stopped at the Renton Boeing plant and defended the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has been met with skepticism by some.
May 19, 2015
A relaxing visit to the nail spa can often mean coming into contact with toxic chemicals -- though some Seattle nail salons have found greener alternatives. (Photo from Flickr by Sam Breach)

Are Seattle nail salon workers being mistreated?

by Cristina Acuña
Doing nails can be a risky business — but you shouldn’t assume Seattle nail salons are harming immigrant workers.

Foreign horror selections at SIFF prove fear is universal

by Olivia Fuller
Tired of Hollywood abusing your favorite genre? Here are five foreign horror film picks playing at SIFF that do it justice.
May 18, 2015
(Photo from Flickr by Anne Wormer)

Ballard braces for big Norwegian Constitution Day party

by Daria Kroupoderova
If you're a purist about your Scandinavian pride, head to Ballard on Monday to celebrate Norwegian Constitution Day.
May 16, 2015

Highlighting Artivism: “Romeo is Bleeding” and “Frame by Frame” at SIFF

by Reagan Jackson
“Romeo is Bleeding” and “Frame by Frame” tell parallel stories of fire, violence, bearing witness, and the power of art as activism.
Old vikings never die — they just move to Poulsbo. (Photo by Andrew Taylor via Flickr)

Viking Fest 2015 storms into Poulsbo

by Joseph C. Denton
Don your horned helmet and jump on the ferry for Viking Fest 2015 in Poulsbo this weekend.
May 15, 2015

Seattle backpackers believed dead after Nepal quakes

by Venice Buhain
The families of Bailey Meola and Sydney Schumacher announced that they'd called off their search of earthquake-ravaged areas of Nepal.

Renton woman Nestora Salgado on hunger strike in Mexican prison

by Venice Buhain
Nestora Salgado Garcia, who ran a community police force in Mexico until her arrest in 2013, is protesting her conditions and her detention.
Volunteer Kevin Tran stacks bins of donated food for weekend backpacks for 64 students at Thorndyke Elementary school in Tukwila. (Steve Ringman/The Seattle Times)

Tukwila kids go hungry and homeless in Seattle’s shadow

by Sarah Stuteville
In the midst of Seattle's economic boom, a Tukwila elementary school is struggling to provide for students in need of shoes, food and beds.

Seattle-bound Beijing bands reimagine rock for the Western world

by Charlie Zaillian
Beijing bands birthed from post-Cultural Revolutionary China are carving their own rock history in the West.
May 14, 2015