Participant Story

France's 'Burqa Ban,' One Year Later

Radio producer Arwa Gunja traveled to Paris as an International Reporting Fellow to examine the impact of France's "burqa ban." The law, instituted one year ago, is a restriction on Muslim women covering their faces in the traditional burqa or niqab.

Widely supported in France, the ban was meant to free women of gender enslavement and help Muslims better integrate into French society.

Haitian Journalists Show How Temporary Solutions Create Permanent Problems for Refugees

As hundreds of non-governmental organizations begin to pull out of Haiti, their departures are causing problems in a nation still struggling to recover from the 2010 earthquake. Several journalists chosen to take part in the Fund for Investigative Journalism took a close look at one of those problems.

Occupy D.C. Protesters Hold Mock Committee Hearing

Mussadaq is currently a guest reporter at the McClatchy Washington Bureau as part of the U.S. - Pakistan Professional Partnership in Journalism. This story appeared on McClatchy's website.

WASHINGTON — Sitting under the open air on a sunny Wednesday afternoon, Occupy D.C. protesters held a mock hearing on how to create a fair economy for most Americans — a contrast, protesters said, to Capitol Hill hearings that they said work to enrich the nation’s top 1 percent of earners.

Reporting From Iraq: The Toughest Assignment

For the past six weeks, I have worked as the bureau photographer for The New York Times in Baghdad. This was my first visit to Iraq, and although I have worked in Afghanistan, Gaza and Yemen, I have found Iraq to be among the most difficult places to do my job. The fear is what makes working here difficult.

Reporting From Iraq: Why It Still Matters

During Frederik Pleitgen's business visit to Iraq, he was faced with daily unpredictable obstacles that hampered the effectiveness of his reporting. The country's economic development is moving, but there are many still many social and political issues surrounding the Iraqi populace. The next weeks will be telling as the political powers attempt to form a government. And we must remember that more than 90,000 U.S. troops are still on the ground here, seemingly on their way out, but not home yet.

Post-Copenhagen: Innovative Local Approaches to Climate Change

In January, a month after the world climate summit in Denmark, a diverse group of nearly 50 journalists, experts and entrepreneurs traveled to Berlin, Hamburg and Copenhagen to discuss climate change, energy and their global economic impact. Most of them were alumni of transatlantic exchange programs like those sponsored by the Bosch Foundation, the Rias Berlin Commission, the German Marshall Fund and Fulbright Commission. Four were Burns alumni.

To Oslo For Peace

Anthony Ganzer recalls his experience in Oslo as a guest journalist through a Robert Bosch Stiftung fellowship, and provides his own story after witnessing President Barack Obama's acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize. Ganzer was also tasked with explaining to locals why Obama deserved such a prestigious award. He notes that, while engaged in wars at home, Obama used his speech to justify the use of force in the pursuit of peace.

Witnessing the Elections that Made a Difference

You put a ballot in the box, you cast a vote and you make your choice. Candidates rally, fight for every vote, try to explain why their program is better than the one offered by the opponent. In this sense, the U.S. elections are probably similar to the elections anywhere in the world.