NOTE: Please note that all articles, poems and written assignments published in Valley Times are opinion pieces of each individual student.

At lunchtime, we asked Diploma Programme students: “what’s your top song at the moment?” We found that the answers spanned across different decades, genres, and global contexts, truly reflecting the international identity of our school. Firstly, a genre that seems to be quite popular is R&B and pop, with students mentioning artists such as Frank Ocean, Sade, Olivia Dean, Rihanna, and Floetry, all of which are known for warm vocals and emotional themes. Modern male singers suc

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the biggest ever, but it is also becoming one of the most controversial, raising serious questions about who gets to enjoy it and on what terms.     The upcoming 2026 World Cup will be the 23rd edition of the tournament, and the first to feature 48 countries instead of 32. It will be co-hosted by three countries, the United States, Mexico, and Canada, with 16 cities involved – 11 in the US, three in Mexico, and two in CanadaFédération Internat

On January 3 rd of 2026, the United States launched a military strike against Venezuela, targeting strategic areas inside of Caracas and all of its surrounding metropolitan areas. There were many explosions that were reported inside the city of Caracas and the military bases that are nearby. Very shortly after the attack, the US President Donald Trump confirmed that the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured and flown out of the country t

Where do music, fashion and prestige meet? Where do all the world’s most famous musicians get together to receive coveted and career-defining awards? The Grammy Awards.  The annual event is scheduled to take place on the first day of February at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Grammy Awards began in 1959 as a modest, untelevised ceremony created by the Recording Academy to honor artistic excellence in the music industry. They have since evolved into one of the world’s

Once considered to be a rare element, lithium has quickly emerged as one of the twenty first century’s most sought after resources. Used mainly in countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, The United States, Australia, China and Congo. It is often referred to as the “white gold” of our clean energy era, because it powers batteries that run our electric cars, smartphones, and renewable energy storage devices, technologies which define contemporary life and propel the global mo

Queer media has been a defining factor in our society for years. Popular movies and series such as “Brokeback Mountain” (2005), “Heartstopper” (2022), and “But I’m a Cheerleader” (1999), have all been significant milestones in normalizing queerness and spreading awareness of this lifestyle. This kind of media did not only begin in recent years, but an example of this being also the iconic classic literature book “The Picture of Dorian Gray” having been published in around 189

L et’s look ahead to this year’s new thrilling releases that are worth your attention. After the release of long-awaited “Marty Supreme” in 2025, which was full of new experimentational film techniques we are waiting for even more new films that can inspire and change entertainment industry trends.  “The Devil Wears Prada 2”- This movie has been in the spotlight ever since it came out, but after almost 20 years, 20th Century Studios has announced that on May 1st we will be ab

January cooking is practical by nature. The days are shorter, motivation can be low, and meals need to do more than just taste good. They need to warm the house, stretch for leftovers, and feel manageable after a long day. These five recipes are built with January in mind. They are steady, comforting, and meant to be cooked without rushing.  1. All-Week Vegetable and Bean Soup   This is the kind of soup January was made for.  Start by heating olive oil in a large pot over med

We’ve all heard the name Billie Eilish. Some of us know her from some of her more recent songs that arose to popularity like “ WILDFLOWER” or “ BIRDS OF A FEATHER”, from the Barbie movie, from “ bad guy” , or from the song that started her career, “ ocean eyes”. So how did an overnight sensation in 2017 turn into a name we all recognize today, with over 180 awards, 9 of which are Grammys and another two Oscars?  Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell’s rise to fame began in 20

In the middle of Europe’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Belgium has become a key actor, as one of the world’s largest financial institution formed to facilitate the exchange, Euroclear, is located in Brussels. Euroclear holds shares in multiple Russian central banks, most of which were frozen by the EU. Significantly, Euroclear holds about 180 billion euros of said frozen state assets. Consequently, this large concentration of funds has placed Belgium in a comp

The AFCON tournament is the African Football Cup Of Nations and this tournament is the biggest in Africa. AFCON is celebrated every 2 years leading to different African cultures to come together and celebrate with each other. Millions of fans endure the culture of each other and show that during each match that their national team played by singing together, dancing alongside each other and even comforting those who lose.   This year the two African nations that were against

Jean-Michel Basquiat still stands out as one of the most influential artists of the 20 th century: an expressionist painter who helped redefine contemporary art by blurring boundaries between street art and the elite gallery world. His work still continues to raise questions about race, equality, and capitalism.  Basquiat was born on December 22 ,1960 in New York to a Haitian father and a Puerto Rican mother. At age seven, he was hit by a car and hospitalized. During recover

We all use AI. And why not? It’s a useful tool, and a mark of the technological evolution we are currently undergoing. You have also probably heard about its impact on the environment due to the high energy, water, and mining it requires to function and to be trained. But I’m sure you already knew this; we all do. Yet we continue to use it because it is so convenient.     Artificial intelligence technology is constantly developing, and this means that the industries in which

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be one of the most important tournaments in football history. The tournament will start from June 11 and it will end at July 19, 2026, it will mark the beginning of a new era for the sport, as there will be big changes to the structure, the number of teams, and the global impact of the event. This World Cup will reflect the fast worldwide growth of football and the intention of making the tournament more inclusive than any of the previous world cu

Our brains are amazing, but sometimes they make very strange “errors” that change how people see the world, feel their bodies, or recognize others.   You probably already know about Alzheimer's disease or Schizophrenia, but did you know that there is a neurological error when you stop seeing any faces? The writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks recounts the story of a man who "mistook his wife for a hat." “He suffered from a condition where he couldn't recognize faces, known as

By Fernanda Pecoraro and Olivia Aron Just weeks ago, (November 10-21), a very important event happened in Belem, Brazil. It was an event that caught the world's attention. Leaders, scientists, and negotiators gathered to discuss the future of our planet and the decisions that need to be made to ensure that the world has a successful future. In this article, we’ll be going over what happened at COP30, and how the decisions made might have an impact on your day-to-day life.  W

Christmas today simultaneously operates as a religious-cultural celebration and a major driver of consumer economies with neither dimension fully explaining its global significance.   Historically, the culture and communities of churches embedded Christmas in liturgical calendars, charity practices, and family-based rituals emphasizing worship and community over material display. The rise of mass retail and advertisement in the 19-20th centuries reframed those practices into

At first glance, the periodic table seems serene—just a neatly organised grid of symbols. It appears on mugs offered in museum gift shops, on the walls of classrooms, and in lab manuals. Beneath its well-known configuration, however, is a complicated human history replete with scientific discoveries, industrial revolutions, natural catastrophes, and laborious safety reforms. The phrase "118 Ways to Die in the Periodic Table" is a lens through which to examine how each element

Portugal’s legislative election on 18 May 2025 marked one of the biggest political changes in the country’s recent history. The vote was called after the Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s minority government lost a confidence vote, which lead to another early election, and it reflected a rising political instability.  The center right party Democratic Alliance (AD), which is led by Montenegro won the most seats, it won approximately 91 of 230  with about 31.8%  of the vote, bu

On the 28th of O ctober 2025 17:00 GMT, Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica brutally in a coastal area called Westmoreland Parish. The storm was classed as a category 5—the highest category— on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, and has been ranked by meteorologists at AccuWeather as the third most intense hurricane experienced by the Caribbean since Wilma in 2005 and Gilbert in 1988.    Although Jamaica is no stranger to severe storms, it has never before experienced a category 5 stor

Do we think in language, or does language shape how we think? How do you see the sun? A man? A woman? Non gender? What if I told you that’s not your personal imagination, but it’s how the language that you speak shapes your perspective of seeing the world? For example, Spanish speakers would most likely imagine the sun is a more masculine figure as it is considered male, and German speakers would imagine it more feminine as it is considered female, or it could be perceived as

Could you ever imagine being a woman, petting her cat at home, when suddenly your neighbours accuse you of witchcraft, something that doesn’t even exist – and before long, you’re sentenced to death with no proof or logical reason? Well, this is sadly how things happened in the 1690s in Salem, a tragic time for any person, -typically women- who were accused of involvement in the dark arts, temptation by the devil, and accusations of casting spells to make livestock die. A simp

Satellite shows neighbourhoods burnt in Sudan, Daily Mail, 2025 How long can a nation survive when every day brings new battles and displacement? This question hangs over Sudan as the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues to escalate into its second year with no ceasefire in sight.   The war, which began in April 2023 after months of tension between rival generals has intensified across multiple regions of S

In 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne defined the modern borders of Turkey, reshaping the region after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. This marked the Greek-Turkish border, which includes the Evros River, passing through Thrace, and is now known as one of Europe’s most dangerous migration pathway, where around 400 people try to cross daily in 2023 according to Welle. Both Turkey and Greece have constructed fences in recent years, highlighting internal safety and border security, as

By early November, there’s a certain smell in the air; woodsmoke, damp leaves, something faintly sweet that makes you want to turn the oven on. This is the season for slow cooking and warm spices, when the kitchen becomes the coziest room in the house.  Inspired by seasonal ideas from BBC Good Food’s autumn recipe collection ( bbcgoodfood.com )  and a few old favourites passed along by friends, here are a few simple dishes to bring a bit of warmth to your table this month.  P

In broad daylight, The Louvre was robbed. No, this is not something from a sci-fi movie, nor something that happened in a different century, this  happened a month ago. At 9:00 AM on the 19 th  October in Paris a group of 4 people dressed in construction uniforms invaded the southern wing of the world-famous museum and stole about 88 million euros worth of French crown jewels. The world was outraged because of the various security failures; French people mourned the loss of t

How musicians are turning albums into a cinematic experience: Taylor swift’s new album: The Life of a Showgirl”  In the evolving era of the music industry, the traditional album is no longer just a collection of songs, or confined Swift’s music, but quickly pursuing the path of cinema. Becoming an expansive, multi-sensory experience that blurs boundaries between sound, theatre and visual arts. Taylor Swift’s new album: “The Life of a Showgirl” released on the 3 of October 202

When we think of the Civil Rights Movement, names like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks often come to mind. But did you know that before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus, a 15-year-old girl named Claudette Colvin did the same thing, but nine months earlier?  On March 2, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Claudette was riding a city bus home from school when the driver told her to move so a white passenger could sit. Claudette said no. “It felt like S

The Summer I Turned Pretty  by Jenny Han is an extremely popular coming-of-age TV show that released its finale on September 17 th  2025. The show is extremely popular, attracting over 25 million viewers from across the globe. The story is set in Cousins Beach, a fictional location inspired by East Coast beaches during the course of various summers. It follows Isabel (Belly for short), an 18 year-old who is played by the actress Lola Tung. In the story she is trapped in a lov

The question of whether schools should start later has been debated for years among educators, parents, and students. Early start times have been a long tradition in many education systems, but research suggests they are not always the healthiest or most effective approach for students, more particularly for teenagers.    The Case for Later Start Times   Studies in sleep science reveal that teenagers experience a natural change in their sleep hours during puberty. This change

Art has been around for at least 100,000 years with evidence and personal adornments of much earlier than that. Some of the older examples include figurative art such as paintings or in sculptures of animals and humans in the upper palaeolithic age, with discoveries found in Europe and Indonesia. Neanderthals creating art inside of caves also pushes the timeline back to at least 65,000 years ago. It has always been a way to express oneself in a way that words just can't descr

School started less than a month ago, and deadline s are already started piling up. In the following article I have included 5 low maintenance time management tips to help you stay consistent throughout the year.  1. Prioritize Not every task requires the same amount of time and focus. Prioritize tests, summative deadlines, and sports. Once those are marked down in your calendar, you’ll know how much time you have left for other activities.  2. Build a Weekly Schedule   Use a

Lisbon is buzzing with fresh culinary energy. New cafés and restaurants are opening across the city, bringing inventive menus, international influences, and cozy atmospheres that invite locals and visitors to explore beyond the familiar. Two newcomers — Beco Bagels  and Hale Matcha  — are already making waves, while a number of new full-service restaurants are adding depth to Lisbon’s dining map.    Beco Bagels — A Bagel Bar with a Bakery Heart   Located in Rato, Beco Bagels

Zlatosveta Ryzhikova  Websites for students- How to make your life easier   These days, studying is becoming harder because we consume more information than humanity ever did every single day. But the way we consume information has also changed. There are easier and more fun ways to learn now that are more useful and faster. In this article, you can find the websites and platforms that use scientific ways to remember lesson information.  Cognito ( https://cognitoedu.org/  ) 

What if there were no fear at all in your emotions? If threats could not raise your internal alarm system anymore, what happens then? Would your life be bolder or just more dangerous? Very few people live just that way, victims of an extremely rare neurological condition that disables the brain's fear circuit.    This condition is appropriately referred to as Urbach-Wiethe disease, a genetic condition that has only had roughly 400 cases documented globally. The condition resu

When Netflix released Wednesday season 1 in 2022, the audience was captured by the Addams family’s sharp tonged, gothic, and intelligent daughter. Viewers were hooked not only by the paranormal mystery and Jenna Ortega’s cynical performance, but also by an unexpected romantic subplot; the slow, awkward yet intriguing bond between Wednesday Addams and Jericho barista Tyler Galpin. Their ironic chemistry in season 1 became a major conversing point for fans, debating whether Wed

A shark fin rising ominously out of the water. A giant, toothy mouth emerging from the depths. The mystery of what’s hiding in the deep...

THE CORAL BLEACHING CRISIS      The planet is currently undergoing of the most extensive and severe coral bleaching event ever recorded....

In the past couple of years, New Delhi has initiated a revolutionary endeavour of rejuvenating and reviving its cityscape. The city once...

April isn’t sunshine and sardines only — although they hold center stage. It is, though, when Lisbon’s international cuisine really hits ...

Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón, known as only Frida Khalo was born on the 6th of July 1907.  Her father was a German...

Nowadays the internet is overflowing with advice on how to be most productive. That is why in this article I’ll share...

French companies shocked to receive letters from the U.S. embassy in Paris, demanding they follow Trump administration’s ‘Anti-DEI’...

In this article, I will be talking about the recent blackout that happened across Europe, its impact, possible causes,...

Artificial intelligence, also known as AI, is changing the way we do things a lot, especially in politics and journalism. Just like young...

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World weren’t just marvels of architecture—they also reflect how deeply connected ancient Mediterranean...

Donald Trump’s 90-day freeze of on all foreign humanitarian assistance has triggered a catastrophic crisis in Sudan, a country enduring...

Introduction  February is known as Black History Month. The reasoning behind this is because it has the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and...

Laïcité is the principle of separation from church and state, and is a particular type of political ideology of secularism, particular to...

Inflation, rising costs of living, higher rates of youth unemployment, and underemployment are all issues and economic trends that affect...