Palace Intrigue
NEED TO KNOW Palace Intrigue NIGER Two years ago, the president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, was elected in the West African country’s […]
To Be Reasonable
NEED TO KNOW To Be Reasonable ISRAEL Left and right in Israel are split over the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu […]
Going A-Courting
NEED TO KNOW Going A-Courting RUSSIA Russian President Vladimir Putin was on a charm offensive at the recent Russia–Africa Summit in St. […]
The Hired Hands
NEED TO KNOW The Hired Hands CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group arrived in the Central African Republic (CAR) around […]
A Worrying Popularity
NEED TO KNOW A Worrying Popularity THAILAND When Thai voters cast their ballots for a new parliament in May, they roundly rejected […]
Declaring War
NEED TO KNOW Declaring War BRAZIL Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is leading the charge to protect the Amazonian rainforest. […]
Boilergeddon
NEED TO KNOW Boilergeddon GERMANY Many environmentalists, including the eco-minded politicians in the Green Party in Germany, believe heat pumps will save […]
The Peace Dividend
NEED TO KNOW The Peace Dividend UKRAINE Former American President Donald Trump recently said that, if he resided in the White House […]
Null and Void
NEED TO KNOW Null and Void CAMBODIA Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s chances of winning reelection on July 23 are very good. […]
Winning Minds, Losing Hearts
NEED TO KNOW Winning Minds, Losing Hearts SPAIN “Sanchismo” might be the wedge issue in Spain’s general election on July 23. That’s […]
Past and Present
NEED TO KNOW Past and Present URUGUAY The Admiral Graf Spee was a German warship scuttled in 1939 in Montevideo Bay in […]
The Autocrat, the Lapdog
NEED TO KNOW The Autocrat, the Lapdog BELARUS Belarussian artist and political dissident Ales Pushkin, 57, recently died in prison from an […]
Ubiquitous Aggression and Violence
NEED TO KNOW Ubiquitous Aggression and Violence SERBIA Throngs of Serbians flocked to the capital of Belgrade recently to protest against Pink […]
Twenty Years
NEED TO KNOW Twenty Years SUDAN The Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, the rebel paramilitary group fighting against the central government of […]
Not Going Anywhere
NEED TO KNOW Not Going Anywhere MEXICO Since he began his six-year term of office in December 2018, Mexican President Andrés Manuel […]
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
NEED TO KNOW Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop RUSSIA The Wagner Group, the Russian military contractor, arrived in the Central African Republic (CAR) […]
The Tiger’s Stripes
NEED TO KNOW The Tiger’s Stripes EGYPT Ten years ago on July 3, the Egyptian military under Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi launched a […]
Community Policing
NEED TO KNOW Community Policing HONDURAS The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has earned plaudits from many of his people – […]
Humbled but Unbowed
NEED TO KNOW Humbled but Unbowed RUSSIA Now that Russian President Vladimir Putin has survived Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner Group’s apparent […]
Come Visit
NEED TO KNOW Come Visit HONG KONG Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, is giving out 700,000 plane tickets to […]
Western Outpost in the East
NEED TO KNOW Western Outpost in the East LITHUANIA One of Lithuania’s first post-independence leaders after the fall of the Soviet Union […]
AI, Meet Europe
NEED TO KNOW AI, Meet Europe EUROPEAN UNION The European Parliament recently overwhelmingly passed the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act. While the […]