Joyful Warriors
NEED TO KNOW Joyful Warriors FINLAND For the fifth time in a row, Finns are the happiest people in the world. According […]
Banking On It
NEED TO KNOW Banking On It WORLD Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) recently told European Union leaders […]
Books, Traffic and Trauma
NEED TO KNOW Books, Traffic and Trauma IRAQ Twenty years after the American invasion of Iraq, the booksellers of Mutanabbi Street are […]
The Forever Search
NEED TO KNOW The Forever Search MEXICO In what the BBC called a “twisted moral code,” Mexican mobsters affiliated with the Scorpions […]
Legion of Doom
NEED TO KNOW Legion of Doom RUSSIA The prime minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, is worried. He didn’t like the implications of […]
When Hate Comes To Town
NEED TO KNOW When Hate Comes To Town TUNISIA Tunisian President Kais Saied has recently been claiming that migrants originating from sub-Saharan […]
Voting With Feet
NEED TO KNOW Voting With Feet CUBA Almost 23 years ago, heavily armed federal agents wearing body armor seized five-year-old Elián González from […]
Rubber Duck Politics
NEED TO KNOW Rubber Duck Politics THAILAND Thai authorities sentenced a man to jail for two years for peddling calendars featuring rubber […]
A Hatchet in the Ground
NEED TO KNOW A Hatchet in the Ground SAUDI ARABIA/ IRAN/ CHINA It’s hard to say which is more remarkable about the […]
Lessons, Please
NEED TO KNOW Lessons, Please WORLD Three years ago, people around the world began lockdowns that shuttered businesses, schools, government offices, and […]
The Democracy Two-Step
NEED TO KNOW The Democracy Two-Step KAZAKHSTAN Campaign signs festooned the streets of Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, in anticipation of […]
The Proxy Peace
NEED TO KNOW The Proxy Peace YEMEN The civil war in Yemen kept a rusting supertanker off the coast of the Middle […]
Coming Due
NEED TO KNOW Coming Due GHANA Officials in Ghana’s finance ministry recently said talks to restructure its debt to China were “highly […]
Blazing Furnace
NEED TO KNOW Blazing Furnace VIETNAM Vietnamese lawmakers elected Vo Van Thuong as the Southeast Asian country’s new president in early March, […]
He Said, She Said
NEED TO KNOW He Said, She Said ARMENIA/ AZERBAIJAN Talks between Azerbaijani officials and the ethnic Armenian community in Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave […]
Second Thoughts
NEED TO KNOW Second Thoughts SUDAN Sudan’s military junta has been colluding with an affiliate of Russian military contractor the Wagner Group […]
Giving Back Paradise
NEED TO KNOW Giving Back Paradise CHAGOS ISLANDS In the 1960s, British leaders were in the final stages of dismantling the empire […]
The Black Sheep and the Family
NEED TO KNOW The Black Sheep and the Family HUNGARY Hungarian objections to Finland and Sweden entering NATO might delay a vote […]
Beyond the Horizon
NEED TO KNOW Beyond the Horizon ESTONIA Few countries have been more stalwart in their opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine than […]
A Dragon in the Shadows
NEED TO KNOW A Dragon in the Shadows PARAGUAY When voters in Paraguay go to the polls on April 30, they will […]
Nintendo and Synagogues
NEED TO KNOW Nintendo and Synagogues PERSIAN GULF The Arab nations of the Persian Gulf are normalizing relations with Israel, loosening some […]
Don’t Leave a Message
NEED TO KNOW Don’t Leave a Message KENYA Move over, quiet quitting. Employees who are sick and tired of bosses calling them […]