Here’s to Hope
NEED TO KNOW WORLD Here’s to Hope Well, it was quite a year. It’s safe to say the big international story was […]
Badge of Dishonor
NEED TO KNOW PHILIPPINES Badge of Dishonor The Philippines is having its George Floyd moment. An off-duty police officer in the East […]
A War on Children
NEED TO KNOW NIGERIA A War on Children Chibok became a black mark on Nigeria’s history. That’s where Boko Haram fighters kidnapped […]
A Special Kind of War
NEED TO KNOW RUSSIA A Special Kind of War Much ado has been made of the alleged Russian hacking of US government […]
Anti-Fragility
NEED TO KNOW SOUTH AMERICA Anti-Fragility Gustavo Delgado visits a food pantry every day in his hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Otherwise, […]
The Virus That ‘Stole’ Christmas
NEED TO KNOW WORLD The Virus That ‘Stole’ Christmas In Germany, it’s allowed to celebrate Christmas with four people outside of one’s […]
A Question of Lives
NEED TO KNOW NIGER A Question of Lives Boko Haram militants affiliated with the Islamic State killed 28 people and burned 800 […]
Of Freedoms and Free-For-Alls
NEED TO KNOW SOLOMON ISLANDS Of Freedoms and Free-For-Alls Leaders in the Solomon Islands are considering a ban on Facebook in order […]
A Democratic Frontier
NEED TO KNOW CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC A Democratic Frontier Violent groups control much of the Central African Republic. Around a quarter of […]
Singing the Sahara Blues
NEED TO KNOW WESTERN SAHARA Singing the Sahara Blues Driving from Tan Tan, deep in southern Morocco, it’s a long, lonely road […]
Chaos in the Mountains
NEED TO KNOW KYRGYZSTAN Chaos in the Mountains In the past two months, the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan has had three […]
Hope’s Anniversary
NEED TO KNOW TUNISIA Hope’s Anniversary On Dec. 17, 2010, fruit and vegetable vendor Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire […]
The Politics of Never Forgetting
NEED TO KNOW ISRAEL The Politics of Never Forgetting Yad Vashem is a phrase from the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew […]
No Girl Left Behind
NEED TO KNOW SCOTLAND No Girl Left Behind Scotland is tackling women’s rights in a new way – aiming to make sure […]
Dancing Into Disease
NEED TO KNOW WORLD Dancing Into Disease China, like the US, Canada and the UK, is slowly rolling out plans to vaccinate […]
Chits and Chips
NEED TO KNOW IRAN Chits and Chips The alleged Israeli assassination of lead Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh last month sent another […]
The Mink Saga
NEED TO KNOW DENMARK The Mink Saga Mink are cute, curious and valuable mammals, making them a perfect, if unfortunate, victim for […]
Peace and Disquiet
NEED TO KNOW ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN Peace and Disquiet Families in Armenia and Azerbaijan are turning to Facebook to find missing-in-action soldiers after the […]
Tired – and Angry
NEED TO KNOW LIBERIA Tired – and Angry Liberian President George Oppong Weah is hoping to join the ranks of Ivory Coast’s […]
Choosing the Future
NEED TO KNOW WORLD Choosing the Future Maybe the dominant narrative of the origin of the coronavirus is wrong. As the South […]
Misery and Conspiracy
NEED TO KNOW VENEZUELA Misery and Conspiracy In the US, the power of communist Venezuela is the stuff of conspiracy theories. But […]
Fire and Rage
NEED TO KNOW ROMANIA Fire and Rage After a fire in a Bucharest nightclub claimed 27 lives and resulted in 200 injuries, […]
A Long Shadow
NEED TO KNOW GHANA A Long Shadow Jerry Rawlings brought military coups, authoritarianism and, ironically, democracy to Ghana. He recently died at […]