Where No News Is Good News
NEED TO KNOW Where No News Is Good News URUGUAY On Oct. 27, Uruguay voters will decide who they want to lead […]
The King’s Gambit
NEED TO KNOW The King’s Gambit MOLDOVA Moldovan police recently foiled an “unprecedented” Russian plot to meddle in the East European country’s […]
I Vote, Therefore I Am
NEED TO KNOW I Vote, Therefore I Am IRAQI KURDISTAN Lawyers affiliated with a range of political parties in Kurdistan recently volunteered […]
Paradise, Enraged
NEED TO KNOW Paradise, Enraged CARIBBEAN The tourism industry – hotels, restaurants, and other amenities – has long replaced the extractive colonial […]
Scripture and Strictures
NEED TO KNOW Scripture and Strictures AFGHANISTAN Three years after the US quit Afghanistan, the country’s ultraorthodox Islamic rulers, the Taliban, have […]
Metastasis
NEED TO KNOW Metastasis SWEDEN Criminals in Sweden are making big money selling strawberries at roadside stands. These allegations might seem silly, […]
Cutting the Gordian Knot
NEED TO KNOW Cutting the Gordian Knot GERMANY Twenty-five years ago, Germany was famously called the “sick man of Europe.” In the […]
New Man, New Plans
NEED TO KNOW New Man, New Plans JAPAN When Ishiba Shigeru was running to become leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, […]
Bullets and Ballots
NEED TO KNOW Bullets and Ballots MOZAMBIQUE Catholic bishops in the southern African country of Mozambique recently urged electoral observers to be […]
Escaping the Shadow
NEED TO KNOW Escaping the Shadow MEXICO When Andrés Manuel López Obrador left office on Sept. 30, he had recorded around 3,000 […]
Shapeshifting
NEED TO KNOW Shapeshifting MIDDLE EAST A year ago, after Hamas broke through a Gaza border fence on the morning of Oct. […]
Putting a Hand Out
NEED TO KNOW Putting a Hand Out CUBA In the early period of Cuba’s communist regime, the island was remarkably safe. Violent […]
‘The War of Liberation’
NEED TO KNOW ‘The War of Liberation’ TUNISIA Tunisian fruit seller Mohamed Bouazizi immolated himself in protest against his country’s uncaring, corrupt […]
Hoping For a Thaw
NEED TO KNOW Hoping For a Thaw BULGARIA Freedom of information advocacy group Reporters Without Borders once concluded that Bulgarian media mogul […]
Maxed Out
NEED TO KNOW Maxed Out LAOS A UNICEF official recently toured Laos to see the devastation wrought by extreme floods. “Classrooms filled […]
Last Man Falling
NEED TO KNOW Last Man Falling UKRAINE Ukraine’s plan for victory against Russia is well-known. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently told […]
The Cooling Welcome
NEED TO KNOW The Cooling Welcome MIDDLE EAST Life has never been easy for the 12 million Syrian refugees who fled their […]
Disaster Management
NEED TO KNOW Disaster Management AUSTRIA Austrian politicians running for parliament before elections on Sept. 29 paused their campaigns recently after flooding […]
Sunshine and Bullets
NEED TO KNOW Sunshine and Bullets JAMAICA Three million tourists have visited the luscious Caribbean island of Jamaica this year, including 1 […]
The Acceleration
NEED TO KNOW The Acceleration LEBANON Starting on Sept. 17, hundreds of pagers and two-way handheld radios exploded in homes, supermarkets, buses, […]
The Depths
NEED TO KNOW The Depths MYANMAR In the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, casualties from natural and manmade disasters are mounting. Typhoon […]
On the Sidelines
NEED TO KNOW On the Sidelines AFRICA Last month, Samuel Nduwimana was in agony in a hospital in Bujumbura, the financial capital […]
All or Nothing
NEED TO KNOW All or Nothing SRI LANKA The People’s Liberation Front (JVP) in Sri Lanka was founded as a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist […]
Base Instincts
NEED TO KNOW Base Instincts CZECH REPUBLIC The right-wing Freedom and Direct Democracy Party’s political billboard in Wenceslas Square in the capital […]