NEED TO KNOW Mutti Goes to Washington German Chancellor Angela Merkel flies to Washington Friday to meet with US President Donald Trump […]

NEED TO KNOW Broken Promises, New Hopes Troubled Somalia enjoyed a rare moment of exuberance last month when thousands poured into the […]

NEED TO KNOW The Dutchman Add Geert Wilders to the list of anti-European Union, anti-Islamic, convention-demolishing far-right politicians at the height of […]

NEED TO KNOW Of Victories and Uncertainties Pollsters and economists were quick to argue that the crackdown on cash Indian Prime Minister […]

NEED TO KNOW A Funeral, A Festival The crowds in Seoul on Sunday symbolized South Korea’s two minds on the impeachment of […]

NEED TO KNOW Of Nukes and Wild Hogs Japanese foodies love wild boar meat. Unfortunately, they can’t dine on the hundreds of […]

NEED TO KNOW A State of Limbo The elections were due to take place in November. But the electoral commission said it […]

NEED TO KNOW Back in the Game After a few weeks of relative calm – following the contentious Navy SEAL raid that some […]

NEED TO KNOW On the Altar of Brexit Talks to salvage Northern Ireland’s local government quickly deteriorated Monday as the Irish-nationalist party […]

NEED TO KNOW Guns Versus Butter Howls of derision greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision to shoot for 6.5 percent economic growth this […]

NEED TO KNOW A Disarmament, A Peace After more than 50 years of war, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) began […]

NEED TO KNOW The Weighted Scale In the ever-destabilizing Middle East, Iran has enjoyed a particularly good run of successful military and […]

NEED TO KNOW Eternal Stagnation Greece’s perennial sovereign debt crisis and the chaos surrounding Brexit frequently overshadow Italy’s woes. But it might […]

NEED TO KNOW Waiting for Godot As the Geneva Conference for Human Rights and Dignity kicked off last week, many hoped the […]

NEED TO KNOW Keep Your Friends Close The recent “very painful” death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother has sent geopolitical […]

NEED TO KNOW The Trouble with Monks The idyllic Thai island that Leonardo DiCaprio made famous in the 2000 film “The Beach” […]

NEED TO KNOW A Deepening Chasm Hefty American sanctions against Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami last week came out of the […]

NEED TO KNOW Third Time’s the Charm The ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine brokered at the G20 Security Conference in Munich last […]

NEED TO KNOW Playing Catch Up Australia has garnered headlines recently, but not for the happy-go-lucky stories usually associated with the island […]

NEED TO KNOW Once More unto the Breach Near misses from sniper fire. Terrorists on suicide missions in bomb-filled, runaway cars. Narrow, […]

NEED TO KNOW Legacy, Ideology and Votes The first round of Ecuador’s presidential election on Sunday isn’t really about the candidates running […]

NEED TO KNOW No Gaps Right-wing Israelis celebrated after US President Donald Trump sloughed off the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict […]

NEED TO KNOW Fiddling While… The resignation of US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, earlier this week over questions […]

NEED TO KNOW The Lesser Evil As France’s first-round presidential elections in April inch closer, three candidates have emerged. All of them […]