A Playing Field
Editor’s Note: Dear Readers, This holiday week we’re reprising some of our lead stories of the past year, ones that illustrate ongoing […]
Flower Power
NEED TO KNOW Flower Power KYRGYZSTAN The flag of Kyrgyzstan features a yellow sun on a red field. The sun evokes the […]
Death By Inches
NEED TO KNOW Death By Inches TIBET The Chinese government recently renamed “Tibet” as “Xizang” in official diplomatic documents. The move was […]
Countdown
NEED TO KNOW Countdown MYANMAR Ye Htut is a 64-year-old retired lieutenant colonel in the Myanmarese army, who also served as a […]
Hot Top of the World
NEED TO KNOW Hot Top of the World NEPAL United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres recently journeyed to the foot of Mount Everest […]
No Exit
NEED TO KNOW No Exit NORTH KOREA North Koreans face hunger, forced labor, shortages of medicine and other supplies, and no freedom […]
Pick Your King
NEED TO KNOW Pick Your King MALAYSIA Malaysia has a unique form of constitutional monarchy. Every five years, nine sultans convene at […]
Walking the Plank
NEED TO KNOW Walking the Plank PAKISTAN Around 700,000 Afghan refugees fled to neighboring Pakistan since 2021 when the Taliban assumed power […]
Down and Out, Down Under
NEED TO KNOW Down and Out, Down Under AUSTRALIA Australians over the weekend shot down a constitutional amendment to provide the country’s […]
Plus ça Change
NEED TO KNOW Plus ça Change NEW ZEALAND The former prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, who served from 2017 through […]
A Family Affair
NEED TO KNOW A Family Affair INDONESIA Kaesang Pangarep, a 28-year-old YouTube influencer and entrepreneur who is also the youngest son of […]
Despair in the Black Garden
NEED TO KNOW Despair in the Black Garden ARMENIA/ AZERBAIJAN Another nightmare appears to be unfolding on the far edge of Europe. […]
R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
NEED TO KNOW R.E.S.P.E.C.T. SOUTH KOREA South Korean teachers say they have it tough. Their complaints include pupils assaulting them in the […]
Breaking Through the Sky
NEED TO KNOW Breaking Through the Sky INDIA The Vikram Moon lander recently hopped across the lunar surface, using its thrusters to […]
Where the Truth Goes to Die
NEED TO KNOW Where the Truth Goes to Die SRI LANKA On Easter Sunday in 2019, a series of bomb blasts at […]
Resetting the Rudder
NEED TO KNOW Resetting the Rudder MALDIVES In early August, the supreme court of the Maldives, the archipelago nation off India’s southwest […]
Cracks in the Tent Pole
NEED TO KNOW Cracks in the Tent Pole CHINA For the past 25 years, pundits in the West have been issuing dire […]
Walking Out
NEED TO KNOW Walking Out NORTH KOREA The mother of an American serviceman who sprinted across the border to North Korea last […]
A Playing Field
NEED TO KNOW A Playing Field PAPUA NEW GUINEA The world is wooing Papua New Guinea, a poor country to the north […]
Promises, Betrayed
NEED TO KNOW Promises, Betrayed AFGHANISTAN This week, the Taliban marked two years since it returned to power following the US-led troop […]
Squeaky No More
NEED TO KNOW Squeaky No More SINGAPORE There’s a tacit agreement between Singapore’s rulers and the population: We the People will settle […]
Opaque Waters
NEED TO KNOW Opaque Waters JAPAN Chef Kazuyuki Tanioka owns a sushi restaurant called Toya in the Chinese capital of Beijing. Life […]
Dimming Star
NEED TO KNOW Dimming Star BANGLADESH The foreign minister of Bangladesh recently called ambassadors from the United States, Britain, France, and 10 […]
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 […]