NEED TO KNOW Full Court Press CHINA American and Chinese officials held more than eight hours of “candid” and “constructive” talks in […]

NEED TO KNOW East of Eden EAST TIMOR Timor-Leste, or East Timor, depends on an oil-funded sovereign wealth fund to finance 80 […]

NEED TO KNOW Family Business THAILAND Thai political candidate Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 36, who is the frontrunner in upcoming national elections, recently gave […]

NEED TO KNOW Demography and Destiny INDIA The world’s largest democracy, India, is now the world’s most populous country. The distinction is […]

NEED TO KNOW More for Everyone UZBEKISTAN President Shavkat Mirziyoyev feels like staying around for a while. That’s why voters in Uzbekistan […]

NEED TO KNOW Shiny, Happy People BHUTAN In Bhutan, the law states that “if the government cannot create happiness for its people, […]

NEED TO KNOW Peace and Sabers TAIWAN After the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, met with Taiwanese President […]

NEED TO KNOW Rubber Duck Politics THAILAND Thai authorities sentenced a man to jail for two years for peddling calendars featuring rubber […]

NEED TO KNOW The Democracy Two-Step KAZAKHSTAN Campaign signs festooned the streets of Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, in anticipation of […]

NEED TO KNOW Blazing Furnace VIETNAM Vietnamese lawmakers elected Vo Van Thuong as the Southeast Asian country’s new president in early March, […]

NEED TO KNOW He Said, She Said ARMENIA/ AZERBAIJAN Talks between Azerbaijani officials and the ethnic Armenian community in Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave […]

NEED TO KNOW Man and Country INDIA Indian billionaire Gautam Adani used to claim that the success of his energy and port facilities […]

NEED TO KNOW Militants-in-Waiting PAKISTAN In Pakistan late last month, a terrorist disguised as a police officer detonated a bomb in a […]

NEED TO KNOW Dirty Laundry THE PACIFIC Since Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant melted down in 2011 after an earthquake and tsunami […]

NEED TO KNOW Playing Charades MYANMAR Two years ago, Myanmar’s generals staged a coup that ousted the Southeast Asian country’s civilian leaders, […]

NEED TO KNOW Twixt the Bear and the Dragon MONGOLIA In Mongolia, Dulamsuren Demberel worries about her family’s budget. The price of […]

NEED TO KNOW The Forever Pandemic CHINA China recently lifted mandatory quarantining for visitors, ending three years of travel restrictions designed to […]

NEED TO KNOW A Difficult Hand PHILIPPINES Controversially tough-on-crime Rodrigo Duterte is no longer president of the Philippines. But, in an echo […]

NEED TO KNOW Taunting the Bull PAKISTAN Pakistani and Indian diplomats recently traded barbs over who is a sponsor of terrorism, the […]

NEED TO KNOW Bidding on Paradise INDONESIA Indonesia wants to auction off development rights for more than 100 islands spread out over […]

NEED TO KNOW Give War a Chance JAPAN Japan is planning on increasing defense spending to two percent of its gross domestic […]

NEED TO KNOW Roadblocks for a Generation TAIWAN While Taiwan debates expanding its democracy, observers are debating whether China will be soon […]

NEED TO KNOW The Little Country That Could NEW ZEALAND Few people on Earth enjoy clear night skies. Light pollution obscures the […]