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 […]

NEED TO KNOW Rock, Meet Hard Place NEPAL Nepali soldiers were recently searching for survivors after an earthquake struck the western region […]

NEED TO KNOW Out With the Old KAZAKHSTAN The president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, appears to be enacting a series of reforms […]

NEED TO KNOW No Country for Old Men MALAYSIA Will the biggest group of young voters in Malaysian history decide whether or […]

NEED TO KNOW Remaking the Wall CHINA Chinese Communist Party Congresses are usually scripted affairs that befit totalitarian states. Delegates are expected […]

NEED TO KNOW The Fifth Estate SOUTH KOREA More than 90 percent of smartphone users in South Korea use the Kakao suite […]

NEED TO KNOW R-E-S-P-E-C-T CENTRAL ASIA/ RUSSIA Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are clashing on their border. Kazakhstan is poised for a “color revolution”. […]

NEED TO KNOW Pushing and Pulling NORTH KOREA North Korea recently fired an intercontinental ballistic missile over Japan, one of five such […]

NEED TO KNOW A Good Day CHINA While Russian President Vladimir Putin suffers international condemnation and internal dissent, US President Joe Biden […]