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 […]

NEED TO KNOW Treading Water PAKISTAN Record floods have turned lowland farms in Pakistan into lakes, highlighting the fragility of an unstable […]

NEED TO KNOW Choosing Forgiveness INDONESIA Indonesian officials are considering granting early release to Hisyam bin Alizein, also known as Umar Patek, […]

NEED TO KNOW Door Fees SINGAPORE In the 2013 novel (and 2018 hit film) “Crazy Rich Asians,” the ingénue travels to Singapore […]

NEED TO KNOW Two Diamonds INDIA/ PAKISTAN India and Pakistan had the rare experience of separating from one another at the same […]

NEED TO KNOW Terror, Redux AFGHANISTAN On Monday, the Taliban marked the first anniversary of their takeover of Afghanistan with a national […]

NEED TO KNOW The Girls Next Door BANGLADESH Indian investigators recently busted an alleged human trafficking ring that was smuggling ethnic Rohingya […]

NEED TO KNOW The Bidding War CHINA American and Chinese ships and planes are more frequently encountering each other in the western […]

NEED TO KNOW Huffing and Puffing THAILAND Thailand recently decriminalized marijuana, becoming the first country in Asia to embrace a new attitude […]