Singing the Sahara Blues
NEED TO KNOW WESTERN SAHARA Singing the Sahara Blues Driving from Tan Tan, deep in southern Morocco, it’s a long, lonely road […]
Chaos in the Mountains
NEED TO KNOW KYRGYZSTAN Chaos in the Mountains In the past two months, the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan has had three […]
Hope’s Anniversary
NEED TO KNOW TUNISIA Hope’s Anniversary On Dec. 17, 2010, fruit and vegetable vendor Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire […]
The Politics of Never Forgetting
NEED TO KNOW ISRAEL The Politics of Never Forgetting Yad Vashem is a phrase from the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew […]
No Girl Left Behind
NEED TO KNOW SCOTLAND No Girl Left Behind Scotland is tackling women’s rights in a new way – aiming to make sure […]
Dancing Into Disease
NEED TO KNOW WORLD Dancing Into Disease China, like the US, Canada and the UK, is slowly rolling out plans to vaccinate […]
Chits and Chips
NEED TO KNOW IRAN Chits and Chips The alleged Israeli assassination of lead Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh last month sent another […]
The Mink Saga
NEED TO KNOW DENMARK The Mink Saga Mink are cute, curious and valuable mammals, making them a perfect, if unfortunate, victim for […]
Peace and Disquiet
NEED TO KNOW ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN Peace and Disquiet Families in Armenia and Azerbaijan are turning to Facebook to find missing-in-action soldiers after the […]
Tired – and Angry
NEED TO KNOW LIBERIA Tired – and Angry Liberian President George Oppong Weah is hoping to join the ranks of Ivory Coast’s […]
Choosing the Future
NEED TO KNOW WORLD Choosing the Future Maybe the dominant narrative of the origin of the coronavirus is wrong. As the South […]
Misery and Conspiracy
NEED TO KNOW VENEZUELA Misery and Conspiracy In the US, the power of communist Venezuela is the stuff of conspiracy theories. But […]
Fire and Rage
NEED TO KNOW ROMANIA Fire and Rage After a fire in a Bucharest nightclub claimed 27 lives and resulted in 200 injuries, […]
A Long Shadow
NEED TO KNOW GHANA A Long Shadow Jerry Rawlings brought military coups, authoritarianism and, ironically, democracy to Ghana. He recently died at […]
‘Just Another Son of a Bitch’
NEED TO KNOW GUATEMALA ‘Just Another Son of a Bitch’ Political economist Mark Blyth once called austerity a dangerous idea. Guatemala might […]
Preexisting Conditions
NEED TO KNOW AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST Preexisting Conditions Palestinian authorities declared a public health disaster on Nov. 23. Hundreds contract Covid-19 […]
The Politics of Granularity
NEED TO KNOW SWITZERLAND The Politics of Granularity A few months ago, Swiss voters rejected a referendum on restricting free movement with […]
No Quarter
NEED TO KNOW ETHIOPIA No Quarter Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won a Nobel Peace Prize last year for resolving a 20-year […]
The Uninvited
NEED TO KNOW WORLD The Uninvited President Donald Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade agreement negotiated under President Barack Obama […]
Too Many Chefs
NEED TO KNOW PERU Too Many Chefs Recently, Peru had three presidents in one week. Congress voted to oust popular President Martin […]
Sharing the Wealth
NEED TO KNOW WORLD Sharing the Wealth People around the world are afraid to leave home because of the coronavirus. The airline […]
The Great Race
NEED TO KNOW WORLD The Great Race Historians might rank the international competition to develop and disseminate a coronavirus vaccine alongside efforts […]
The Speak-Up Generation
NEED TO KNOW NIGERIA The Speak-Up Generation Nigerian activist Aisha Yesufu helped establish the Bring Back Our Girls movement to push for progress […]
In the Heart of the Sahel, Desperation
NEED TO KNOW BURKINA FASO In the Heart of the Sahel, Desperation A firefight in northern Burkina Faso’s troubled Sahel region claimed […]