NEED TO KNOW Stuck in the Middle JORDAN The Jordanian government approved an electoral law two years ago, and amendments to it […]

NEED TO KNOW Victories, Great and Fixed ALGERIA Imane Khelif returned to Algeria a hero. The Olympic gold medalist who garnered headlines […]

NEED TO KNOW Punch Drunk ISRAEL/ LEBANON Smoke billowed from the streets of Khiam in southern Lebanon recently after Israeli military forces […]

NEED TO KNOW Playing Chicken MIDDLE EAST Iranian leaders recently warned commercial airlines and others to avoid Iranian airspace as the country […]

NEED TO KNOW Growing Back Limbs IRAQ/ SYRIA The terrorist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (or ISIS) […]

NEED TO KNOW The Practical Prince SAUDI ARABIA Chinese solar panel companies TCL Zhonghuan and Jinko Solar reached a $3-billion deal with […]

NEED TO KNOW A Moderate’s Tale IRAN A moderate candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, 69, shockingly and decisively won the Iranian election earlier this […]

NEED TO KNOW The Endgame That Wasn’t SYRIA Syrian voters will elect their members of parliament on July 15 – or at […]

NEED TO KNOW Passing the Bar IRAN Iran’s mullahs approved six candidates to run for president on June 28, the date for […]

NEED TO KNOW Sleepwalking Into War ISRAEL/ LEBANON The leader of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed political party and militant group based in Lebanon, […]

NEED TO KNOW The Genie in the Bottle TUNISIA Last month, prominent Tunisian lawyer Sonia Dahmani was on a popular talk show […]

NEED TO KNOW Tinted Lenses ISRAEL/ GAZA STRIP Bombs and bullets are flying in the Gaza Strip even as both sides mull […]

NEED TO KNOW Tears and Cheers IRAN The funeral for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died along with the Iranian foreign minister […]

NEED TO KNOW Shuffling the Deck MIDDLE EAST Leaders meeting at the 33rd Arab Summit in Bahrain recently denounced “Israel’s obstruction of […]

NEED TO KNOW Drawing in Pencil ISRAEL/ GAZA Rebuilding Gaza after Israel’s devastating military operations in the Palestinian territory since Oct. 7 […]

NEED TO KNOW Guns, Bombs and Morality IRAQ Iraq has regained a semblance of stability since the defeat of the Islamic State, […]

NEED TO KNOW Stuck in Celestial Hades SYRIA Residents of the upscale Mazzeh neighborhood in the Syrian capital of Damascus were stunned […]

NEED TO KNOW Warrior Class ISRAEL Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip has stirred controversy worldwide, less so at home. But now, […]

NEED TO KNOW Last Stop Before Paradise TUNISIA Sixteen-year-old Adam migrated with his father and younger brother from Sierra Leone in West […]

NEED TO KNOW The Face of Defiance ISRAEL Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who is the highest-ranking Jewish […]

NEED TO KNOW On All Sides EGYPT Germany’s left-wing Rosa Luxemburg Foundation recently described Egypt as a “regional hegemon in decline,” an […]

NEED TO KNOW Decisions, Decisions IRAN On March 1, Iranian voters will take part in a legislative election that will be pivotal […]

NEED TO KNOW Word Play ISRAEL/ GAZA In a Jan. 26 interim ruling on whether Israel was perpetrating acts of genocide in […]