Archive

April 16, 2021

Domino Theory

NEED TO KNOW MOZAMBIQUE [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/145ea551-3c3e-4af3-915f-9d349351d3b2.png"] Domino Theory People used stones and bedsheets to write “Help” and “SOS” on the ground in a desperate attempt to gain the attention of an aircraft flying over Palma during an Islamic State attack on the city. As government forces fled after the surprise...

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April 15, 2021

A Stubborn Thorn

NEED TO KNOW BRAZIL [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/b4df2610-e790-44f6-bec1-f859c705ae8b.png"] A Stubborn Thorn Lula is back. The leftist former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recently received a new lease on life in politics after the country’s Supreme Court annulled his criminal convictions in March, paving the way for him to run for...

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April 14, 2021

The Little Engine That Could

NEED TO KNOW CUBA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/934b8716-56c1-487d-ba72-11a855fa10c6.png"] The Little Engine That Could Even as Cuba remains isolated from the US, it’s poised to become the center of a web of vaccination distribution throughout the rest of the world. The poor, communist-led island in the Caribbean has a whopping five vaccine candidates...

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April 13, 2021

When the Giants Come Calling

NEED TO KNOW CAPE VERDE [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/8420c90a-021d-4851-a9cc-4c15d49f1083.png"] When the Giants Come Calling To Venezuela, Alex Saab is a diplomat. To the US, he is a fraudster with close ties to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. To Cape Verde, he’s a legal dilemma. That diverse viewpoint was highlighted recently when the West...

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April 12, 2021

Global Fragility

NEED TO KNOW WORLD [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/486ddb7e-3777-4543-ab44-3536360a3ce9.png"] Global Fragility Critics of globalization have been repeating a mantra in the wake of the Japanese container ship Ever Given running aground in the Suez canal: We told you so. “Under the irrational, anarchic capitalist social order, with the world divided into rival nation-states,...

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April 09, 2021

Change, Deferred

NEED TO KNOW CHILE [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/baed026e-8c02-42fc-8c27-383b8bf87a6c.png"] Change, Deferred The coronavirus has forced many people to shelve their plans. In Chile, the pandemic is preventing officials from rewriting their constitution, which was created in 1980 under dictator Augusto Pinochet. As Agence France-Presse reported, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera recently proposed delaying an election...

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April 08, 2021

Paris’ Man

NEED TO KNOW CHAD [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/b08925fb-4623-40c3-9563-de5bd3009fa5.png"] Paris’ Man When Chadian President Idriss Deby accepted the nomination for a sixth term in office from the ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement in February, he struck a pose of magnanimity. “The people’s confidence has a sacred value for me,” said Deby, 68, according...

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April 07, 2021

Hedging Bets

NEED TO KNOW KYRGYZSTAN [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/766aa12d-4910-4bb3-a204-adba72f724f9.png"] Hedging Bets Kyrgyzstan will hold a referendum on April 11 that will alter the constitution to increase the president’s powers. The changes would allow the Central Asian country’s head of state to run for a second term – currently, Kyrgyz presidents are limited to...

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April 06, 2021

Collective Individualism

NEED TO KNOW SAMOA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/4f48e1fa-b240-42b5-9980-774c0bb8a9c6.png"] Collective Individualism Samoan authorities have opened an investigation into lawmakers who allegedly uttered treasonous remarks during political campaign speeches in the run-up to parliamentary elections on April 9. Former Deputy Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa is at the center of the investigation, reported Radio...

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April 05, 2021

Fade to Black

NEED TO KNOW GREENLAND [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/a3f72a7c-7936-4d55-8c09-8478f26c6d2d.png"] Fade to Black Climate change is turning Greenland black. Algae growing due to warmer temperatures is darkening the ice sheet on the icy Arctic island, reported Business Insider. Since dark colors reflect less sunlight than lighter ones, the algae will likely speed up...

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April 02, 2021

Location, Location

NEED TO KNOW DJIBOUTI [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/34a9512f-f04f-4b88-af31-1d97b2b3d59a.png"] Location, Location Tiny Djibouti is one of the few countries that hosts both Chinese as well as American, French and Japanese military facilities. The predominately Muslim country has also signed a deal with Saudi Arabia for a base. That unique status stems from its...

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April 01, 2021

Heal Thyself

NEED TO KNOW BULGARIA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/1eb16295-db95-4ff1-8e0b-8bdc4e81cb9c.png"] Heal Thyself Doctors have become high-profile parliamentary candidates in Bulgaria. As Balkan Insight reported, the physicians, who represent nearly all sides of the political spectrum, are appealing for votes in the run-up to the country’s April 4 ballot. “Bulgaria has already seen athletes, showmen and...

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March 31, 2021

Cotton and the King

NEED TO KNOW BENIN [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/2f9461ee-c4e6-4b8e-a1ae-3fd929fd2dfa.png"] Cotton and the King Benin had been known as a bastion of democracy in West Africa. But in 2019, election officials banned political opposition parties from parliamentary elections, sparking protests and a brutal crackdown on demonstrators, journalists and dissidents that Amnesty International at the...

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March 30, 2021

A Pox on All Houses

NEED TO KNOW WORLD [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/486ddb7e-3777-4543-ab44-3536360a3ce9.png"] A Pox on All Houses Americans aren’t the only ones who believe in absurd QAnon conspiracy theories. “Its influence can be seen at anti-lockdown and anti-mask rallies from Los Angeles to London, Berlin to Melbourne – with protesters warning, without evidence, that the pandemic...

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March 29, 2021

Uncle Porky and the Spoilers

NEED TO KNOW PERU [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/7d13971f-19d8-4bc2-ac9e-119d2f349be4.png"] Uncle Porky and the Spoilers Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned three years ago over allegations of bribery and corruption. Last year, Peruvian lawmakers impeached his successor, President Martín Vizcarra, for botching his country’s coronavirus response and, again, bribery allegations. Former Congressional Speaker...

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March 26, 2021

Unfinished Business

NEED TO KNOW JAPAN [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/ab764327-df98-4918-badd-17c2c79d5685.png"] Unfinished Business Japanese officials are storing around 1.25 million tons of radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in more than 1,000 big metal tanks near the ocean. They want to slowly release the water into the sea, the Washington Post reported. The...

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March 25, 2021

The Exploding Reflecting Pool

NEED TO KNOW UNITED KINGDOM [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/db250264-45f9-48fa-be6e-ab4d2ef0d6a5.png"] The Exploding Reflecting Pool Former First Lady Michelle Obama recently weighed into the debate that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry kicked off when they discussed racism in Britain during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. “Race isn’t a new construct in the world for...

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March 24, 2021

Of Golden Princes and Golden Dogs

NEED TO KNOW TURKMENISTAN [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/b168b666-d25a-47b3-9e9e-747b1b8c92c8.png"] Of Golden Princes and Golden Dogs Turkmenistan is culling stray dogs and cats, and sometimes pets, too, in a campaign to clean up the streets of the capital, Ashgabat. Even so, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, 63, declared that the last Sunday in April would from...

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March 23, 2021

Hollow Victories

NEED TO KNOW SYRIA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/e4901088-a8f1-4f67-bb93-075f2af0bff8.png"] Hollow Victories Syria recently hit a grim anniversary: 10 years of brutal civil war. In addition to more than 400,000 deaths and millions of displaced Syrians, the war has included attacks on civilians with chemical weapons and on civilian facilities such as schools and...

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March 22, 2021

A Desperate Suitor

NEED TO KNOW ISRAEL [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/e9f003e4-763f-45aa-8bd2-dd52c7067104.png"] A Desperate Suitor When Israeli voters go to the polls March 23, it will be the fourth time they cast ballots to choose a prime minister in two years. This election stems from the collapse of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government late last year....

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