Archive

November 27, 2020

The Politics of Granularity

NEED TO KNOW SWITZERLAND [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/2b943183-27c5-4545-a4cd-06237a4dff08.png"] The Politics of Granularity A few months ago, Swiss voters rejected a referendum on restricting free movement with the European Union. Now the rich Alpine nation, which is not part of the bloc, is again asking citizens to decide on important issues on Nov....

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November 26, 2020

No Quarter

NEED TO KNOW ETHIOPIA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/bf55b5d2-7db8-404a-b87b-c88a42597d29.png"] No Quarter Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won a Nobel Peace Prize last year for resolving a 20-year conflict with neighboring Eritrea, a nation that split from Ethiopia after a bloody war for independence that began in the late 1990s. The son of a...

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November 25, 2020

The Uninvited

NEED TO KNOW WORLD [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/486ddb7e-3777-4543-ab44-3536360a3ce9.png"] The Uninvited President Donald Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade agreement negotiated under President Barack Obama that was designed to counter Chinese economic hegemony in the region. Recently, China and 14 other Asia-Pacific nations, many of the countries that had been in...

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November 24, 2020

Too Many Chefs

NEED TO KNOW PERU [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/7d13971f-19d8-4bc2-ac9e-119d2f349be4.png"] Too Many Chefs Recently, Peru had three presidents in one week. Congress voted to oust popular President Martin Vizcarra on Nov. 9 on corruption charges that he denies. Vizcarra's replacement, Interim President Manuel Merino, resigned after mass protests against what many Peruvians saw as...

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November 23, 2020

Sharing the Wealth

NEED TO KNOW WORLD [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/486ddb7e-3777-4543-ab44-3536360a3ce9.png"] Sharing the Wealth People around the world are afraid to leave home because of the coronavirus. The airline industry is on the brink of bankruptcy. Millions facing dire economic circumstances are cutting back on their spending, hurting businesses around the world. It seems then...

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November 20, 2020

The Great Race

NEED TO KNOW WORLD [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/486ddb7e-3777-4543-ab44-3536360a3ce9.png"] The Great Race Historians might rank the international competition to develop and disseminate a coronavirus vaccine alongside efforts to develop the atom bomb during World War II and the Space Race, when the US and the Soviet Union vied to reach the stars. As...

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November 19, 2020

The Speak-Up Generation

NEED TO KNOW NIGERIA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/6c258edc-b123-4d47-98e3-f42e226ea64f.png"] The Speak-Up Generation Nigerian activist Aisha Yesufu helped establish the Bring Back Our Girls movement to push for progress in helping the nearly 300 schoolgirls abducted in the northeastern town of Chibok six years ago. Now she’s at the forefront of a movement against...

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November 18, 2020

In the Heart of the Sahel, Desperation

NEED TO KNOW BURKINA FASO [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/0c0197a8-9ef4-4935-9656-24fbfbb32b2e.png"] In the Heart of the Sahel, Desperation A firefight in northern Burkina Faso’s troubled Sahel region claimed 16 lives recently – seven army soldiers as well as nine terrorists, reported Xinhua. The attack came a few days after a terrorist threw a...

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November 17, 2020

Tech Terms

NEED TO KNOW WORLD [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/486ddb7e-3777-4543-ab44-3536360a3ce9.png"] Tech Terms The European Union recently brought antitrust charges against American tech giant Amazon. As the New York Times explained, the online retailer allegedly “harvested” data to identify popular products sold by businesses on its platform, then copied them and proceeded to compete with...

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November 16, 2020

Decline and Fall

NEED TO KNOW EUROPEAN UNION [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/597ff6f5-aa2a-4913-81c8-7a38f364a41b.png"] Decline and Fall Cafes in Europe have been rolling up their awnings. Theaters have canceled most performances. Restaurants and stores have mostly shut their doors. As Belgium, Britain, France, Germany and others go back into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, the...

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November 13, 2020

Self-Dealing, Inc.

NEED TO KNOW WORLD [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/486ddb7e-3777-4543-ab44-3536360a3ce9.png"] Self-Dealing, Inc. One of the more unusual moments from the American presidential campaign trail was the New York Times’ report on President Donald Trump’s unreleased taxes. The report explained that Trump had “…struggling properties, vast write-offs, an audit battle and hundreds of millions...

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November 12, 2020

Imitation and Limitation

NEED TO KNOW CHINA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/198e41ed-dcee-4398-8f9e-af928160f105.png"] Imitation and Limitation Is Shenzhen the new Hong Kong? That’s how Chinese leaders want the world to think of their sixth-largest city, a tech hub that is home to giants like Huawei and Tencent. As the Washington Post reported, Chinese President Xi Jinping recently...

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November 11, 2020

Enough!

NEED TO KNOW POLAND [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/31d830f6-377a-4afc-861b-7fbf94dce490.png"] Enough! Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Warsaw and other cities over the past few weeks in rallies for abortion rights. The demonstrations have been the largest in the former Warsaw Pact country since the fall of communism. “When...

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November 10, 2020

Oases and Mirages

NEED TO KNOW JORDAN [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/8e349f45-1adc-4062-b298-9fdf38aa8f40.png"] Oases and Mirages Voters in Jordan will head to the polls on Nov. 10 to elect a new parliament. On the day after they cast ballots, the Middle Eastern kingdom will go into lockdown, with a curfew, shuttered businesses and police enforcing rules...

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November 09, 2020

An Infected Vote

NEED TO KNOW BELIZE [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/53f1bee4-487a-4d6c-8698-47b99bbdc63a.png"] An Infected Vote The outgoing prime minister of Belize, Dean Barrow, will not allow voters with Covid-19 to vote in the Central American country’s parliamentary elections on Nov. 11. Stopping the spread of the coronavirus is obviously a positive goal. But Barrow gave...

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November 06, 2020

The Freedoms of Choice

NEED TO KNOW MYANMAR [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/9ef34308-9cd1-4a8e-a2b3-e7a7ab6846ed.png"] The Freedoms of Choice Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi cast her ballot in advance of Myanmar's Nov. 8 parliamentary elections, the Associated Press reported. The Chinese news service Xinhua had photos of the voting process including the special measures designed...

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November 05, 2020

Making Friends

NEED TO KNOW SUDAN [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/224b0e8f-5be6-4e44-b799-a1b865717c98.png"] Making Friends Sudan and Israel were technically at war for decades. Recently, however, the East African country became the third nation this year after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize relations with the Jewish state. Former Israeli ambassador to South Sudan, Haim...

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November 04, 2020

Use It or Lose It

NEED TO KNOW WORLD [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/486ddb7e-3777-4543-ab44-3536360a3ce9.png"] Use It or Lose It In the US, political parties spend millions to get out the vote. Around the world, political rivals accuse each other of attempting to suppress or rig the vote. Authoritarian democracies make voting a non-choice for citizens. Non-democracies don’t...

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November 03, 2020

No Going Back

NEED TO KNOW WORLD [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/486ddb7e-3777-4543-ab44-3536360a3ce9.png"] No Going Back Opinion polls currently – and with much hedging – forecast that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will win the Nov. 3 presidential election. If they are correct, Biden has said that one of his first foreign policy actions will be...

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November 02, 2020

An International Election

NEED TO KNOW WORLD [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/486ddb7e-3777-4543-ab44-3536360a3ce9.png"] An International Election The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has sent observers to monitor the US presidential elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3. OSCE officials said they would look into concerns about the Postal Service, the coronavirus and public trust in the...

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