COVID-19 Global Update More than 150 nations worldwide have confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The following have the highest number as of 4 a.m. ET*: China 81,199 (+0.07%) Italy 41,035 (+14.90%) Iran 18,407 (+6.02%) Spain 18,077 (+22.40%) Germany 15,320 (+24.28%) US 14,250 (+51.35%) France 11,010 (+21.60%) ...
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NEED TO KNOW SAUDI ARABIA & RUSSIA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/b0fdbb0b-20e9-4d7d-9503-c6a68bb21ae8.png"] The New Fire Sale At the end of a recent OPEC meeting in Vienna, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman issued a grave warning to his counterparts. Everyone in the room would regret their failure to reach a deal...
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NEED TO KNOW VANUATU [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/360359d3-41f6-4567-9b66-a35c60254187.png"] Happy and Crooked The beautiful Pacific island nation of Vanuatu is among the happiest places on Earth. Vanuatuans, numbering almost 300,000, live in tune with traditions and nature, the BBC explained. Three-quarters of them reside in rural areas where they can grow their own...
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NEED TO KNOW ISRAEL [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/e9f003e4-763f-45aa-8bd2-dd52c7067104.png"] The Jaws of Victory Benjamin Netanyahu, one of Israel’s most powerful and longest-lasting leaders, now appears to be facing ignominious defeat. In recent parliamentary elections, Netanyahu’s Likud party and his allies won more seats than his rival Benny Gantz and his Blue and White...
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NEED TO KNOW WORLD [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/98db0afa-480f-45ba-8f7e-c20d1499babb.png"] Shock and Song Late Saturday, dozens of people in a small bar in Paris began counting down to midnight. Then the unthinkable happened. The establishment, like all "non-essential" businesses in the country, closed its doors – until when, no one is sure. "It's eerie,"...
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COVID-19 Update Of the 146 nations worldwide with confirmed cases of the coronavirus, here are the Top 10: China 80,976 Italy 17,660 Iran 12,729 South Korea 8,086 Spain 6,023 Germany 4,174 France 3,667 United States 2,177 Switzerland 1,359 United Kingdom 1,143 NEED TO KNOW FRANCE [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/d78d9fd2-f0df-4e59-9bd4-334bffdc4974.png"] En Garde In France,...
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NEED TO KNOW SYRIA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/e4901088-a8f1-4f67-bb93-075f2af0bff8.png"] A Tense Calm The humanitarian crisis in Syria has worsened in recent weeks in the wake of a push by the Syrian regime and Russian forces against Turkish-backed rebel positions in Idlib province in the country’s northwest. An estimated 2.8 million people in...
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NEED TO KNOW EUROPE [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/f9c83d42-7d43-4e2f-a6d6-f7bf04744b7d.png"] Change the Drain Northern European populations are growing older, jeopardizing growth in the continent’s economic powerhouses. Young Southern Europeans are emigrating abroad, fleeing their basket-case economies when their energy and skills are arguably needed more than ever. One would think the two sides could...
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NEED TO KNOW MALAYSIA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/053b35ef-03dc-4aeb-b916-fe602f4772eb.jpg"] Mirror, Mirror… Muhyiddin Yassin recently became Malaysia’s new prime minister. That doesn't mean a political crisis that has gripped the southeast Asian country since mid-February is over. Not by a longshot. As the New York Times wrote, the turmoil came to a head late last...
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NEED TO KNOW AFGHANISTAN [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/2beac6fe-a680-4765-a2ff-d329629a897c.png"] The Fine Print A terrorist recently rode a motorcycle rigged with a bomb into a soccer game in Afghanistan, killing at least three and wounding 11. The attack was just one of dozens that have occurred since the US and the Taliban signed...
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NEED TO KNOW ITALY [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/13ef7d88-e231-4aaa-9970-c3480223c0d5.png"] A Perfect Storm When fiscal conservatives fret about budget deficits and slow economic growth, their fears are rooted in the unknown. What might happen if a crisis strikes at the exact moment when government spending is already high, and the economy is teetering...
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NEED TO KNOW AUSTRALIA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/81d62805-bef8-41fd-9c0c-ed93ea461226.png"] Vandalized By Humanity More than 20 percent of Australia’s forests – 27 million acres – burned this wildfire season due to unprecedented bushfires. Those figures could turn out to be low because they don’t include Tasmania and the season isn’t over yet, the...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW CHINA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/583699da-d679-4f19-a91d-34cc19051ba7.png"] Let There Be Light The new coronavirus is testing the faith of the Chinese people in their government. That spells trouble for President Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party. The virus that has killed almost 3,000 people in China – see this Johns Hopkins...
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NEED TO KNOW MEXICO [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/fcd100e2-d1bb-4cd7-b9f4-53a07a70e41c.png"] The Interests That Bind The United States’ tough immigration policies are causing ripple effects throughout Mexico and Central America. The US often sends asylum seekers from El Salvador and Honduras to Guatemala, for example. Mexico also intercepts migrants trying to cross its southern border...
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NEED TO KNOW LEBANON [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/a353fadd-2d2a-41b3-b0c1-951b96702e16.png"] Bankrupt, and Dancing Capital controls, the collapse of the local currency and high distrust in banks have led more people in Lebanon to turn to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Al Jazeera wrote an intriguing story about how bitcoin transactions are now the new...
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NEED TO KNOW TAJIKISTAN [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/9d76f4c2-491e-4a5b-85d4-b70af66ec3eb.png"] State of Paranoia Authorities in Tajikistan are reportedly rounding up Islamic clerics and scholars whom they suspect of harboring views that might undermine the government. Some readers might approve of detaining potential jihadists who studied in schools in Egypt, Iran, and Pakistan where radicalization...
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NEED TO KNOW SLOVAKIA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/def5a447-d17d-4b18-8656-a0934b7c83eb.png"] Burden of Choice Slovak right-wing political party leader Marian Kotleba is facing charges of hate crimes that could land him in jail for as long as eight years. He has called the Roma community “parasites,” marched in the street in Nazi uniform and...
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NEED TO KNOW GUYANA [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/f8be526f-1a25-4582-b3e1-262a3f003cd5.png"] Up for Grabs Guyana was an inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle’s famed 1912 novel “The Lost World,” about a South American plateau where dinosaurs still roamed. It’s no surprise why explorers’ tales from the region stuck with the British author. Amazon rainforest covers much...
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NEED TO KNOW ISRAEL [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/e9f003e4-763f-45aa-8bd2-dd52c7067104.png"] Time’s Up, Maybe Is time up for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? His opponents sure think so. “Netanyahu has ended his historic role from a political standpoint,” said Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz in Politico. “The Likud with Bibi cannot form a government, and...
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NEED TO KNOW JAPAN [map url="https://mcusercontent.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/736afb4e-8316-41c3-9ef5-46f48c6516ca.png"] Trying Times Established in 1160, Tsuen Tea in Kyoto is perhaps the oldest continually operating tea house in the world. The shop was in a fascinating BBC story that discussed how more than half of humanity’s oldest businesses are in Japan. The story...
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