NEED TO KNOW GUINEA-BISSAU [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/9ee0d0dd-e1d8-43cb-8daa-69f39711d5c1.png"] Light and Shadow Voters in Guinea-Bissau have had enough. When they go to the polls to elect a new president in a runoff vote scheduled for Dec. 29, the incumbent President Jose Mario Vaz won’t be among their choices. Instead, they’ll be choosing between two...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW UKRAINE & RUSSIA [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/379cac1a-a8c8-4a3c-a72a-ecfbb043e9d7.png"] Frozen Conflict During his recent annual marathon press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said peace in Ukraine would only come with dialogue. It’s hard to talk, however, when one side revises history. Foreign Affairs detailed Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and...
Read full story →Dear Readers, Many of you often ask us, why can’t you offer more positive news? Well, today, we take a small step toward redressing that imbalance with a story from Greece, which over the past five years has played host to hundreds of thousands of...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW CHINA & UNITED STATES OF AMERICA [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/367b0095-8707-4f2a-9978-73a34332fd33.png"] Champagne Still On Ice The US-China trade war appears to be over. Long live the US-China trade war. American and Chinese officials announced a preliminary trade deal earlier this month, sending stocks up as traders grew more optimistic about...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW FRANCE [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/058f2f5f-34dd-4386-a154-c3f09ac353e9.png"] Bah Humbug A shopkeeper decorated his Paris neighborhood with giant teddy bears recently – at cafes, metro stations, even on bicycles. Most Parisians, including the mayor, applauded the idea, saying it brought a smile to people’s faces, the Local reported. That’s the sort of...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW GERMANY [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/18ca6ce9-4a8f-46d8-b0b3-84a7601584cd.png"] The Lamest of Ducks German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the most powerful woman in the world, according to Forbes. From there, the only way is down. Once firmly in control of the economic powerhouse of Europe, Merkel is facing tough times lately. Following a series...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW INDIA [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/6c1e91bd-d64f-473f-b468-ad3e35a0f829.png"] Made In India Indian opposition politician Rahul Gandhi is facing sedition charges for a small rhyme that refers to a big problem. Speaking at a campaign event, the Congress Party honcho said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Made in India” slogan should be “Rape in...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW IRAQI KURDISTAN [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/0c38a7d3-e4bd-4693-833c-aeff4232f230.png"] Of Ironies and Tragedies Kurds in Iraq voted for independence by a landslide two years ago. Since then, their semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq has lost 40 percent of its territory to the central government’s forces while the economy, already struggling...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW COLOMBIA [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/41563617-7883-488c-9ea2-963c15a1df02.png"] Carpe Diem President Ivan Duque wanted Colombia to be Latin America’s Silicon Valley. He wanted filmmaking, media, music, tourism, high tech and other creative industries to replace waning revenues from oil and other unstable commodities like coffee, Miami Herald columnist Andres Oppenheimer wrote. Duque...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW MALTA [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/9ecfd916-a175-46e1-80c1-04ca56ff02bb.png"] Truth on Trial Two years ago, journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia published a blog post about her investigation of corrupt politicians in Malta. “There are crooks everywhere you look now,” she wrote, according to the Washington Post. “The situation is desperate.” A half hour later, she...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW SURINAME [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/0dc5167a-6d5d-4107-b0d7-77cc1ffb19d9.png"] Justice Unserved, Justice Denied Late last month, a military court in Suriname found the country’s president Desi Bouterse guilty of murdering 15 political enemies nearly four decades ago and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Bouterse was on a state visit to China...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW UNITED KINGDOM [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/8c238c0e-e370-4880-bc53-0ac24ba71887.png"] The End of the Beginning Women standing for seats in the British parliament face threats, intimidation and abuse. One Labour incumbent in Leeds, Rachel Reeves, recently removed campaign signs from outside her election headquarters, reinforced the door and installed security cameras. She had...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW PALESTINE [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/386c69f8-fd57-4d52-879b-b9bdf641ffe4.png"] Disillusioned in the Swamp After tense negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and the political factions Fatah and Hamas, Palestine is expected to hold legislative and presidential elections early next year. It’s about time. Palestinians last cast ballots for their leaders in 2006. The Jerusalem...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW CHINA [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/cb644eae-40f4-4c10-a54b-4ccc5f9ad21f.png"] Cultural Revolution Redux An Afghan-American teenage girl in New Jersey thought of a novel way to spread the word about China’s treatment of its minority Muslim community in Xinjiang, a remote region in the country’s far northwest. She posed as a makeup artist...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW ALGERIA [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/954056b5-eefa-4934-9ebe-c7818ba081e5.png"] Of Eggs, Tomatoes and Ballots Protesters in Algeria are throwing tomatoes and eggs at politicians’ campaign headquarters ahead of the Dec. 12 presidential election. Others have blocked access to campaign offices to scuttle the vote, which they consider a sham. As the Associated Press...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW BURKINA FASO [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/9cf613f3-3424-4635-a291-b21ae90883f8.png"] The New Fissure of Terror The families of American diplomats were ordered out of Burkina Faso recently. “There is no specific threat that prompted this decision, rather this reconfiguration of the US Embassy staffing profile will enable refocused operations to assist Burkina Faso...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW DOMINICA [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/9f0ca228-13aa-4816-90bc-140a6c860a92.png"] Mirror, Mirror More than 200 people clashed with police in the Caribbean island of Dominica recently. The police fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowds associated with the opposition United Workers’ Party, according to Caribbean Life, a New York-based newspaper for...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW ITALY [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/d1f5e652-8ba9-4650-8185-37353156716c.png"] Selfies and Tears There was a poignant irony to a viral video of a tourist falling into the water in Venice while taking a selfie. The "Queen of the Adriatic” – one of the Italian city’s nicknames – is sinking. High tides and winds...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW BOLIVIA [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/a9c8ea39-bdb2-43ce-ae0a-f9b246fc2c42.png"] A New, And Contested, Leaf Bolivia is sending an ambassador to the United States for the first time in 11 years. Recently appointed by Interim President Jeanine Añez, the new envoy will oversee a thaw in Bolivian relations with the US, the BBC reported....
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW HONG KONG [map url="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/a2e22d7f24f6d1e3464d05be4/images/69ea348d-c659-4ccf-8c5e-70099ea87e2c.png"] A Landslide for Democracy Pro-democracy candidates in Hong Kong won nearly 90 percent of the seats in the local legislature in recent elections. CNBC called the results a “barometer of public sentiment,” given recent violent confrontations between local activists and police over the...
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