NEED TO KNOW GERMANY Exit State Right In bowing out, German Chancellor Angela Merkel demonstrated yet again that she’s one of the world’s most masterful politicians. On Monday, after her Christian Democratic Union party and its allies suffered a major setback in regional elections in Hesse – and, a...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW NEW CALEDONIA Liberty or Croissants Most Americans don’t know much about the history of the vast French empire or the extent to which France projects its power through its remaining overseas territories. That power is under scrutiny these days in New Caledonia, an archipelago some 900...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW GUINEA-BISSAU By the Numbers Thousands demonstrated in the tiny West African nation of Guinea-Bissau recently. At issue was the slow pace of a national census to register voters before the Nov. 18 legislative elections. “Thousands of people have not yet been registered, it’s too crazy,” a protester...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW MEXICO For We're Bound for the Rio Grande President Donald Trump was expected to send troops to the Mexican border to help stop a caravan of thousands of Central American migrants from entering the US. “If the troops carry arms, it will be solely for self-defense,”...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW UNITED KINGDOM Fool in the Rain Lifespans in the United Kingdom rose for almost 130 years as improvements in medicine and hygiene eliminated common fatal diseases, technological and labor advances put an end to many dangerous, back-breaking jobs, and widespread economic growth improved quality of...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW ECUADOR The World's Worst Guest The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, is a heroic activist-whistleblower to some and a Russian-backed provocateur to others. He’s also “one of the world’s worst houseguests,” according to Vox. An Australian computer engineer, Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW YEMEN The End of Impunity Yemenis in refugee camps in the northern reaches of the Middle Eastern country have taken to boiling leaves to stave off hunger. Sooner or later, of course, such measures won’t work. Sky News visited a camp and found severely malnourished children in...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW IRELAND A Poet, A Mood The office of the president of Ireland is largely ceremonial. “But as the country’s first citizen, the president is often looked upon to capture and reflect the national mood, and as a diplomat, represents the country and the Irish diaspora...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW BURUNDI Never Again, Again Marguerite Barankitse, an advocate for refugees in Burundi, recently appealed to Canadians to help stop a genocide that she fears is imminent in the central African country. “You don’t hear about it on the news anymore but the killing never stopped in...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW ITALY Garbage, Potholes and Exploding Buses Italian leaders are squeezed from above, below and within. Their constituents are angry over their inaction. The European Union is chastising them over their recently announced budget. And some partners in the Mediterranean country’s governing coalition are arguing over whether...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW AFGHANISTAN The Enemy of My Enemy...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW BHUTAN Ballots, and Shangri-La Bhutan could be the greenest country in the world. The forests that cover 70 percent of the Maryland-sized kingdom between China and India absorb around three times more carbon dioxide than the country of around 750,000 people emits, CNN reported. Bhutan charges...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW THE CAUCASUS A New Great Game US National Security Adviser John Bolton is visiting Russia and three Caucasus nations this month. His trip comes at an important time, Radio Free Europe reported. Russo-American relations are poor due to allegations of Russia’s interfering in the 2016 US presidential...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW NIGERIA Magic Snakes and Rag Pickers When $100,000 in state exam fees disappeared from a Nigerian government office, the clerk accused of embezzling it came up with a creative excuse. "She claimed that a magical snake had slithered into the safe and eaten the money," Matthew...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW LUXEMBOURG Bread and Circuses The Grand Dutchy of Luxembourg held elections Sunday. Whoop dee doo, right? Wealthy Luxembourg is slightly smaller than Rhode Island, so such an event understandably doesn’t generate big headlines globally. Even so, at stake are issues that reflect the enormous divides among many voters...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW BAVARIA The Iron Chancellor The Christian Social Union is the Bavarian counterpart of the Christian Democratic Union, the political party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. When the latter is in power, so too is the former. The Christian Social Union (CSU) has run the Bavarian state...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW CHINA Ploughshares, Swords and Chips Vice President Mike Pence delivered what some saw as a rather incendiary speech recently on Sino-American relations. In part, the speech echoed a popular talking point on the American political right and left that challenges moderates who have argued for decades...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW LAKE CHAD Canaries and Bullhorns One of the largest lakes in Africa, Lake Chad is the economic engine of the border region between Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. Humans have lived there for as long as humans have inhabited western and central Africa. Its wildlife and ecology...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW SYRIA Hot Deserts, Cold Wars The fighting in the Syrian civil war has cooled down but it’s far from over. In fact, it might continue for years. US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis recently said American troops would remain in Syria to fight the Islamic State, Politico...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW NICARAGUA Truth, Lies and Death Squads Around 200 killers, thieves and prostitutes holed up in a church in Nicaragua recently until brave citizens banded together to bring them to justice. Or at least that’s what police loyal to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega wanted 20-year-old Dania Valeska...
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