NEED TO KNOW Biting the Dust Gambians took to the streets Monday. This time the excuse was to celebrate the freedom of Ousainou Darboe and 18 other political prisoners, the BBC reported. But the real cause for merriment was days old but still sweet for many Gambians. The...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW Zig and Zag The defeat of far-right Austrian presidential candidate Norbert Hofer could become the high-water mark of the populist gains in Europe and the United States. “We are all, equally, Austrians, no matter how we voted at the ballot box,” wrote Norbert Hofer, the...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW Wobbly Dominoes Austrians will take to the polls for the third time on Sunday to elect their next head of state. The largely figurehead presidency of a Central European nation of 8.7 million people may seem inconsequential. But in a politically cacophonous year defined by Brexit...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW Dignity and Tedium Diplomats are rarely blunt in public. But on Tuesday German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier didn’t mince words after he and his colleagues from France, Russia and Ukraine admitted they had failed to end the insurgency in eastern Ukraine. "It was very tedious again...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW A Low Peak Not too long ago, everyone was talking about peak oil – the tipping point where rapacious humans would finally run out of carbon-based fuels to operate their polluting cars and power plants unless they embarked on a wholesale shift to solar,...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW A Seismic Moment Fidel Castro’s death is likely to usher forth a slow, simmering political revolution that stands in stark contrast to the tectonic shift that his passing symbolizes. But that won't happen anytime soon. Remember that his 85-year-old brother, Raul, has been running the...
Read full story →Dear Readers, Today is Thanksgiving Day in America, a time of gatherings, feasting and gratitude across this vast nation and among our compatriots across the world. To celebrate, we are taking a respite from the world's troubles and, instead, offering a special essay to mark the...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW Down But Not Out The Islamic State is on the ropes in Iraq, Syria and Libya. It's conceivable that the group might hold little or no significant territory in the Middle East and North Africa in the next year or two, a remarkable turnabout...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW Democracy and Restraint An offhand remark is threatening to destabilize one of the biggest countries in the world. In the process, the ongoing crisis in Indonesia is providing yet another example of how democratic institutions around the world are increasingly struggling to prevent sectarian tensions...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW Decency, Dullness and Déjà Vu Maybe France will be different. After Americans elected Donald Trump president and Britons opted to quit the European Union, the French appear to be gearing up to make a stand against the populist and often-xenophobic surge against globalization. On Sunday, members...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW Pins and Needles President-elect Donald Trump is known for being candid – though some might choose a less flattering synonym. But in his first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader since his election on Thursday, he was also “warm” rather than fiery, Japanese Prime Minister...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW The Wizard's Curtain The Kremlin has done its best to project an image of a resurgent, vigorous Russia striding across the world stage under the steady hand of strongman Vladimir Putin. Thanks to Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula and its prominent role in the...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW The Wheel of Fortune Hundreds of thousands flocked to see Senator Barack Obama when he spoke in Berlin in 2008. In the twilight of George W. Bush’s administration, the first African-American to receive a major American political party’s endorsement was a breath of fresh air...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW Umbrellas and Oaths When Britain ceded Hong Kong to China in 1997, Beijing promised not to compromise the “one country, two systems” regime governing the city for 50 years. But now the definition of those freedoms is up for grabs. At issue is Beijing’s decision last week...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW Pulling Apart President-Elect Donald Trump divided America. Now he’s dividing Europe. European Union foreign ministers met on Sunday to talk about Trump. Europe’s top diplomats usually hold special meetings to discuss crises like Russia invading Crimea. So sounding alarms after an American election is unprecedented. But,...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW Divided, We Fall President-Elect Donald Trump doesn’t have much in common with Nelson Mandela. But he'll need to borrow a trick or two from the revolutionary-turned-statesman – as well as the leaders of other fractured societies – to heal the deep divide he helped...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW Shock in Mexico, Smiles in Moscow Americans weren't the only ones shocked on Wednesday when it became clear that New York real estate mogul and reality television show star Donald Trump was going to be president of the United States. "A civilized and democratic world...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW Challenges and Black Swans Domestically, President-elect Donald Trump has the tough job of reuniting the nation after one of the most divisive general elections in American history. Internationally, the picture is no better. A CNN analysis predicted President Trump next year would confront not only "black...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW No Joy Here Election Day is weird for expatriate Americans. Observing from abroad, and often spending lots of time explaining American politics to foreign friends and neighbors who don't necessarily share rosy views of the world's most powerful country, many expats view the matchup between...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW The World is Watching The world is watching the American presidential election more closely – and with more horror, it seems – than ever before. "If Donald Trump wins, it’ll be a new age of darkness," reads the headline of a recent John Freedland column...
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