A Dam, A Vote, A Future

NEED TO KNOW NEPAL A Dam, A Vote, A Future Until 2006, the Nepal government was mired in a decade-long war against Maoist rebels that killed more than 16,000 people. Over the past nine years, the country has created a constitution – in 2015. But it also has seen...

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With Charity For All

NEED TO KNOW 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...

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A Drizzle, then a Storm

NEED TO KNOW VENEZUELA A Drizzle, then a Storm Venezuela hasn't bottomed out just yet – but it's close. Last week, the country failed to make about $280 million in loan repayments, triggering Standard & Poor's to categorize Venezuela as a nation in "selective default," the Washington Post reported. That's...

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The King Is Dead…

NEED TO KNOW ZIMBABWE The King Is Dead… For 37 years, one man ruled supreme. And for the struggling youth of Zimbabwe like Ethel Murehwa, he's the only leader she's ever known. The unthinkable has now happened, she told USA Today. He's gone. And she feels hope. Over the weekend,...

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The Pendulum

NEED TO KNOW CHILE The Pendulum Chile's Nov. 19 presidential election will likely cement a trend in South America of right-wing business types ousting left-wing premiers who came to power at the turn of the millennium, according to the Brookings Institution. But where Chile differs from its neighbors is...

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Cautious Starts

NEED TO KNOW SYRIA Cautious Starts Syrian government forces shook the Islamic State from their last urban foothold in Syria this month – the eastern provincial capital of Deir al-Zour – calling into question what's next for this besieged nation. Some would like to believe Islamic State is on...

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Hope, and a Hard Place

NEED TO KNOW IRELAND Hope, and a Hard Place Ireland's newest prime minister, Leo Varadkar, 38, recently joined the ranks of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron as yet another young leader looking to shake up the status quo. To some, Varadkar symbolizes that Ireland...

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The Long Arm of the Law

NEED TO KNOW INTERPOL The Long Arm of the Law The International Criminal Police Organization, better known as Interpol, extends the long arm of the law around the globe. But a few recent cases have revealed how dictators might use the organization to lengthen their reach, too. Late last...

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Whack-a-Mole

NEED TO KNOW AFRICA Whack-a-Mole Early this month, for the first time ever, the United States launched airstrikes against the Islamic State in Somalia. A few days later, the United Nations issued a report saying that around 200 jihadists had joined the Islamic State in Puntland, a semi-independent region...

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The Forest and Trees

NEED TO KNOW ASIA The Forest and Trees As President Donald Trump embarked on his first tour of Asia since taking office, some wondered how the trip would play out. The president's harsh critiques of long-time regional allies, his "America first" reversal of his predecessor's pivot to Asia, his...

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A Fragile Mirror

NEED TO KNOW LEBANON A Fragile Mirror The bizarre snap resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri over the weekend has shattered the illusion that regional rivalries were at a stalemate, and left many nervously wondering what's next. "The Middle East is nearing an explosion," wrote the Atlantic Wednesday. That's...

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Spanish Netherlands

NEED TO KNOW SPAIN Spanish Netherlands It was ironic that Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and other officials of the would-be independent republic would flee to Belgium, a country also known as the Spanish Netherlands until around 300 years ago. On Tuesday, a Belgian judge released Puigdemont and ministers in...

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A Game of Thrones

NEED TO KNOW SAUDI ARABIA A Game of Thrones Saudi police apprehended more than 30 princes, tycoons, clerics and other elites in the past few days, putting some in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh where they are still confined in “opulent digs,” the Guardian reported. King Salman also banned...

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Diplomats and Bombs

NEED TO KNOW NIGER Diplomats and Bombs The deaths of four Green Berets and five local soldiers in Niger last month have led many to ask why the United States military is operating in a country that many Americans couldn’t find on a map. The simple answer is that...

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A Suicide Mission

NEED TO KNOW HONDURAS A Suicide Mission When activists in Honduras speak up, it's more than an act of bravery. That's because Honduran society is so corrupt that politicians, industry executives and the criminals lining their pockets have no fear of repercussions when they silence protestors by violent means,...

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A Wolf and a Sheep

NEED TO KNOW TANZANIA A Wolf and a Sheep East African leaders have been making headlines as of late – but not the good kind. In Uganda, lawmakers are at odds over a bill that could place President Yoweri Museveni in power for life. Meanwhile, neighboring Kenya is seriously stumbling...

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Jumping the Gun

NEED TO KNOW LAOS Jumping the Gun One of the world's few remaining communist states, Laos is also one of Asia's poorest. It also holds the grotesque distinction of being the most bombed country in history. From 1964 until 1973 – during the height of the Vietnam War –...

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No Pipe Dream

NEED TO KNOW GEORGIA No Pipe Dream A year ago, the Southern Caucasus country of Georgia held what was likely its freest and fairest election, a culmination of a trajectory to democratic maturity that began in 1991 after independence from the Soviet Union and the 2003 Rose Revolution. This...

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In Praise of Reform

NEED TO KNOW PROTESTANT REFORMATION In Praise of Reform Five hundred years ago on Oct. 31, when the rebellious theologian and monk Martin Luther nailed his famed 95 theses against Catholic corruption on the door of a church in Wittenberg, he kicked off a bloody era that culminated...

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