Hey there Meridian Readers, we hope you’ve had a good weekend. Let’s dive in so you’re prepared for the week ahead.   How bad will the Coronavirus outbreak get? Publication: The New York Times | By Knvul Sheikh, Derek Watkins, Jin Wu and Mika Gröndahl As the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread, a flurry of early research is drawing a clearer picture of how the pathogen behaves and the key factors that will determine whether it can be contained. To determine this, we ask six key questions: How contagious is it? Moderately, similar to SARS. How deadly is it? The...

Hey there, Meridian Readers! We know it feels like January 74th, and the current news cycle doesn’t always help. We’re here to deliver the top points you’ll need to get through your week, let’s dive in. Mexican diplomacy has gone feminist Publication: Foreign Policy | By Lyric Thompson Here’s the deal: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has boldly reoriented the country’s foreign policy toward gender equality, and last week Mexico became the first global south country— and only the third country worldwide— to launch an explicitly feminist foreign policy. “The government of Mexico is feminist, and our foreign...

Happy Sunday, Meridian Readers. Didn’t keep up with all the international news this week? We get it, life is busy. Let’s catch up now. Himalayan Kingdom gradually raises its U.S. profile, even without an embassy in D.C. Publication: The Washington Diplomat | By Larry Luxner Familiar with Bhutan? We won’t be shocked if you’re not. In 1980, it had just 1,200 phone lines in service. Television came to this isolated Shangri-La only in 1999, and even today, fewer than 300,000 tourists visit Bhutan annually. Bhutan is also one of only a handful of countries without an embassy in Washington....

Hi Meridian Readers, we hope you’ve had a great start to 2020. It’s no secret that there’s a lot going on in the world right now, so let’s dive in. U.K. Lawmakers approve Brexit bill Publication: WSJ | By Max Colchester It’s been three years in the making, but Brexit may actually, finally be happening. Here’s why: Britain’s Parliament took an important step toward taking the country out of the European Union at the end of January, as lawmakers in the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly to back the Brexit agreement Prime Minister Boris Johnson negotiated with the bloc...

Happy New Year, Meridian Readers. We hope you had a relaxing time over the holidays, but now it’s time to dive on into this week’s news roundup.  Turmoil in Iraq comes amid shrunken U.S. diplomatic footprint Publication: The Washington Post | By John Hudson Here’s the deal: protesters in Baghdad stormed the U.S. Embassy, which underscored the vulnerability of U.S. diplomats in a country stuck in the middle of a mounting conflict between the United States and Iran. U.S. diplomats were forced to hide in safe rooms as Marines flew in from Kuwait to protect them after supporters of...