The person looking for an obituary is hoping for the expiration of a public figure prominent enough that their death would be front page news. Likely a politician.
There used to be sidewalk kiosks called “newsstands” where people could buy the “newspaper,” a daily publication with news about recent events. Bigger news was put on the front page, and at a newsstand you could see the front page for free.
Because this is talking about the Soviet Union, the man is almost certainly looking for a headline announcing that Josef Stalin has died.
I really don’t get it
The person looking for an obituary is hoping for the expiration of a public figure prominent enough that their death would be front page news. Likely a politician.
There used to be sidewalk kiosks called “newsstands” where people could buy the “newspaper,” a daily publication with news about recent events. Bigger news was put on the front page, and at a newsstand you could see the front page for free.
Because this is talking about the Soviet Union, the man is almost certainly looking for a headline announcing that Josef Stalin has died.