Hard Numbers: 100 million get COVID, Bangladesh expels Rohingya, developing world vaccine woes, Russia-US arms control

A patient suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) breathes with a non-rebreather mask in an isolation room at a hospital in Bogor, Indonesia January 26, 2021.

1.3: Around 1.3 percent of the global population — 100 million people — have now been infected with COVID-19. The spread of new contagious variants from Brazil, the UK, and South Africa means that a person has contracted COVID every 7.7 seconds on average since the beginning of this year, according to Reuters analysis.

1: The World Health Organization says that the West African country of Guinea-Conakry is the only one of the world's poorest 29 countries to have started rolling out a COVID vaccine. Still, the rollout has been sluggish, with just 55 people (out of a population of 13 million) receiving the jab.

2,000: Bangladesh says it will relocate at least 2,000 Rohingya Muslims — who are fleeing persecution in neighboring Myanmar — to islands off the Bay of Bengal, despite criticism that the islands are vulnerable to extreme and dangerous weather. This is on top of the roughly 3,500 Rohingya Bangladesh has already relocated to free up space in crowded refugee camps, ignoring the objections of human rights groups.

5: US President Biden and Russia's Vladimir Putin agreed on Tuesday to renew the New START Treaty, which was set to expire next month and limits the number of long-range nuclear weapons that each side can deploy, for another five years. Former President Trump previously said he would not renew the pact unless China joined, too.

More from GZERO Media

Stephen Graham, winner of Best Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and Best Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, Owen Cooper, Best Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, and Erin Doherty, Best Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, for "Adolescence", Best Limited or Anthology Series pose with their awards at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 14, 2025.
REUTERS/Daniel Cole

8: Netflix teen murder series "Adolescence" won eight Emmys including for best limited series. Supporting actor Owen Cooper,15, became the youngest male actor to win an Emmy.

Senior U.S. and Chinese led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang meet to discuss trade and economic issues and TikTok, in Madrid, Spain, September 14, 2025.
United States Treasury/Handout via Reuters.

In an announcement teeming with viral potential, the White House said the US and China have outlined a deal for TikTok to continue operating in the US.

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a letter from Britain's King Charles as he meets with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 27, 2025.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

As US President Donald Trump travels to the United Kingdom this week, there is an unnerving sense in which the ghost of Christmas past will be greeting the potential ghost of Christmas yet to come.

A combination photo shows a person of interest in the fatal shooting of U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah, U.S. shown in security footage released by the Utah Department of Public Safety on September 11, 2025.
Utah Department of Public Safety/Handout via REUTERS