Hard Numbers: Biden makes US election history, foreign fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh, Ivorian vote, US drones for Taiwan

Joe Biden during the 2020 US presidential election campaign. Reuters

69.9 million: Joe Biden has now broken a record, having received the most presidential votes in US election history. By midday on Wednesday, Biden had won 69.9 million votes, over 300,000 more than the previous popular vote record set by his former boss, Barack Obama. Biden's tally could still increase further once millions of outstanding votes in California and other states get counted.

94: Alassane Ouattara was reelected president of the Ivory Coast Tuesday with 94 percent of the vote, which was boycotted by most of the opposition after their candidates were disqualified. The Ivorian leader's critics now plan to set up a shadow cabinet to call another election to oust Ouattara, who was controversially allowed to run a third term on a legal technicality despite a constitutional two-term limit.

2,000: Russia's foreign minister says that 2,000 militants from Middle Eastern countries are fighting on behalf of Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Moscow, which backs the Armenians, has accused Turkey of sending Syrian fighters to bolster the Azeris, which the Turks have denied.

600 million: The US plans to supply $600 million worth of sophisticated drones to Taiwan amid growing tensions with China, which regards the island as part of its territory. This is the first sale since the Trump administration loosened its policy on exports of such advanced technology, partly in a bid to better protect Taiwan from a possible Chinese invasion.

More from GZERO Media

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attend a press conference, on the day they attend a virtual meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders on the upcoming Trump-Putin summit on Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany, August 13, 2025.
REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen

During a planned group call later today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and some of his fellow European leaders will press US President Donald Trump to consult Kyiv more deeply.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-Indian ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran attend a ceremony to hand over credentials at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on April 20, 2016.

REUTERS/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool

Amid US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, GZERO spoke to former Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran to better understand why India’s relationship with Russia is so crucial to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This summer, Microsoft released the 2025 Responsible AI Transparency Report, demonstrating Microsoft’s sustained commitment to earning trust at a pace that matches AI innovation. The report outlines new developments in how we build and deploy AI systems responsibly, how we support our customers, and how we learn, evolve, and grow. It highlights our strengthened incident response processes, enhanced risk assessments and mitigations, and proactive regulatory alignment. It also covers new tools and practices we offer our customers to support their AI risk governance efforts, as well as how we work with stakeholders around the world to work towards governance approaches that build trust. You can read the report here.