Hard Numbers: Brits host Ukrainians, Turkmen succession, deadly COVID in HK, Puerto Rico in the black

March 15, 2022

Ukrainians wait to board a train to Poland as they flee Russia's invasion in Lviv.

REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

100,000: Over 100,000 Brits have signed up for a new government program to host Ukrainian refugees in their homes. The UK has been criticized for granting so few visas to Ukrainians thus far, but those without UK family ties will now be eligible.

73: The son of outgoing Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was “elected” to succeed his dad on Saturday. But Serdar Berdymukhamedov only got 73% of the vote, 24 percentage points less than what his eccentric father got five years ago in the gas-rich Central Asian nation.

25: Hong Kong’s daily COVID death rate has this month surpassed 25 per 100,000 people, the highest in the world. The big problem there is that more than half of elderly Hong Kongers don’t want to get vaccinated, in part because they don’t trust jabs from mainland China.

70 billion: The US territory of Puerto Rico formally exited bankruptcy on Tuesday, almost seven years after defaulting on over $70 billion in debt. But Puerto Ricans aren’t out of the woods yet — they need to get their books checked before being able to borrow money again.

Hard Numbers: Tesla approves $1 trillion Musk package, Kazakhstan wants to join Abraham Accords, Typhoon rips through Vietnam, & More

Elon Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022.

Patrick Pleul/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

$1 trillion: Tesla shareholders approved a $1-trillion pay package for owner Elon Musk, a move that is set to make him the world’s first trillionaire – if the company meets certain targets. The pay will come in the form of stocks.

Q+A: Climate tries for a comeback at COP30

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz walk after a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), in Belem, Brazil, on November 7, 2025.

REUTERS/Adriano Machado

When it comes to global warming, the hottest ticket in the world right now is for the COP30 conference, which runs for the next week in Brazil. But with world leaders putting climate lower on the agenda, what can the conference achieve?

What We’re Watching: Orbán seeks Russian oil carveout from Trump, Nigerien uranium to pass through risky area, Israel hits southern Lebanon

US President Donald Trump and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán shake hands as they pose for a photo, at a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a US-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on October 13, 2025.

Yoan Valat/Pool via REUTERS

Hard Numbers: Brits host Ukrainians, Turkmen succession, deadly COVID in HK, Puerto Rico in the black

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Hard Numbers: Brits host Ukrainians, Turkmen succession, deadly COVID in HK, Puerto Rico in the black

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More from GZERO Media

On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer breaks down how the US and China are both betting their futures on massive infrastructure booms, with China building cities and railways while America builds data centers and grid updates for AI. But are they building too much, too fast?

Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt asks whether the world is sliding back into the dangerous era of open nuclear weapons testing, and it all started with a misunderstanding by US President Donald Trump.

Don't let a chummy White House visit fool you. He's on the ropes.

$1 trillion: Tesla shareholders approved a $1-trillion pay package for owner Elon Musk, a move that is set to make him the world’s first trillionaire – if the company meets certain targets. The pay will come in the form of stocks.

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

When it comes to global warming, the hottest ticket in the world right now is for the COP30 conference, which runs for the next week in Brazil. But with world leaders putting climate lower on the agenda, what can the conference achieve?

As the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan argues that reform must begin with recognizing how much the world has changed since 1945.

Think you know what's going on around the world? Here's your chance to prove it.

How do we ensure AI is trustworthy in an era of rapid technological change? Baroness Joanna Shields, Executive Chair of the Responsible AI Future Foundation, says it starts with principles of responsible AI and a commitment to ethical development.