Hard Numbers: California burns, Countries push for cease-fire, Meloni makes nice, Japan basks in Olympic glory

​A satellite image shows smoke rising from the Park Fire in Chico, California, U.S., July 26, 2024.
A satellite image shows smoke rising from the Park Fire in Chico, California, U.S., July 26, 2024.
Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS

350,000: The Park fire in northern California has burned through over 350,000 acres of land — an area larger than New York City — and was just 10% contained as of Sunday. Authorities said the fire was spreading at a rate of 5,000 acres per hour, and police arrested a man who they suspect of having deliberately set the blaze in an act of arson.

3: On Friday, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada jointly called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and for Israel to respond “substantively” to a July 19 ruling from the International Court of Justice about the illegality of Israeli settlements and military occupation in the West Bank. The statement came a day after US Vice President Kamala Harris urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a Gaza deal.

3: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Melonisigned a three-year deal with China while visiting Beijing on Saturday. She also promised to implement earlier bilateral agreements derailed by shifting geopolitics and to try new forms of cooperation. Meloni won praise from the US for officially pulling out of China’s Belt and Road Initiative last year, but with a possible Sino-European trade war looming – aggravated by China dumping its production overcapacity on world markets – she seems to be more conciliatory these days.

7: As of Sunday afternoon, Japan was leading the Olympic medal count with 7 podium finishes, including two golds in Judo. The lesson here is clear: Don’t wrestle with Japanese athletes. There will be more Judo finals on Monday, with a total of 19 gold medals to be awarded in finals across events in artistic gymnastics, swimming, shooting, diving, equestrian, mountain biking, skateboarding, archery, fencing, and canoe slalom (yep, that last one threw us too – here’s a primer).

More from GZERO Media

People celebrate the one year anniversary since student-led protests ousted Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 5, 2025.
REUTERS

Earlier this week, thousands of people flooded the streets in Bangladesh’s capital of Dhaka to mark the one-year anniversary of a student-led protest movement that brought an end to 15 years of rule under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Activists of All India National Congress burn an effigy of US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi during a protest in Kolkata, India, after the Trump administration announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods, on August 1, 2025.
Samir Jana/Hindustan Times/Sipa USA

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump upped the ante further, announcing he would double India’s tariff rate to 50% later this month. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has so far refused to back down.

Last month, as part of its European Digital Commitments, Microsoft introduced new initiatives to support the development of multilingual AI models and to help safeguard Europe’s cultural heritage. To help close the AI language gap, the company is working with partners across Europe to expand access to multilingual data and to advance open-source models that reflect the region’s linguistic diversity. Microsoft is also launching a new call for proposals to increase digital content for ten underrepresented European languages and is expanding its Culture AI initiative. Building on successful projects in Greece and Italy, the company is partnering with the Ministère de la Culture and Iconem to digitally recreate Notre-Dame. This work aims to ensure that Europe’s iconic landmarks are preserved for future generations through immersive, AI-powered experiences. Read more here.