News
August 11, 2020
45: A new poll says that 45 percent of Italians would support leaving the European Union if the UK economy remains in a "good state" five years after Brexit. Calls for a national referendum on "Italexit" are gaining steam in Italy, where a new anti-EU party is capitalizing on the sentiment that the EU abandoned the country at its darkest hour with COVID-19 (despite Italy later getting the lion's share of the EU's coronavirus rescue package).
50,000: The UN World Food Program is sending 50,000 metric tons of wheat flour to prevent a food shortage in Lebanon. International donors have pledged millions of dollars in humanitarian aid for the crisis-ridden country, where the government resigned following last week's deadly twin explosions at the Beirut port.
200: Egyptians start voting on Tuesday to elect 200 new senators. The remaining 100 senators of the 300-member upper chamber of parliament will be directly appointed by the military, which has gained increasing power in the country under the authoritarian government of former army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
35: About one in three Americans (35 percent) would refuse a COVID-19 vaccine even if it is free and approved by the Federal Drug Administration, according to a new Gallup survey. The US anti-vaxxer movement was already on the rise before the pandemic, and many of its members plan to resist vaccination mandates if they are approved by states or the federal government.
More For You
- YouTube
Quantum computing is moving closer to real-world applications, but making the technology understandable remains a challenge.
Most Popular
- YouTube
Ukraine has spent years trying to convince the West that it could survive and, eventually, prevail against Russia. This summer, that argument may finally be gaining traction.
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, on June 18, 2026.
REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
On Monday, President Donald Trump announced the United States would reimpose its naval blockade of Iran, effective Tuesday afternoon. Iran responded by declaring the Strait of Hormuz closed to all traffic that does not route through its preferred corridor.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares and Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo attend a ceremony marking the demolition of the border fence between Spain and Gibraltar in La Línea de la Concepción, on July 15, 2026.
Samuel Vega/JNA Press/Sipa USA
People can now travel freely between Spain and British overseas territory of Gibraltar, after the European Union and the United Kingdom clinched a deal last year that facilitated the fall of the border wall between the two countries on Tuesday.
© 2025 GZERO Media. All Rights Reserved | A Eurasia Group media company.
