Hard Numbers: Manila’s many protests, US views of China, Kenya floods, Germany’s baby bust, US-Russia staring contest in Niger

20: Manila filed a diplomatic protest on Thursday — its 20th in 2024 — against Chinese harassment of its vessels in the South China Sea. That’s a rate of more than one a week, as Beijing seems little deterred by US and Japanese efforts to bolster the Philippines’ military capacities.

42: A new Pew survey shows 42% of Americans consider China an “enemy,” up from 25% two years ago. The mounting mistrust is largely driven by Republicans, among whom 59% describe China as an enemy, compared to only 28% of Democrats.

188: At least 188 people in Kenya have died in floods caused by weeks of torrential rains across East Africa. Another 90 people are believed to be missing, and over 165,000 have been displaced by the natural disaster.

693,000: The number of babies born in Germany is approaching record lows, with just 693,000 bouncing bundles welcomed in 2023. The trend looks likely to continue, as the number of marriages has also dropped — to its lowest level since 1950 — and government support for childcare and parental leave is weakening in an economy that has hardly grown in four years.

1000: An extremely awkward situation is unfolding in the Sahel region ... Russian troops have been deployed to an airbase hosting US troops in Niger at a time when relations between Washington and Moscow are, let's say, not exactly cordial. The US and Russian troops aren't mingling, but it's still an unorthodox scenario. In the wake of a military coup last year, Niger has moved to cut ties with Western countries like the US and France. The US has roughly 1,000 troops in Niger, deployed there as part of counterterrorism efforts, but the country's junta now says they need to leave. This all comes as Russia moves to increase its influence across Africa. It's unclear how many Russian troops are in Niger.