News
Hard Numbers: Migrants in the middle, people smugglers freed, bridge workers killed, South Carolina upholds abortion ban
Migrants sit on their belongings in the back of a truck
Reuters
7,000: The UN says 7,000 migrants – those fleeing Africa, and those returning – have been stuck in Niger since the coup in the West African country last month prompted the closing of borders. Niger has been suspended from the African Union and ECOWAS since the coup, but diplomatic efforts to restore constitutional order have failed … which means these discouraged migrants might have a helluva wait.
1,468: This won’t reduce illegal migration. Hungary announced Wednesday that it has released 1,468 foreign national detainees convicted of people smuggling. Budapest announced its intended release earlier this year, noting that the prisoners would have three days to vacate the country. They may leave, but we reckon they know their way back.
26: Twenty-six workers were killed Wednesday, and more are feared missing, amid the collapse of a railway bridge they were constructing in northeastern India over the Kurung River. Rail and construction accidents in India, often linked to infrastructural issues, are not uncommon.
6: South Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday to uphold a ban on abortion after about the six-week mark. The decision from the all-male court reversed the court’s earlier ruling, which said the state constitution’s privacy protections included the right to seek an abortion. The new ban takes effect immediately.
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The US-Israeli war with Iran has badly damaged oil & gas producers in the Gulf and consumers in the Indo-Pacific. But not all countries within those regions will feel the pain equally.
700: The tons of fuel and liquefied natural gas aboard a Russian tanker that is currently floating around the Mediterranean Sea unmanned, after a drone attack earlier this month prompted the crew to abandon ship.