News
Hard Numbers: NK missile test, aid for Puerto Rico, China's concrete collapse, Chechen leader’s children, Poland's WWII-linked demand
A TV monitor announces the news of North Korea's ballistic missile launch in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
Reuters
5: Early Tuesday, North Korea reportedly launched a single intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan, where residents in Hokkaido and Aomori were urged to seek shelter. The missile — Pyongyang’s most provocative test since January, and its first test over Japan in five years — is believed to have landed in the Pacific Ocean.
60 million: US President Joe Biden pledged $60 million in aid for Puerto Rico on Monday during his visit to the US island territory to survey recent hurricane damage. Large parts of the island remain without power two weeks after Hurricane Fiona made landfall.
20: China’s cement production is suffering its biggest decline in more than 20 years, as worries about a financial crisis in the country’s sprawling real estate sector undermine demand. The drop-off in Chinese output caused global cement production to fall nearly 10% in the first half of this year.
3: Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, a staunch ally of his boss Vladimir Putin, says he is ready to send his three underage sons — ages 14, 15, and 16 — to Ukraine to fight for Russia. Although Moscow is party to a UN treaty against child soldiers, Kadyrov said sending his kids into battle is just part of being a good dad.
1.3 trillion: Ahead of a visit to Warsaw by the German foreign minister, Poland has demanded almost $1.3 trillion in reparations and damages related to World War II. Germany, for its part, says all financial claims related to the war are now settled.In this Quick Take, Ian Bremmer weighs in on the politicization of the Olympics after comments by Team USA freestyle skier Hunter Hess sparked backlash about patriotism and national representation.
100 million: The number of people expected to watch the Super Bowl halftime performance with Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican superstar and newly minted Album of the Year winner at the Grammys.
Brazilian skiers, American ICE agents, Israeli bobsledders – this is just a smattering of the fascinating characters that will be present at this year’s Winter Olympics. Yet the focus will be a different country, one that isn’t formally competing: Russia.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), appeals for a candidate during a street speech of the House of Representatives Election Campaign in Shintomi Town, Miyazaki Prefecture on February 6, 2026. The Lower House election will feature voting and counting on February 8th.
Japanese voters head to the polls on Sunday in a snap election for the national legislature’s lower house, called just three months into Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s tenure.