Hard Numbers: Northern Syria is now running out of water

85: Taliban attacks meant to suppress voter turnout contributed to violence that left at least 85 dead and 400 wounded around the time of Afghanistan's presidential election, according to a new United Nations report. Turnout, not surprisingly, was low.

230 million: UK flagship carrier British Airways faces a $230 million fine for compromising the personal data of half a million of its customers. If enforced, the penalty would be the largest ever handed out under the European Union's stringent new data privacy laws.

200,000: Aid agencies are struggling to meet the needs of up to 200,000 displaced civilians who fled the Turkish bombardment in Syria's northeast, after fighting damaged a central water station in the city of Hasaka. A UNICEF representative said depletion of water supplies in the area was a "critical concern."

630 million: India's 630 million internet users surpass the populations of the US, the UK, Russia, and South Africa combined. But for every Indian who does have internet access, there's at least one who doesn't. With 66 percent of India's population living in rural areas, overcoming the digital divide remains a huge challenge.

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2024 04 04 E0819 Quick Take CLEAN FINAL

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: On the back of the Israeli Defense Forces strike killing seven members of aid workers for the World Central Kitchen, their founder, Chef Jose Andres, is obviously very angry. The Israelis immediately apologized and took responsibility for the act. He says that this was intentionally targeting his workers. I have a hard time believing that the IDF would have wanted to kill his workers intentionally. Anyone that's saying the Israelis are only to blame for this—as well as the enormous civilian death toll in this war–I strongly disagree.

President Joe Biden pauses during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023.
Miriam Alster/REUTERS

Biden told Netanyahu that the humanitarian situation in Gaza and strikes on aid workers were “unacceptable,” the White House readout of the call said.

Commander Shingo Nashinoki, 50, and soldiers of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB), Japan's first marine unit since World War Two, take part in a military drill as U.S. Marines observe, on the uninhabited Irisuna island close to Okinawa, Japan, November 15, 2023.
REUTERS

Given the ugly World War II history between the two countries, that would be a startling development.

Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko listens to the presidential candidate he is backing in the March 24 election, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, as they hold a joint press conference a day after they were released from prison, in Dakar, Senegal March 15, 2024.
REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Newly inaugurated Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, in his first act in office, appointed his mentor Ousmane Sonko as prime minister on Wednesday.