Hard Numbers: Ramaphosa inaugurated, Stonehenge gets painted, Houthis sink another ship, Wildfires scorch New Mexico, Louisiana schools get religion

Cyril Ramaphosa

Cyril Ramaphosa

via REUTERS

2: Cyril Ramaphosa was inaugurated Wednesday for his second term as South Africa's president. His road ahead is looking perilous, as he will have to keep his coalition government – featuring parties with vastly different ideologies – together while the country faces cripplingly high unemployment and social instability.

5,000: Two environmental activists from the Just Stop Oil group sprayed paint on Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, England, on Wednesday to protest the fossil fuel industry. The paint reportedly is washable, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stillcalled those responsible for defacing the 5,000-year-old stone circle “a disgrace.” Two people were arrested within hours of the incident.

10: The shipping industry is rattled after Yemen’s Houthi militia sunk another ship on Wednesday – the second ship to be sunk since March. Insurance industry experts report that attacks in the region have increased significantly, with the Houthis also deploying lethal-attack drone boats. There have been 10 Houthi strikes so far in June, up from five in May.

20,000: As the heat dome scorching the Northeast US moves into its fourth day, New Mexico saw two fast-moving wildfires burn out of control on Wednesday, torching more than 20,000 acres and forcing thousands to evacuate. The state’s governor has declared a state of emergency and says it is unclear when firefighters will regain control.

10: Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation on Wednesday requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom in the Pelican State. Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say it violates the constitutional separation of church and state, to which Landry replied “I can’t wait to be sued.”

More from GZERO Media

More than 60% of Walmart suppliers are small businesses.* Through a $350 billion investment in products made, grown, or assembled in the US, Walmart is helping these businesses expand, create jobs, and thrive. This effort is expected to support the creation of over 750,000 new American jobs by 2030, empowering companies like Athletic Brewing, Bon Appésweet, and Milo’s Tea to grow their teams, scale their production, and strengthen the communities they call home. Learn more about Walmart's commitment to US manufacturing. *See website for additional details.

Last month, Microsoft released its 2025 Responsible AI Transparency Report, demonstrating the company’s sustained commitment to earning trust at a pace that matches AI innovation. The report outlines new developments in how we build and deploy AI systems responsibly, how we support our customers, and how we learn, evolve, and grow. It highlights our strengthened incident response processes, enhanced risk assessments and mitigations, and proactive regulatory alignment. It also covers new tools and practices we offer our customers to support their AI risk governance efforts, as well as how we work with stakeholders around the world to work towards governance approaches that build trust. You can read the report here.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Democratic Republic of the Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwanda's Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe on June 27, 2025.
REUTERS

On June 27, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda signed a US-mediated peace accord in Washington, D.C., to end decades of violence in the DRC’s resource-rich Great Lakes region. The agreement commits both nations to cease hostilities, withdraw troops, and to end support for armed groups operating in eastern Congowithin 90 days.