Hard Numbers: Slave labor gets free pass, China probes fried chicken blast, Fresh beef over origins of meat, Windfarms vs. farmlands, Record numbers at US-Canada border

FILE PHOTO: ​France, Paris, 03-12-2022. March against the Uighur genocide
FILE PHOTO: France, Paris, 03-12-2022. March against the Uighur genocide
Fiora Garenzi / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect

0: Is Canada complying with its obligation, under the revamped NAFTA accords, to stop importing goods that are made with forced labor? A Politico report earlier this week suggested Canadian border services officials were starting to detain shipments from Western China, where Beijing is accused of using slave labor among the Uighur population. But the Globe and Mail reports that zero imports have so far been rejected. Of particular concern are exports of relatively inexpensive Chinese solar panels, which have helped businesses and homes wean themselves off fossil fuels without breaking the bank.

7: Speaking of China, authorities are probing the cause of a massive explosion on Thursday at a fried chicken restaurant near Beijing that left at least 7 people dead and 27 injured. The incident comes amid a big safety crackdown on restaurants following a fatal gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant last year. Crispy fact: Fried chicken is wildly popular in China – KFC was the first US fast food chain to open in China when the country opened up in 1978.

795,000: The US imports an average of about 795,000 head of cattle from Canada every year, but there’s a fresh beef this week over new meat labeling requirements in the US. The Biden administration on Monday issued new rules that permit sellers to label their products as “made in the USA” only when the animals were born, raised, slaughtered, and packaged within the 50 states. The Canadian meat industry says the new rules will depress Canadian exports and raise prices for American meat-lovers.

1: A study in Alberta has determined that even if renewable energy sources grew rapidly, they would still take up less than 1% of the sprawling province’s land two decades from now. The findings come amid a frothy local debate about the merits of giving precious farmland to cows, crops, or wind farms. The government recently imposed a moratorium on the use of any prime land for renewables until a consensus is reached.

7,000: Border patrol in the Swanton Sector, which touches the US states of New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire, arrested some 7,000 migrants trying to cross illegally into the United States last year, more than in the past 12 years combined. With so much attention on the US southern border, migrants (and human traffickers) are setting their sights up north. To put those 7,000 in perspective, in December alone, US border agents encountered 250,000 undocumented migrants entering from Mexico.

More from GZERO Media

Will the Gaza campus protests work? | Ian Bremmer explains | GZERO World

College campuses nationwide have become protest hubs, echoing past movements demanding change. The core demand: divestment from Israel. Whether it's cutting ties with Israeli donors or businesses, students are risking penalties to be heard. Have the student protests worked? Ian Bremmer explains on GZERO World.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) talks to reporters after surviving a vote to remove him from the Speaker’s position, Washington, DC, May 8, 2024. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced a motion to vacate the Speaker’s office, which was defeated by a motion to table the issue immediately afterward.
Photo by Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via Reuters
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 7, 2024.
REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool/File Photo

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday his country would “stand alone” and fight “with its fingernails” if Joe Biden followed through on a threat to cut certain arms shipments to the Jewish state.

An Israeli delegation reacts to their advancing the ESC finale during the second semi-final of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, in Malmo, Sweden, May 9, 2024.
REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

As musicians from around the world prepare to represent their country in the Eurovision Song Contest, thousands of demonstrators waving Palestinian flags are flooding the host city of Malmö, Sweden, to protest Israel’s participation.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaking at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol.
(Photo by Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA)

Earlier this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) faced down a would-be Republican rebellion against his leadership driven by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) – and he did it emphatically.