Hard Numbers: US pledges to cut emissions, Egypt to make Sputnik V, India's COVID record, Russian protesters arrested

50: The US will aim to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent from 2005 levels by the end of the decade. The Biden administration's commitment, double the goal set by Barack Obama almost six years ago, was announced to coincide with a virtual Earth Day climate summit attended by dozens of world leaders.

40 million: Egypt has signed a deal to produce 40 million doses of Sputnik V, Russia's COVID vaccine. It's the first partnership to manufacture Russia's jab in the Arab world, which has so far relied on vaccines from Western and Chinese suppliers.

314,835: India recorded 314,835 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, the highest daily caseload in an any nation since the pandemic began. India is grappling with a severe wave of COVID after recent religious festivals turned into super-spreader events. Hospitals are overrun in many places and oxygen supplies are scarce.

1,800: Russian police have arrested nearly 1,800 people for joining street protests in support of Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned Kremlin critic currently on a hunger strike. The rallies were widespread across the country, but fewer people turned up than the organizers expected.

More from GZERO Media

A miniature statue of US President Donald Trump stands next to a model bunker-buster bomb, with the Iranian national flag in the background, in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, on June 19, 2025.
STR/NurPhoto

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will decide whether to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities “in the next two weeks,” a move that re-opens the door to negotiations, but also gives the US more time to position military forces for an operation.

People ride motorcycles as South Korea's LGBTQ community and supporters attend a Pride parade, during the Seoul Queer Culture Festival, in Seoul, South Korea, June 14, 2025.
REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon

June is recognized in more than 100 countries in the world as “Pride Month,” marking 55 years since gay liberation marches began commemorating the Stonewall riots – a pivotal uprising against the police’s targeting of LGBTQ+ communities in New York.

Port of Nice, France, during the United Nations Oceans Conference in June 2025.
María José Valverde

Eurasia Group’s biodiversity and sustainability analyst María José Valverde sat down with Rebecca Hubbard, the director of the High Seas Alliance, to discuss the High Seas Treaty.

Housing shortages in the US and Canada have become a significant problem – and a contentious political issue – in recent years. New data on housing construction this week suggest neither country is making enough progress to solve the shortfalls. Here’s a snapshot of the situation on both sides of the border.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks during a meeting of northeastern U.S. Governors and Canadian Premiers, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., June 16, 2025.
REUTERS/Sophie Park

While the national level drama played out between Donald Trump and Mark Carney at the G7 in Kananaskis, a lot of important US-Canada work was going on with far less fanfare in Boston, where five Canadian premiers met with governors and delegations from seven US states.

- YouTube

What’s next for Iran’s regime? Ian Bremmer says, “It’s much more likely that the supreme leader ends up out, but the military… continues to run the country.”