Hard Numbers: Vax requirements in NYC, EU sanctions Ortega, China goes after gamers, Madagascar nabs coup plotters

August 03, 2021

In this photo illustration, Excelsior Pass app seen displayed on a smartphone screen in front of Statue of Liberty.

Thiago Prudencio / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)

158: To boost vaccination rates, New York City will soon require proof of COVID vaccination or a negative test to enter gyms and restaurants, as daily new infections in the Big Apple have jumped 158 percent over the past two weeks due to the more contagious delta variant. New York is the first major US city to take this step, following similar schemes already in place in France and Italy.

8: The EU has slapped sanctions on eight senior Nicaraguan officials in response to strongman President Daniel Ortega's crackdown on potential opposition candidates ahead of this fall's presidential election. The sanctions list includes Rosario Murillo, Ortega's wife and vice president.

60 billion: The stock price of Chinese tech giant Tencent plunged more than 10 percent on Tuesday, wiping out roughly $60 billion in the company's market value, just hours after a state media newspaper called videogames "spiritual opium." The story was later taken down, but investors are concerned that online gaming may soon become the next target in Beijing's wider crackdown on Big Tech.

21: Authorities in the African island nation of Madagascar have arrested 21 people — including twelve senior military and police officials — suspected of having tried to assassinate President Andry Rajoelina in a failed coup a few days ago. Rajoelina first seized power in 2009 with military backing, and was then democratically elected in 2018.

What We’re Watching: Air Crash in India, Time running out for Iran nuclear deal, ICE protests move beyond LA, anti-immigration violence in Northern Ireland

Air India Flight AI171 crashed into the hostel canteen of the B.J. Medical College (BJMC), a well-known medical college in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12, 2025, while students were having lunch inside. Casualties in the building is not known.

West Asia News Agency, Majid Asgaripour/WANA via REUTERS

Hard Numbers: Vax requirements in NYC, EU sanctions Ortega, China goes after gamers, Madagascar nabs coup plotters

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Hard Numbers: Vax requirements in NYC, EU sanctions Ortega, China goes after gamers, Madagascar nabs coup plotters

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Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

More from GZERO Media

NATO has long had an informal requirement that its members spend 2% of GDP on defense. However, despite decades of urging by successive US presidents, many member states have consistently fallen short of that target.

Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged this week to increase Canada’s military budget to meet NATO’s target this year. It’s not year clear where the money will go.

Canadian and US officials are reportedly approaching at least the framework of a deal covering trade and other issues.

In this episode of Europe in :60, Carl Bildt breaks down Serbia’s evolving foreign policy, and political developments in Poland.

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

The US on Wednesday evacuated nonessential diplomatic and military personnel from Baghdad and several military bases in the region.

The Trump administration wants to slash the budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US’ main medical research institution, by 40% for the next fiscal year.

Flooding in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, the result of snow and heavy rain, has left at least 49 people dead, including several people on a school bus that was swept away by the waters.

An increasingly small proportion of each country’s population was alive during some of the most seminal moments in 20th-century history, altering the worldviews of today’s electorates.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump activated 2,000 members of the California National Guard to quell protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation efforts in Los Angeles, after small but highly visible demonstrations had popped up across the city in the days prior.