Hard Numbers: Women warriors of Ukraine, baby drought in Japan, cash for Colombo (not Peter Falk), tragic ending in Mexico

A servicewoman holds a rifle during the graduation ceremony of the officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Academy of Land Forces, in the Lviv Region of western Ukraine.
A servicewoman holds a rifle during the graduation ceremony of the officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Academy of Land Forces, in the Lviv Region of western Ukraine.
Reuters

50,000: Every day is women’s day in Ukraine’s defense against Russia. As many as 50,000 women are currently serving in the Ukrainian military, more than triple the number when Russia first invaded in 2014.

799,728: After nearly a decade of steady decline, the number of babies born in Japan last year reached a record low of just 799,728 last year, prompting an adviser to PM Fumio Kishida to warn that “if we go on like this, the country will disappear.” Read our recent piece on why Japan is having so few babies, and what the government wants to do about it.

2.9 billion: Finally, a lifeline for Sri Lanka. The island nation, battered by the worst economic crisis in its history, is set to receive a $2.9 billion loan from the IMF later this month. Sri Lanka is already past due in paying China back nearly three times that amount, but Beijing recently agreed to a two-year pause on the payback.

2: Two of the four Americans kidnapped by heavily armed men in a northern Mexico border town have been found dead, and the remaining two have been rescued and returned to the US. The abduction may have been a case of mistaken identity: The gunmen reportedly mistook the travelers for Haitian drug smugglers, when they were really part of a group of friends who traveled to the town of Matamoros for affordable cosmetic surgery.

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.”