News

Hard Numbers: Xi’s tea party, Hamburg church shooting, deadly DRC attack, Russians favoring China, blight of the living dead

Chinese President Xi Jinping surrounded by other members of the Chinese government at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 5, 2023.
Chinese President Xi Jinping surrounded by other members of the Chinese government at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 5, 2023.
REUTERS/Thomas Peter

2: He’s got a thirst for power. Keeping your tea hot is a symbol of political relevance in China, and President Xi Jinping is setting himself apart at this year’s National People’s Congress by having … two tea cups placed before him (and just one for everyone else).

7: A shooting late Thursday at a Jehovah’s Witness church in Hamburg, Germany, claimed the lives of at least seven people, reportedly including the perpetrator. Police in the northern German city arrived on the scene quickly — before the last gunshot was fired inside — and are looking for a motive.

36: An attack in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has left 36 people dead. Authorities believe the ISIS-affiliated group Allied Democratic Forces, which has killed an estimated 6,000 people since 2013, is responsible.

85: A new Levada poll shows that 85% of people in Russia view China positively, the highest of any foreign nation. The US and EU unsurprisingly rank low, at 14% and 18%, respectively, though both are seen slightly more favorably by Russian youth, reflecting the influence of disparate information channels.

48,500: Get ready for World Spore Z … Scientists have revived a 48,500-year-old virus in an effort to test the potential infectiousness of long-preserved diseases that are now being exposed by receding Arctic permafrost. Scientists have reason to worry: There’s a history of humans being infected by ancient illnesses previously hidden beneath the ice.

More For You

People in support of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally near Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on Feb. 19, 2026. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment the same day for leading an insurrection with his short-lived declaration of martial law in December 2024.

Kyodo

65: The age of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday after being found guilty of plotting an insurrection when he declared martial law in 2024.

How people in G7 and BRICS countries think their policies will effect future generations.
Eileen Zhang

Does skepticism rule the day in politics? Public opinion data collected as part of the Munich Security Conference’s annual report found that large shares of respondents in G7 and several BRICS countries believed their governments’ policies would leave future generations worse off.