250,000: Some 250,000 people left Turkey for work, political, social, or cultural reasons in 2017, twice the number recorded in 2016. The combination of economic turmoil and deepening authoritarianism have pushed younger and more cosmopolitan Turks abroad: almost half of the emigrants were between 25 and 34 years old and 57 percent came from big cities like Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir.
2,312: Researchers mapping illegal mines in the Amazon have identified 2,312 small sites, along with 245 large-scale mining operations in six countries that share the rain-forest. High prices for gold and other rare minerals used in the manufacture of cellphones has spurred a historic surge in illegal mining, which accelerates deforestation and contamination of the rainforest. Venezuela, Brazil, and Ecuador – the top three countries for illegal mines – don't cooperate well enough to address the problem. Very cool interactive map of the sites is here.
42: Russia's role in the world has grown over the past ten years, say 42% of respondents to a global survey by Pew. Whether they think that's a good thing is less clear. Globally, a median of just 34 percent have a favorable view of Russia, while around a quarter say they are confident that Putin will "do the right thing" in world affairs. The most Russia-friendly countries according to the survey are the Philippines, Tunisia, South Korea and Greece.
1: Over the weekend Iraq celebrated the one-year anniversary of the defeat of Islamic State. So how is the self-styled caliphate doing these days? It controls only about 20-square miles of territory, but its attacks have gotten more frequent over the past year, jumping to 75 a month versus 60 in 2016. What's more, the group is believed to still have 20,000 to 30,000 people under arms in Iraq and Syria, about the number that the Central Intelligence Agency estimated in 2014, when ISIS was at its peak.
