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10,000: Around 10,000 students boycotted the first day of school in Hong Kong on Monday, the latest twist in the Chinese territory's pro-democracy protests. The walk-out follows a tense weekend in which protesters threw fire-bombs and police beat and pepper-sprayed people in the Hong Kong Metro.

21.2: The average tariff applied to Chinese products crossing the US border hit 21.2 percent on Sunday after the latest round of US trade levies took effect. That's up from an average of 3.1 percent at the beginning of the Trump administration. The figure is due to rise further in December if the two countries can't find a way to resolve their escalating trade dispute.


882,000: Colombian president Ivan Duque is offering an $882,000 bounty for the capture of former FARC leaders who appeared in a video recording last week calling for followers to resume their armed struggle against the government. It's the latest sign that the 2016 peace deal that ended the guerilla group's 50-year Marxist insurgency is in danger of falling apart.

18: The US war in Afghanistan turns 18 years old next month. On Sunday, the US lead negotiator said the country was "at the threshold" of an agreement with the Taliban, which is expected to involve the withdrawal of roughly 14,000 US troops and other foreign forces from the country. Over the weekend, the Taliban stepped up a military offensive in northern Afghanistan.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on April 14, 2026.​

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Rosseti CEO and Board Chairman Andrei Ryumin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on April 14, 2026.

Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via REUTERS
Putin ups the ante – but should he?Russia continues to bombard Ukraine, killing 17 people in a wave of drone and missile attacks overnight. But the Parliament also signed a law on Tuesday that would allow the military to attack any country that holds Russians captive. Europe fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin will use this as a pretext to [...]
​Smoke rises after an explosion at the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq, on March 17, 2026.

Smoke rises after an explosion at the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq, following a rocket and drone attack, according to security sources, March 17, 2026.

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Over 20 years after the US-led invasion upended the country, Iraq was starting to build momentum.The country had entered a period of relative calm, with ISIS out of the picture ever since its caliphate crumbled in 2019. The country was warming to democracy: turnout hit 56% in the 2025 parliamentary elections, 13 points higher than in the previous [...]
Hard Number: Controversial South African politician sentenced
Natalie Johnson
The far-left political party leader – and one of South Africa’s most prominent and most controversial politicians – was convicted last year on charges related to firing a gun at a rally in 2018. Malema has been allowed to keep his seat while he appeals the decision, although he will lose it should this fail as South Africa bars anyone who has been [...]
How the Iran war made China stronger
The conventional wisdom was that a destabilizing war in the oil-producing heart of the Middle East would badly hurt China, the world's leading oil importer, and its sputtering economy. It hasn’t worked out that way. So far, China is weathering the US-Israeli war with Iran better than many of its neighbors and looks set to emerge relatively stronger. [...]