Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

HARD NUMBERS: Anti-Musk petition grows, Measles on the move, Trump hawks gold cards, Polls gauge president’s approval

​Elon Musk speaks during the first Cabinet meeting hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 26, 2025.

Elon Musk speaks during the first Cabinet meeting hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 26, 2025.

REUTERS/Brian Snyder
320,000: More than 320,000 people have so far signed an online petition demanding that DOGE czar Elon Musk be stripped of his Canadian citizenship on the grounds that he is “part of a foreign government that is attempting to erase Canadian sovereignty.” Musk’s boss, Donald Trump, has repeatedly threatened to make Canada “the 51st state.” Unfortunately for the petitioners, Musk has Canadian citizenship legally – through his mother, who was born in Saskatchewan – meaning it’s virtually impossible to revoke it.

95 and 124: Measles is on the move in Canada and the US. So far this year in Canada, there have been 97 cases of the disease, which is particularly dangerous to young children, compared to 147 cases all of last year. The latest outbreak has been traced to cases in New Brunswick last fall. Meanwhile, in West Texas, a measles outbreak has sickened at least 124 people and killed a child. California, Georgia, New Jersey, New York City, Rhode Island, and New Mexico have also seen measles cases in recent weeks. Experts say that slower uptake of measles vaccines may be contributing to the outbreaks.

5 million: Want to be a US citizen? Well, if you’ve got $5 million burning a hole in your pocket, you’re in luck! Donald Trump is now planning to sell “gold cards” for that amount, which grant foreigners the right to live and work in the US and provide them with a swift path to citizenship.

44: After about a month in office, Donald Trump’s approval rating is 44%, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. His disapproval rating is at 50%. For comparison, Trump’s approval rating is about the same as it was at this point in Trump’s first term, but about 10 points lower than the analogous rating for Joe Biden.

More For You

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)'s Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, one of the world's largest nuclear facilities, stands along the seaside in Kashiwazaki, Niigata prefecture, Japan December 21, 2025.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)'s Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, one of the world's largest nuclear facilities, stands along the seaside in Kashiwazaki, Niigata prefecture, Japan December 21, 2025.

REUTERS/Issei Kato
54: Japan is reopening the world’s largest nuclear power plant after a regional vote gave the greenlight on Monday. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, located 136 miles outside of Tokyo, had its 54 reactors shuttered following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that spurred the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. The decision reflects Japan’s push to [...]
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the July 14, 2025 military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. - 14/07/2025 - France / Ile-de-France (region) / Paris

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the July 14, 2025 military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. - 14/07/2025 - France / Ile-de-France (region) / Paris

Julien Mattia / Le Pictorium.
1: French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to build France’s first aircraft carrier in decades, as Europe accelerates rearmament. The ship won’t be ready before 2038. Germany, similarly, plans to recruit 80,000 troops and spend up to 3.5% of GDP on defense by 2029. [...]
Zambia, Collum Coal Mine ZAMBIA, Sinazese, chinese owned Collum Coal Mine, underground mining of hard coal for copper melter and cement factory, loading place ***SAMBIA, Collum Coal Mine eines chinesischem Unternehmens, Untertageabbau von Steinkohle, Ladeplatz Sinasese Zambia

Zambia, Collum Coal Mine ZAMBIA, Sinazese, chinese owned Collum Coal Mine, underground mining of hard coal for copper melter and cement factory, loading place ***SAMBIA, Collum Coal Mine eines chinesischem Unternehmens, Untertageabbau von Steinkohle, Ladeplatz Sinasese Zambia

  • imago images/Joerg Boethling via Reuters Connect
$753 million: Angola secured $753 million in loans from the US and South Africa to revamp a railway line linking mining regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. For Washington, the investment is strategic: the Lobito corridor offers the shortest route from the DRC’s copper and cobalt belt to Atlantic shipping lanes, helping secure [...]
​A Boeing 737 Max 8 with Afghans on board lands at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on December 16, 2025.

A Boeing 737 Max 8 with Afghans on board lands at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on December 16, 2025. 160 Afghans have come to Berlin on a charter flight organized by the German government.

Fabian Sommer/dpa via Reuters Connect
500: By the end of the year, Germany plans to accept over 500 Afghan refugees who assisted German troops on the ground in Afghanistan, or face threats from the Taliban. Although these refugees have already been approved for admission, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition government delayed their entry into the country. [...]