Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: Bolsonaro discharged, Taiwan buys Lithuanian rum, Niger mayor busted with coke, Rocket Man does it again

Hard Numbers: Bolsonaro discharged, Taiwan buys Lithuanian rum, Niger mayor busted with coke, Rocket Man does it again

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro gives a thumbs-up while lying in bed surrounded by medical personnel, in this still image obtained from social media. January 5, 2022.

Twitter/jairbolsonaro via REUTERS

2: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro was discharged two days after being admitted to a hospital with an intestinal obstruction. Bolsonaro's latest health problem is related to when he was stabbed while campaigning in 2018, which also caused him to develop chronic hiccups months ago.


20,000: A Taiwanese distillery bought 20,000 bottles of Lithuanian rum bound for China, after learning that Chinese customs might block the shipment to punish Lithuania for allowing Taiwan to open a de-facto embassy in Vilnius. The company is enticing Taiwanese consumers to purchase the booze by sharing tips on rum cocktails and rum-infused cooking.

440: A small-town mayor in northern Niger was arrested after 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of pure cocaine were found in his vehicle. Drug seizures are on a recent upswing in West Africa, which narcos use as a transit point on the way to lucrative markets in Europe.

62: North Korea conducted on Wednesday its 62nd ballistic missile test in a decade, by firing a projectile — which Pyongyang says was hypersonic — that landed in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. During his 10 years as North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong Un has blasted three times as many missiles as his dad, and six times as many as his grandfather.

More For You

It’s official: Trump wants a weaker European Union

Trump, Putin, and Zelensky surrounded by tanks and negotiators.

The transatlantic relationship isn’t at a crossroads, it’s past one. America’s new National Security Strategy confirms what Europeans have feared since Vice President JD Vance’s speech in Munich last February: Washington now sees a strong, unified European Union as a problem to be solved, not an ally to be supported.The Trump administration’s NSS [...]
​Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo, Japan, on December 10, 2025.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives at her office in Tokyo, Japan, on December 10, 2025.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
In a show of force against Tokyo, Russian bombers joined Chinese air patrol for a joint flight around two Japanese islands on Tuesday.The flight was just the latest challenge for Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has faced plenty of turbulence in the 50 days since she took office. She started a war of words with China – without support of [...]
​Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on December 8, 2025.

Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on December 8, 2025.

REUTERS/Nir Elias
68 million: The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is tentatively holding, but conditions on the ground in Gaza remain dire. Most Palestinians are pitching tents in overcrowded camps, atop 68 million tons of rubble that will take years, and billions of dollars to clear. The level of debris is the equivalent of 186 Empire State Buildings, or 162 [...]
ANO party leader Andrej Babis signs a document on the day he is appointed as the country's new prime minister in Prague, Czech Republic, on December 9, 2025.

Czech President Petr Pavel looks on as the ANO party leader Andrej Babis signs a document on the day he is appointed as the country's new prime minister at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, on December 9, 2025.

REUTERS/Eva Korinkova
Babiš returns to power in CzechiaThe billionaire is back. Populist tycoon Andrej Babiš officially returns to the premiership of Czechia after decisively winning the election earlier this year. Babiš, a staunch Eurosceptic who last held power from 2017 to 2021, has formed a cabinet with the ultranationalist SPD party and the Motorists movement, [...]