Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: China-Canada diplomatic spat, Rohingya vaccine rollout, deadly Marburg virus in Guinea, Chinese elephants on a mission

Flags of Canada and China
Make us preferred on Google

227: Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a Canadian citizen who in 2014 planned to smuggle 227 kg (500 lb) of methamphetamine from China to Australia, has lost his appeal against the death penalty in China. Ottawa has accused Beijing of using Schellenberg as a pawn amid an ongoing extradition battle involving Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who faces criminal charges in Canada.


65,000: Bangladesh has started vaccinating Rohingya refugees against COVID, and is hoping to vaccinate 65,000 of them (out of 990,000 who fled from neighboring Myanmar) over the next few months. The delta variant is already spreading in the refugee camps and has caused at least 200 deaths at the sprawling Cox's Bazar.

88: The World Health Organization has identified a case of the highly infectious Marburg virus, linked to Ebola, in the West African country of Guinea. Marburg, which originates in bats, has a fatality rate of 88 percent but the WHO says it doesn't pose a global risk.

150,000: More than 150,000 Chinese residents have been evacuated from the path of a herd of migrating wild elephants. It's unclear why the elephants — an endangered species protected by the state — left their habitat in northwest Yunnan province some 17 months ago, but since then Chinese drones have been monitoring the herd's movements, clearing residents from its path.

More For You

A person casts a vote at a polling station during Zambia's general elections, including a presidential election, in Lusaka, Zambia.

A person casts a vote at a polling station during Zambia's general elections, including a presidential election, in Lusaka, Zambia, August 13, 2026.

REUTERS/Jean Mandela
Zambians want their slice of the copper piePolls closed in Zambia’s presidential election on Thursday as voters in one of Africa’s most stable democracies weighed whether the country’s economic turnaround has actually affected their wallets. President Hakainde Hichilema, who is seeking a second term, has overseen a successful debt restructuring, [...]
Nearly 5,000 protesters took part in a march against illegal immigration in Pretoria.

June 30, 2026 , Pretoria, South Africa: Nearly 5,000 protesters took part in a march against illegal immigration in Pretoria. The demonstrations were reportedly organized by more than 20 anti-migrant organizations and civil society groups, including the March and March movement.

© Manash Das/ZUMA Press Wire
South Africa bills other nations for deportationsSouth Africa is asking other African countries to reimburse them for the costs of deporting their citizens, after spending nearly $18 million on a massive deportation campaign. In recent months, the government has deported or helped other nations repatriate more than 80,000 migrants as it responds [...]
Japan’s outside-the-icebox way to stay cool
Will Fitzpatrick
A Japanese company has come up with a novel way to beat the heat: a human-sized refrigerator. The “Do Hiemon” personal cooling booth blasts users with cold air and claims it can lower body temperature in just minutes. The product comes as Japan endures another punishing summer marked by temperatures over 104 degrees and a surge in heat-related [...]
How Iran turned water into a weapon
Iran lands in the headlines a lot these days. But one recent development stood out for Americans thousands of miles from the war in the Middle East: Iran was likely behind a wave of cyberattacks targeting US water systems.Late last month, Minnesota announced that a “coordinated” cyberattack had hit more than 30 of its water systems. City and state [...]