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Hard Numbers: China, the world's largest unicorn paddock

Hard Numbers: China, the world's largest unicorn paddock

90: Of the world's fastest-shrinking populations, 90 percent are in East and Southeast Europe, according to a recent UN study. Poor job prospects and inadequate social services are causing young people to seek opportunities abroad, threatening economic growth in the region, the report warns.


924,000: Botswana heads to the polls today in an election that is considered the first serious challenge to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in its fifty-year rule. Out of a population of 2.2 million, 924,000 people are registered to vote in local and national polls.

1 billion: China now has more start-ups valued at more than $1 billion than any other country in the world. With 206 start-ups, (known in in the parlance as "unicorns") it now surpasses the US by just three, upping the ante in the US-China trade spat.

17: The British government is extending existing EU free trade deals so that it doesn't lose tariff-free access to these markets in the event of a no-deal Brexit. It has signed 17 "continuity" deals, covering 47 countries or territories. But these cover only about 8 percent of total UK trade.

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​Women prepare a makeshift memorial in tribute to Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on a street, after he was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes on Saturday, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2026.

Women prepare a makeshift memorial in tribute to Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on a street, after he was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes on Saturday, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2026.

Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Over the weekend, the United States and Israel pulled off one of the most operationally impressive military campaigns in recent memory. In the span of 48 hours, they killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, decapitated much of the country's political and military leadership, destroyed its air defenses, decimated its naval assets, and [...]
Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, visits Hezbollah's office in Tehran, Iran, October 1, 2024.

Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, visits Hezbollah's office in Tehran, Iran, October 1, 2024.

Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Could father-to-son succession return to Iran?When the Islamic Republic’s senior clerics met yesterday to decide on the next supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei reportedly emerged as the favorite to succeed his assassinated father, Ali Khamenei. Mojtaba’s appointment would be viewed as a continuation of the previous regime, but it does present risks: [...]
A man holding a South Sudan flag takes part in a national day of prayers for peace in Juba, South Sudan, on September 19, 2019.​

A man holding a South Sudan flag takes part in a national day of prayers for peace lead by South Sudan's President Salva Kiir at the state house in Juba, South Sudan, on September 19, 2019.

REUTERS/Jok Solomun
178: The number of people killed in South Sudan on Sunday, according to a local official, after dozens of young gunmen launched a surprise attack in the north of the East African state. Ninety children were among the dead. The attack has exacerbated fears that the country could slide back into civil war, just eight years after the last one ended. [...]
​U.S. President Donald Trump, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi and President of Rwanda Paul Kagame take part in a signing ceremony at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 4, 2025.

U.S. President Donald Trump, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi and President of Rwanda Paul Kagame take part in a signing ceremony at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 4, 2025.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
6,500: The number of M23 rebels fighting in Congo. On Monday, the US imposed sanctions on the Rwandan government for allegedly supporting the rebels, who’ve been accused of human rights abuses, despite a peace deal that Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi signed in Washington, D.C., last year. Rwanda disputes the [...]