Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

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.

More For You

Luis Fernando Cerimedo, advisor of Presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the National Party of Honduras (PN), speaks during a press conference after the general election, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, December 1, 2025.

Luis Fernando Cerimedo, advisor of Presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the National Party of Honduras (PN), speaks during a press conference after the general election, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, December 1, 2025.

REUTERS/Jose Cabezas
515: There are close presidential races, and then there’s the one in Honduras, where just 515 votes separate the top two candidates following Sunday’s election in the Central American nation. Officials say that former Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura and former sports broadcaster Salvador Nasralla are locked in a “technical tie.” Officials are still [...]
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting with Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader at the National Palace, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic November 26, 2025.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting with Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader at the National Palace, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic November 26, 2025.

REUTERS/Erika Santelices
Washington is growing uncomfortable with Venezuela strikeThe White House sought to shift blame away from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Monday, instead declaring that Admiral Frank Bradley ordered the killing of two people on a boat – even after the boat was destroyed. A report from the The New York Times undermined the original Washington Post [...]
​Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky inspects a guard of honor by the Irish Army in Dublin, Ireland, on December 2, 2025.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky inspects a guard of honor by the Irish Army at Government Buildings during an Irish State visit, in Dublin, Ireland, on December 2, 2025.

REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
It hasn’t been an easy year for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – and not just because Russia is still invading his country.US President Donald Trump’s return to office heralded a sharp slowdown in new White House spending on Ukraine – it has dropped to virtually zero this year. Europe has made up for some of the shortfall, but is now [...]
​The Gen Z group led by Miraj Dhungana escalates their ongoing demonstrations in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Nov. 26, 2025.

The Gen Z group led by Miraj Dhungana escalates their ongoing demonstrations, confronting police outside the prime minister's official residence in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Nov. 26, 2025.

Sanjit Pariyar/NurPhoto
Youth unemployment is making headlines from China to Canada, with many countries’ rates at historic highs. While the global youth unemployment rate for 2025 is projected to be slightly lower than that of 2020, at 12.8%, regional disparities abound. In developed countries, four in five workers aged 24-29 have a regular paid job, but in developing [...]