Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: Cost of vaccine hoarding, Taliban back jabs, UK helps EU citizens leave, Brazil's COVID probe

Art by Gabriella Turrisi

9.2 trillion: COVID vaccine hoarding by rich countries and uneven global access to the jabs will draw out the global recovery from the pandemic. In fact, it'll cost the world economy as much as $9.2 trillion, according to a new study by the International Chamber of Commerce.


112 million: The Taliban have given their blessing for Afghans to roll up their sleeves to get COVID vaccines through the global COVAX facility, which has allocated $112 million to inoculate 20 percent of the population by the end of the year. In the past, Taliban fighters have killed polio vaccine workers in Pakistan, arguing that immunization campaigns were a US plot to sterilize Muslims.

2,000: Ahead of the June 30 deadline to apply for post-Brexit settled status, EU citizens living in Great Britain are being offered by the UK government up to 2,000 pounds ($2,745) and airfare as incentives to voluntarily leave Great Britain and return to their country of origin. This scheme contradicts London's official policy of encouraging all EU residents to stay in the UK.

60: Brazil's Supreme Court has granted the attorney general 60 days to probe the government response to the coronavirus pandemic in the Amazonian city of Manaus. On top of overwhelmed hospitals, the city is now also dealing with a potentially more infectious strain of the COVID virus that was first discovered in this state.

More For You

PA via Reuters Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych, with his helmet, which features pictures of people killed in the war with Russia. Heraskevych was ruled out of the Men's Skeleton event by the International Olympic Committee just over an hour before competition began, pictured at the Cortina Sliding Centre, on day six of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Italy. Picture date: Thursday February 12, 2026.

PA via Reuters Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych, with his helmet, which features pictures of people killed in the war with Russia. Heraskevych was ruled out of the Men's Skeleton event by the International Olympic Committee just over an hour before competition began, pictured at the Cortina Sliding Centre, on day six of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Italy. Picture date: Thursday February 12, 2026.

20: The number of fallen Ukrainian athletes and coaches depicted on a Ukrainian skeleton racer’s helmet at the Winter Olympics, which prompted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to disqualify him on Thursday. The IOC said the helmet violated Olympic rules, which prohibit political messaging during games. Critics of the disqualification said [...]
​Russian President Vladimir Putin attends his annual end-of-year press conference and phone-in in Moscow, Russia December 19, 2025.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends his annual end-of-year press conference and phone-in in Moscow, Russia December 19, 2025.

Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via REUTERS
Russia tries to control the message, literally.The Russian government has begun blocking the popular messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram in a sweeping crackdown aimed at forcing Russians to use a state-backed alternative called MAX, which critics say would enable censorship and surveillance. The move is part of the Kremlin’s broader drive for [...]
Donald Trump alongside Nigel Farage at the Trump Turnberry course in South Ayrshire, United Kingdom, on May 3, 2023.

Donald Trump alongside Nigel Farage amid a television interview at his Trump Turnberry course in South Ayrshire during his visit to the United Kingdom, on May 3, 2023.

PA via Reuters
Allies of US President Donald Trump have long sought to build bridges with European counterparts. They have a close relationship with supporters of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, hosting conferences together, such as CPAC, in Budapest. Elon Musk campaigned for Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of last year’s federal elections while he [...]
Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon - Pool/Getty Images

TOKYO, JAPAN - FEBRUARY 8: Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), places a red paper rose on the name of an elected candidate at the LDP headquarters on general election day on February 08, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. Voters across the country headed to polls today as Japan's Lower House election was held.

Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon - Pool/Getty Images
When Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called snap elections last month, it was a big gamble. Holding a winter election just four months into her tenure with no real policy record to run on? Staking her sky-high approval ratings – then hovering around 70% – on an untested bet that personal popularity would translate into seats? The [...]