Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: Indigenous protests in Quito, Russia bleeds troops, Texas school to be razed, Great Barrier Reef lawsuit

Indigenous protests in Quito, Russia bleeds troops, Texas school to be razed, Great Barrier Reef lawsuit

Demonstrators from across Ecuador march on the capital Quito

REUTERS/Johanna Alarcon

10,000: On Tuesday, roughly 10,000 Indigenous people took to the streets of Quito, Ecuador’s capital, to protest rising fuel prices and unemployment. The country’s 1 million Indigenous people – who are disproportionately impacted by poverty and joblessness – say that President Guillermo Lasso’s government has failed to make good on a promise to revive the country's ailing economy.


55: The Russian-backed Donetsk militia fighting in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine has lost 55% of its original force, according to British intelligence. Amid such heavy losses, Russia’s proxy administration is reportedly offering one-year contracts to foreign mercenaries to join its ranks in the region.

3: Local authorities will demolish Robb Elementary School, the site of the recent mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 21 people were killed. This comes amid reports that well-equipped police officers were on hand within three minutes of the gunman entering the school – but waited over an hour to go in and end the standoff. The US Justice Department is reviewing the police response.

267: An environmental group is suing Woodside Energy Group, which plans to build a 267-mile offshore gas pipeline in Western Australia, saying that the project will release more carbon into the atmosphere that will further damage the Great Barrier Reef … even though the reef is many miles away in the country’s east. The energy company hit back, saying the pipeline is crucial to helping countries in Asia Pacific meet pledges of getting to net zero carbon emissions.

More For You

​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, [...]
Members of security forces stand guard outside a polliong station, a week late in a special election, after the local governing party kept voting closed on election day, amid accusations of sabotage and fraud, in a presidential race still too close to call as counting continues, in San Antonio de Flores, Honduras, December 7, 2025.

Members of security forces stand guard outside a polliong station, a week late in a special election, after the local governing party kept voting closed on election day, amid accusations of sabotage and fraud, in a presidential race still too close to call as counting continues, in San Antonio de Flores, Honduras, December 7, 2025.

REUTERS/Leonel Estrada
More than a week after Hondurans cast their ballots in a presidential election, the country is still stuck in a potentially-dangerous post-election fog. With 97% of votes tallied, the race remains a dead heat: former Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura, who has been backed loudly by US President Donald Trump, holds a paper-thin one-point edge over [...]