Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: Lithuania cuts off Russian gas, Shanghai mass-testing, food aid reaches Tigray, Costa Rican runoff

Hard Numbers: Lithuania cuts off Russian gas, Shanghai mass-testing, food aid reaches Tigray, Costa Rican runoff

Model of a natural gas pipeline in front of EU and Russia flag colors.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

1: Lithuania has become the first EU country to stop importing Russian natural gas in response to the war in Ukraine. What a turnaround for the Baltic nation, which in 2015 relied almost exclusively on Russian gas for its domestic needs and is now asking other EU states to follow its lead.


26 million: On Sunday, Shanghai’s 26 million residents were ordered to self-test for COVID. China’s most populous city has been under lockdown for almost a week as authorities struggle to contain the country’s largest virus outbreak in two years — the biggest test to date of Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy.

500: A convoy of trucks carrying over 500 metric tons of food entered Ethiopia's war-torn Tigray region on Friday, the first since mid-December. This time, the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front observed the government's cease-fire to allow in badly needed shipments of food aid.

53: Costa Rica’s Finance Minister Rodrigo Chaves won the presidential runoff election on Sunday with 53% of the vote. The combative populist upstart beat the centrist former President Jose María Figueres by promising to root out corruption and use referendums to cut through the red tape.

More For You

Members of the Uyghurs diaspora gather in front of Alberta Legislature during the protest 'Stand in Support of East Turkistan' to commemorate the 1990 Barin Uprising, on April 6, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The East Turkestan independence movement seeks the region's independence for the Uyghur people from China. They advocate renaming the region from Xinjiang to East Turkestan, its historical name.

Members of the Uyghurs diaspora gather in front of Alberta Legislature during the protest 'Stand in Support of East Turkistan' to commemorate the 1990 Barin Uprising, on April 6, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The East Turkestan independence movement seeks the region's independence for the Uyghur people from China. They advocate renaming the region from Xinjiang to East Turkestan, its historical name.

Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto
Remember Xinjiang?There was a time, not long ago, when China’s crackdown on the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority group living in Xinjiang province in Northwestern China, was a hot topic – in the media, among human rights activists, and even among the world’s most powerful governments and international organizations. In 2021, the first Trump [...]
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the India-Russia Business Forum in New Delhi, India, December 5, 2025.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the India-Russia Business Forum in New Delhi, India, December 5, 2025.

Sputnik/Grigory Sysoyev/Pool via REUTERS
Putin leaves India with not much to show for itDespite the lavish ceremony, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting produced few concrete outcomes. India and Russia highlighted their “special” partnership and signed smaller agreements on minerals, pharmaceuticals, shipping, and trade frameworks. But on [...]
​Honduran presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on December 4, 2025.

Honduran presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party speaks during an interview with Reuters after alleging fraud in the highly contested vote count of the country's presidential election, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on December 4, 2025.

REUTERS/Fredy Rodriguez
23,900: There is finally some daylight in Honduras’ presidential election, as former Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura – the far-right candidate whom US President Donald Trump endorsed – pulled ahead of former sports broadcaster Salvador Nasralla by 23,900 votes. With 87% of tally sheets counted, Asfura is now at 40.25%, while Nasralla – who is [...]
A mosque stands in an area affected by a deadly flash flood following heavy rains in Aceh Tamiang regency, Aceh province, Indonesia, December 4, 2025.

A mosque stands in an area affected by a deadly flash flood following heavy rains in Aceh Tamiang regency, Aceh province, Indonesia, December 4, 2025.

REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana
Indonesia identifies aggravator of Sumatra flood deathsAfter the death toll from cyclone-induced floods in Sumatra surpassed 800 – making it the most deadly natural disaster to hit the Indonesian island since the 2004 tsunami – the Indonesian government has pledged to take action against mining firms that illegally cleared forests, which may have [...]