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Hard Numbers: Nigerian schoolgirls freed, Brits trust vaccines, US-EU sanction Russians, birdwatchers rejoice

Girls who were kidnapped from a boarding school in the northwest Nigerian state of Zamfara walk in line after their release, in Zamfara, Nigeria March 2, 2021

279: All 279 schoolgirls kidnapped last week by gunmen in northwest Nigeria have now been released. The girls were set free after the government negotiated with the abductors, but many observers criticize this approach, saying it only emboldens militants to kidnap children for ransom.


7: The US and EU announced joint sanctions on seven Russian officials involved in the poisoning and subsequent arrest of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny. It's the first time that Moscow has been targeted by Washington since President Biden came into office and ordered a sweeping review of US foreign policy towards Russia.

89: Vaccine skepticism is a problem in many parts of Europe, but not in the United Kingdom, where 89 percent of Brits say they intend to get a COVID-19 jab, compared to 73 percent in Germany and 59 percent in France.

170: The black-browed babbler bird, native to Asia, has surfaced in an Indonesian forest for the first time in 170 years. Birdwatchers from all around the world have been contacting the bird nerds in in Borneo that discovered the babbler to coordinate a once-in-a-lifetime visit.

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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
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Donald Trump alongside Nigel Farage at the Trump Turnberry course in South Ayrshire, United Kingdom, on May 3, 2023.

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PA via Reuters
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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 [...]