Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: No recall in California, Biden’s Ethiopian pen pals, El Chapo’s house lottery, China hits gambling

Hard Numbers: No recall in California, El Chapo’s house lottery, Biden’s Ethiopian pen pals, China hits gambling

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks after the polls close on the recall election, at the California Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento, California, U.S., September 14, 2021.

REUTERS/Fred Greaves
Make us preferred on Google

28: Governor Gavin Newsom easily survived a recall election in California, where voters backing him now lead those who want him out by a margin of 28 percentage points with two-thirds of ballots counted. Although polls were tight-ish a few weeks ago, in the end a higher-than-expected turnout was enough for Newsom to keep his job in America's most populous state.


5 million: Young supporters of Ethiopia's ruling Prosperity Party want to "flood the White House" with five million letters about the conflict in Tigray. They hope to convince Joe Biden to back embattled PM Abiy Ahmed's military campaign against militants in the restive region, where a civil war has been raging since November.

183,000: After receiving no bids in an auction, Mexico's Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People is giving away a house that used to belong to Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, from which the famed drug kingpin escaped arrest in 2014 by fleeing through a tunnel. The Mexican government says the modest two-bedroom house is worth $183,000.

18.4 billion: Macau's top casinos lost a combined $18.4 billion of their stock value in just a few hours on Wednesday, after China announced new regulations — including the appointment of government reps to directly oversee each business — to renew licenses in the world's top gaming hub. Beijing has long worried about gambling addiction and casinos being used to stash away illicit funds from the mainland.

More For You

A building damaged by earthquakes that hit the country, in Caracas, Venezuela, on June 25, 2026.

A view of the remains of a building damaged by earthquakes that hit the country, in Caracas, Venezuela, on June 25, 2026.

REUTERS/Fausto Torrealba
Deadly earthquakes hit Venezuela At least 164 people were killed and nearly 1,000 were left injured after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening. The 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes were the strongest to hit the country in nearly six decades. A number of buildings collapsed, Caracas’ international airport was damaged, and [...]
The next El Niño could be the strongest yet
Eileen Zhang
El Niño, the natural climate phenomenon that happens every three to seven years, is back. Researchers are warning that it has formed and could become the strongest on record. If that happens, the consequences for economies and for food security around the world could be severe. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) this week said the [...]
Record temperatures roil France
Farida Dowidar
An astonishing heat wave has swept across Europe this week, with France the hardest hit. The country recorded its hottest-ever day on Tuesday, only to break the record again on Wednesday. The extreme heat has led to tragedy: 40 people have drowned nationwide as they seek relief from the unbearable temperatures – many of them teenagers and swimming [...]
​Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Beijing, China, on September 3, 2025.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and heads of foreign delegations arrive for a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, in Beijing, China, on September 3, 2025.

Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev/Pool via REUTERS
With everything going on in the Middle East, Ukraine, the United States, and elsewhere, you could be forgiven for not thinking much about North Korea lately. But while we’ve all been looking away, the “hermit kingdom” and its Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un are emerging from the G-Zero world in their strongest geostrategic position in decades. [...]