Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: Not a Good Start, Boris!

7,000: The Philippines is the latest country to be hit by the African swine flu, a fatal pig virus that has spread across Asia over the past year, driving up pork prices. Authorities culled more than 7,000 pigs within a short radius to prevent an epidemic in the world's eighth biggest pork producer.


13: The new European Commission, a cohort of 27 commissioners charged with enforcing EU rules and treaties, will include 13 women and 14 men when it takes office on November 1, making it the most gender diverse leadership team in EU history.

38: According to a new Pew survey, 38 percent of Americans think colleges are having a negative impact on the direction the country is headed. These views increased by 12 percentage points since 2012, and are linked to partisanship: the jump was driven almost entirely by hardening attitudes among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.

6: On Tuesday, British MPs voted to block Boris Johnson from holding snap elections, marking his sixth parliamentary loss in six days. This capped a bad few days for Britain's prime minister after a new law came into effect on Monday, blocking him from pursuing a "no deal" Brexit.

More For You

​Iranian pro-government protesters wave national flags while participating in an anti-war protest gathering against the U.S. and Israeli military attacks in Iran, in Tehran, Iran, on February 28, 2026.

Iranian pro-government protesters wave national flags while participating in an anti-war protest gathering against the U.S. and Israeli military attacks in Iran, in Tehran, Iran, on February 28, 2026.

Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto
The US and Israel struck several sites in coordinated attacks across Iran this morning. The total number of casualties across Iran is also unknown, though one of the missiles hit a girls’ school in Iran, reportedly killing 53 people. The country is under a near-total internet blackout.In response, Tehran has launched airstrikes at Israel, as well [...]
Hard Numbers: Kenya restarts railroad project without China, South Africans return from Ukraine war, the rapper who wants to run Nepal, Russians say things are going well
$4 billion: The amount Kenya wants to raise in order to complete a partially built railway line that was abandoned in 2019. The project, which will link Nairobi with South Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya, came to a halt after initial funding from China dried up. This time around, Kenya wants to finance the project itself, through new import tariffs, [...]
​An army soldier stands guard at a post at the Friendship Gate, following exchanges of fire between Pakistan and Afghanistan forces, at the border crossing between the two countries in Chaman, Pakistan February 27, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone.

An army soldier stands guard at a post at the Friendship Gate, following exchanges of fire between Pakistan and Afghanistan forces, at the border crossing between the two countries in Chaman, Pakistan February 27, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone.

REUTERS/Abdul Khaliq Achakzai
Pakistan and Afghanistan in “open war”Pakistan has declared “open war” against Afghanistan, as the two sides engage in the fiercest clashes in years. On Thursday, Afghan’s Taliban-run forces launched six cross-border attacks on Pakistani military positions. Pakistan retaliated today with air attacks on Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia, hitting Afghan [...]
Former British ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson leaves his residence after he was released following his arrest by London police on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, following the release of U.S. Justice Department files linked to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in London, Britain, February 26, 2026.

Former British ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson leaves his residence after he was released following his arrest by London police on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, following the release of U.S. Justice Department files linked to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in London, Britain, February 26, 2026.

REUTERS/Toby Melville
The ghost of Jeffrey Epstein continues to haunt the world.This week kicked off with British police arresting Peter Mandelson, former UK ambassador to Washington, on suspicion of “misconduct in public office” from his time as business secretary between 2008 and 2010. Mandelson wasn’t named in the arrest records, part of the UK’s rules banning them [...]