Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: Party with Bolsonaro, Foxconn quits India, Egyptian inflation soars, China fights gluttony

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro with a happy birthday banner

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro with a happy birthday banner

Annie Gugliotta
Make us preferred on Google

149.9: Most former presidents would not be in a celebratory mood if they lost reelection and then got banned from running in the next two elections. But not Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, who is now hawking a Bolsonaro-themed birthday party pack on his online store. The kit includes party hats, cake decorations, and a plastic banner featuring the smiling far-right firebrand saying: “It’s party time, alright?” If you’ve got 149.9 reais (about $30) burning a hole in your pocket, it can be yours.


19.5 billion: Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that makes iPhones in China for Apple, pulled the plug on a $19.5 billion joint venture to make semiconductors in India after its application for a government subsidy that would've covered more than half the investment got bogged down by red tape. This is bad news for PM Narendra Modi, who wants India to become a chipmaking hub and pushed hard for the plant to be in his home state of Gujarat.

36.8: Egyptian inflation reached a record 36.8% year-on-year in June, beating the previous high from 2017, when the country devaluated its currency following an IMF bailout. Prices have skyrocketed since Russia invaded Ukraine, which made wheat imports prohibitively expensive and depleted foreign exchange reserves, putting Egypt on the brink of default.

108: A restaurant in China is in trouble for offering a free meal to whoever eats 108 spicy dumplings the fastest, earning the title of "King of the Big Stomach." Authorities are looking into a possible violation of China's anti-food waste laws, enacted two years ago to crack down on gluttonous food influencers in a nation where it's customary to offer more food than your guests can gobble up.

More For You

People hold a sign that reads "No" during a rally of the "No to EU" campaign ahead of a referendum on whether Iceland should resume accession negotiations with the European Union, in Reykjavik, Iceland.

People hold a sign that reads "No" during a rally of the "No to EU" campaign ahead of a referendum on whether Iceland should resume accession negotiations with the European Union, in Reykjavik, Iceland, August 27, 2026.

REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
Iceland votes on restarting EU accession talks Polls remain tight as Iceland holds a referendum tomorrow on whether to restart EU accession talks. Membership has long been a divisive topic on the island, which gained independence from Denmark in 1944 and remains fiercely protective of its sovereignty. During previous talks, the bloc’s fisheries [...]
Denmark pays for its past
Will Fitzpatrick
The new law will offer those affected a one-time payment of 300,000 Danish kroner, or around $47,000, following a landmark report last year by officials in Denmark and Greenland. Greenlandic women and girls as young as 12 were implanted with IUDs, often without their consent or knowledge, sometimes leaving them infertile. The Danish government at [...]
A damaged section of a highway in Nuwakot, central Nepal

A damaged section of a highway in Nuwakot, central Nepal, is seen on August 27, 2026, following an outburst of a glacial lake in Tibet.

Sanjit Pariyar/NurPhoto
Catastrophic flooding in Nepal tests its young, new leaderA massive wall of mud and rock crashed into a river along Nepal’s Himalayan border with Tibet on Wednesday, triggering catastrophic flooding that swept away bridges, destroyed buildings, and swamped roads. Over 300 people were killed, and over 1,000 remain missing – including hundreds of [...]
A big settlement for Big Tech
Will Fitzpatrick
The Facebook and Instagram owner settled with 47 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories on Wednesday, agreeing to pay financial penalties and make changes to its products over claims that its platforms endangered children. Meta agreed to limit how long teenagers can spend on its apps, allow teens to turn off “autoplay" on videos, and [...]