Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Europe

Hard Numbers: South Korea’s new prez, Russian default, Tunisian apathy, Venezuela's olive branch

Hard Numbers: South Korea’s new prez, Russian default, Tunisian apathy, Venezuela's olive branch
Make us preferred on Google

0.85: Conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol won South Korea’s presidential election after a very ugly campaign. The center-left’s Lee Jae-myung conceded defeat when Yoon was ahead by only 0.85 percentage points with more than 90% of the votes counted.


6: Fitch downgraded Russia’s credit rating by six notches to “C,” or junk status, warning investors that default was “imminent.” The last time Russia defaulted on its debt was in 1998, which resulted in a severe financial crisis and devaluation of the ruble.

276,000: President Kais Saied says he wants Tunisians to have their say in the new constitution before a July referendum. The response? A collective meh — only 276,000 out of 12 million have taken the questionnaire, which reflects skepticism stemming from Saied’s power grab last year.

2: Venezuela has released two detained US citizens, including an oil exec who was imprisoned for over four years. This comes amid a recent thaw between Caracas and Washington that could lead to a lifting of US sanctions if Venezuela meets US demands.

More For You

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung leaving after giving a speech

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung leaves after giving a speech on the Government's first supplemetary budget bill of 2026 at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, 02 April 2026.

JEON HEON-KYUN/Pool via REUTERS
A superb day for South Korea’s LeePresident Lee Jae-myung is set to mark his one-year anniversary in office with an excellent showing in Wednesday’s local elections that were viewed as a referendum on his presidency. Exit polls suggest that his left-leaning Democratic Party is set to win 11 of 16 municipal leadership races, while the conservative [...]
​NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, on April 2, 2026.

NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon, on April 2, 2026.

NASA/Handout via REUTERS.
Just two days after NASA unveiled plans for a permanent base near the Moon’s south pole, Blue Origin – one of the private companies hired to be part of the project – suffered a spectacular setback. On May 28, the Jeff Bezos-owned company’s test rocket exploded in Florida, badly damaging its launchpad, which could take years to repair. No one was [...]
Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo De La Espriella with fists in the air addresses supporters after the results of the first round of the presidential election

Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo De La Espriella of the political movement Defenders of the Homeland gestures as he addresses supporters after the results of the first round of the presidential election, in Barranquilla, Colombia, on May 31, 2026.

REUTERS/Charlie Cordero
Right-wing populist, leftist leader advance to Colombian presidential runoffFar-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella won the first round of Colombia’s presidential election yesterday with 43.7%, besting left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda, who finished with 40.9%. Because neither cleared the 50% threshold, the two will lock horns in a head-to-head [...]
Japan's SoftBank zooms past Toyota
Will Fitzpatrick
SoftBank surpassed the Japanese carmaker after pledging over the weekend to invest as much as €75 billion ($87 billion) to build Europe’s largest AI facility in France, helping to boost its share price by 14% on Monday – enough for it to overtake Toyota in terms of market capitalization. Toyota’s ousting from Japan’s top spot reflects the surging [...]