Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: Tongan volcano, Ukrainian cyberattack, Zemmour fined over hate speech, NK-China border reopens

Hard Numbers: Tongan volcano, Ukrainian cyberattack, Zemmour fined over hate speech, NK-China border reopens

The eruption of an underwater volcano off Tonga, which triggered a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations, is seen in an image from the NOAA GOES-West satellite taken at 05:00 GMT January 15, 2022.

CIRA/NOAA/Handout via REUTERS

100,000: We're still waiting for news from the Pacific nation of Tonga, two days after a massive underwater volcanic explosion triggered a tsunami that was felt thousands of miles away and sent a plume of ash 100,000 feet into the sky. With communications mostly cut off, Australia and New Zealand have sent airplanes to assess the damage.


70: Ukraine blamed Russia for a cyberattack that knocked offline some 70 Ukrainian government websites on Friday amid heightened tensions with Moscow. The next day, Microsoft said that it had detected on the same sites a very dangerous form of malware waiting to be turned by an unknown actor.

10,000: Far-right French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour was fined 10,000 euros ($11,412) after being convicted of hate speech when referring to unaccompanied migrant children. Zemmour is currently polling fourth in voter intention for the April vote.

2: North Korea and China reopened their land border after two years. Kim Jong Un is eager to resume COVID-halted trade by land with China, which buys 90 percent of North Korea’s exports and is its only source of many basic supplies.

More For You

​Bad Bunny during the Super Bowl LX halftime show press conference at Moscone Center.

Bad Bunny during the Super Bowl LX halftime show press conference at Moscone Center.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
100 million: The number of people expected to watch the Super Bowl halftime performance with Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican superstar and newly minted Album of the Year winner at the Grammys. It’s already sparked a lot of political buzz, with the singer’s criticism of ICE. The conservative group Turning Point USA said it will host a counter-halftime [...]
​Alysa Liu of Team USA at the Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina, Italy, on February 6, 2026.

Alysa Liu of Team USA during Women Single Skating Short Program team event at the Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina, Italy, on February 6, 2026.

Raniero Corbelletti/AFLO
Brazilian skiers, American ICE agents, Israeli bobsledders – this is just a smattering of the fascinating characters that will be present at this year’s Winter Olympics, which formally kick off today in Northern Italy.Yet it will be the omission of one particular country, one that has traditionally dominated the medals table, that once again [...]
​Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), appeals for a candidate during a street speech of the House of Representatives Election Campaign in Shintomi Town, Miyazaki Prefecture on February 6, 2026. The Lower House election will feature voting and counting on February 8th.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), appeals for a candidate during a street speech of the House of Representatives Election Campaign in Shintomi Town, Miyazaki Prefecture on February 6, 2026. The Lower House election will feature voting and counting on February 8th.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Three elections, one weekendJapanese voters head to the polls on Sunday in a snap election for the national legislature’s lower house, called just three months into Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s tenure. She’s betting that her personal popularity could deliver an outright majority for her new ruling coalition.In Southeast Asia, Thailand is [...]
​Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026.

Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026.

REUTERS/Konstantinos Anagnostou
15: The number of migrants who died after their boat accidentally collided with a Greek Coast Guard vessel in the Aegean Sea on Tuesday. Two dozen people were rescued. Although crossings of this kind have declined since the peak of the European migration crisis a decade ago, tens of thousands of people still risk the journey each year. [...]