Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Trump sets Hamas deadline, Venezuela vents at US, Diddy awaits fate, Church of England appoints first female leader

Hard Numbers: Trump sets Hamas deadline, Venezuela vents at US, Diddy awaits fate, Church of England appoints first female leader

Israeli protestors hold up pictures of Israeli soldiers held by Hamas in Gaza during a demonstration earlier this week following the announcement of a Gaza ceasefire proposal by US President Donald Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Eyal Warshavsky / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

2200: Donald Trump has given Hamas until Sunday at 2200 GMT – which is 6pm in Washington, DC –to accept the Gaza deal that he and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu proposed earlier this week. The framework calls for the release of Hamas-held hostages in exchange for Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners, a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops, an internationally-overseen transitional Gaza government, and amnesty for Hamas fighters who lay down arms. If the group refuses, Trump said, “all hell” will break loose.

5: Venezuela accused the US of “provocation” after detecting five US fighter jets near its Caribbean coast on Thursday. The flyover follows Trump telling Congress that the US is in an “armed conflict” and recent US strikes on alleged Venezuela-linked drug-trafficking boats. Caracas fears Washington’s real aim is to oust President Nicolás Maduro – read what that could look like here.


11: Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs will be sentenced Friday in Manhattan federal court after his recent conviction on charges that he transported women across state lines for prostitution. Acquitted of more serious charges, he faces a wide sentencing range: with the defense seeking no more than 14 months, while prosecutors want 11 years.

1: Dame Sarah Mullally, former chief nursing officer for England, has been appointed the first female archbishop of Canterbury to lead the Church of England. The church did not allow women to become bishops until 2014.

More For You

​A French navy boat intercepts and redirects a suspected Russian oil tanker in the Gulf of Fos-sur-Mer, near Martigues, France, on January 25, 2026.

A French navy boat surrounds the GRINCH oil tanker, intercepted by France in the Alboran Sea on suspicion of operating under a false flag and belonging to Russia's shadow fleet that enables Russia to export oil despite sanctions, and diverted to the port of Marseille-Fos, in the Gulf of Fos-sur-Mer, near Martigues, France, on January 25, 2026.

REUTERS/Manon Cruz
$90 billion: The amount of revenue that Russia has reportedly made from smuggled crude oil exports, after 48 companies worked together to help disguise the origin of the oil and circumvent sanctions that have been imposed since the full-scale war on Ukraine began. The total is likely much more. Details of the scheme were revealed due to an IT [...]
​Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema reacts during the announcement of provisional results of the 2025 Gabonese presidential election by the Ministry of the Interior, at the headquaters of the Rassemblement des Batisseurs (RdB), in Libreville, Gabon, April 13, 2025.

Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema reacts during the announcement of provisional results of the 2025 Gabonese presidential election by the Ministry of the Interior, at the headquaters of the Rassemblement des Batisseurs (RdB), in Libreville, Gabon, April 13, 2025.

REUTERS/Luc Gnago
2.5 million: The population of Gabon who can no longer get onto certain social media platforms, like YouTube and TikTok, after the government suspended access on Tuesday. The government said that the platforms were spreading “hateful and abusive” content online, but it comes as the oil-producing African state faces growing protests over high costs [...]
​A man throws trash on a street in downtown Havana, Cuba, February 16, 2026.

A man throws trash on a street in downtown Havana, Cuba, February 16, 2026.

REUTERS/Norlys Perez
41.5%: The proportion of Havana’s garbage trucks that were operational this month, according to state-run media, as Cuba’s fuel crisis prompts a garbage crisis. Rotten food, cardboard boxes, and plastic bottles have been piling up on the streets. Just 44 of 106 garbage trucks were functioning. [...]
​An employee cuts flowers inside a greenhouse, ahead of Valentine's Day, at Ayura Flowers, in Sopo, Colombia February 3, 2026.

An employee cuts flowers inside a greenhouse, ahead of Valentine's Day, at Ayura Flowers, in Sopo, Colombia February 3, 2026.

REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
65,000: The tons of fresh-cut flowers that Colombia exported between Jan. 15 and Feb. 9 this year, ahead of the Valentine’s Day rush. However, US tariffs and a weaker dollar threaten to undermine the sector. Americans buy 80% of Colombia’s flower exports, but the Trump administration imposed 10% tariffs on Colombia last April. [...]