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Hard Numbers: Wagner-backed referendum in Africa, World Triathlon Championships turns stomachs, nuclear fusion test redo, cheese tragedy
Central African President Faustin-Archange Touadera speaks while surrounded by Russian officers from Wagner Group.
95: A referendum abolishing presidential term limits in the civil-war-plagued Central African Republic has comfortably passed, with provisional results showing 95% of people voted in favor, though turnout was a very low 10%. President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has close ties with Russia’s Wagner Group, which reportedly sent in additional mercenaries to keep order ahead of the vote.
57: At least 57 participants in the World Triathlon Championship Series became sick with severe diarrhea and vomiting after swimming off Roker Beach in northern England. The Environment Agency last month found high levels of E coli in the sea, and this comes after a recent report found that water pollution levels in the UK are “unacceptably high.”
2: US government scientists have for the second time successfully carried out a burst of nuclear fusion, a process that generates more energy – clean energy that is – than it requires. This controlled process of mixing atoms to produce energy is a huge milestone on the path toward zero-carbon power. To better understand the process, see our explainer here.
40: A man died in the northern Italian region of Lombardy after being crushed by cheese weighing 40 kg (84lb). The tragedy happened when a shelf holding parmesan-like cheese wheels collapsed in his warehouse, causing a thud that nearby residents said sounded like thunder. The economic fallout – around €7 million ($7.7m) – was steep as well.