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Hard Numbers: Wildfires chase tourists from Greece, startups start leaving Israel, Taiwan cancels China drills, gunmen slay Ecuadoran mayor, grain ships waltz to a stop on the Danube
Tourists line up at check-in counters as they wait for departing planes at the airport after being evacuated from wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes.
19,000: As wildfires continue to roar across the Greek islands, authorities ordered the evacuation of some 19,000 people from Rhodes. Tourists described mob scenes as many tried to escape onto rescue boats, and more than 2,000 foreign visitors were flown out on Monday.
70: Bad news for the so-called “startup nation.” Some 70% of new Israeli companies have moved parts of their operations out of the country over fears that PM Bibi Netanyahu’s moves to prune the power of the country’s highest court will undermine rule of law. See here for our analysis of how the tech sector fits into the story more broadly.
149: On Tuesday, Taiwan scrapped parts of its annual military drills to prepare for a Chinese invasion as the self-ruled island braces for a super typhoon with winds of up to 240 kph (149 mph). This year's exercise, billed as the biggest in decades, was supposed to simulate how Taiwan might defend itself from China attacking the main airport and imposing a blockade.
2: For the second time this year, a prominent local politician has been murdered in Ecuador. The mayor of the port city of Manta was gunned down on Sunday, just a few months after a mayoral candidate was killed in nearby Salinas. Violence has surged recently in Ecuador as drug gangs emerging from Colombia and Mexico fight for territory and seek control over Pacific coast port cities to export their products.
30: About 30 grain shipping vessels dropped anchor near the Danube River port of Izmail in extreme southwestern Ukraine on Monday. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the ships to stop there, but the incident comes after Russia launched fresh attacks on grain storage and shipping facilities along the Danube, which runs along the Ukrainian-Romanian border.