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Hard Numbers
Hard Numbers: Tragic car crash in Uganda, Europe’s largest economy turns east, Peru initiates state of emergency in capital city, & More
Wreckage of public transport buses involved in a head-on collision is parked at a police station near the scene of the deadly crash on the Kampala-Gulu highway in Kiryandongo district, near Gulu, northern Uganda, October 22, 2025.
46: A horrific multi-vehicle crash on the Kampala-Gulu Highway in Uganda late last night has left 46 people dead. The pile up began after two buses traveling in opposite directions reportedly clashed “head on” as they tried to overtake two other vehicles. President Yoweri Museveni said the government would give five million shillings ($1,430) to each bereaved family.
€163.4 billion: Is Europe’s largest economy shifting east? The numbers would suggest so, as China replaced the United States as Germany’s leading trade partner. The two nations exchanged €163.4 billion ($190.7 billion) worth of products in the first eight months of this year, per Reuters, compared to US-Germany trade of €162.8 billion ($188.6 billion.) Washington has been Berlin’s largest trading partner for the last eight years, but the new US tariffs on the European Union look set to end that streak.
30: On Monday, Peruvian President Jose Jeri declared a 30-day state of emergency in the capital Lima and nearby provinces to battle rising crime. The order follows major Gen-Z led protests for action to combat crime, and similar state-of-emergency declarations under former President Dina Boluarte – she was removed 12 days ago over her inability to get crime under control.
55: Eric Lu became the first American to win the International Chopin Piano Competition in 55 years on Monday. Lu won the “Olympics of piano” after his performance of one of Chopin’s piano concertos and “Polonaise-Fantasie,” entirely from memory.
80: The United Nations isn’t the only organization turning 80 this month: the 80th National Basketball Association season began yesterday, with the defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder defeating the Houston Rockets in overtime in the opening game. The new season has also brought a renewal of US-China basketball ties, as the NBA hosted pre-season games in Macao – the first time in six years that China has hosted games.
Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (C, first row) poses during a photo session with members of her cabinet at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan October 21, 2025.
1: As anticipated, Japan’s Parliament elected Liberal Democratic Party leader Sanae Takichi to be the 104th prime minister – and the first female PM in the country’s history. The 64-year-old is an arch conservative, and has long admired the late UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Her main priority going forward: putting a lid on rising prices. The Japanese yen fell, though, over concerns about Takichi’s potential approach to monetary policy and spending.
5: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy began his five-year jail sentence in Paris today for soliciting funds from fallen Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi during his 2007 campaign. The 70-year-old, who becomes the first former leader of a European Union state to go to jail, still maintains his innocence.
4,200: The Netherlands – which ordered 19,000 asylum seekers to leave the country last year, but only returned 4,200 – plans to deport rejected asylum seekers to a “transit hub” in Uganda starting next year, under a deal modeled on the US arrangement with Kampala. The move faces legal and human rights concerns, though Dutch officials insist it complies with international law.
$150 billion: The US Army is courting major private equity firms—including Apollo, Carlyle, KKR, and Cerberus—to help fund a $150 billion infrastructure overhaul. As the FT reported exclusively, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll is seeking proposals on ambitious projects like data centers or rare earth facilities, offering financing as part of a broader Trump administration push to integrate private capital into national security.
Hard Numbers: Daylight robbery at the Louvre, Amazon Web Services goes dark, Ivorians head to the polls next weekend, “No Kings” protests sweep the US
French police officers seal off the entrance to the Louvre Museum after a robbery in Paris, France, on October 19, 2025. Robbers break into the Louvre and flee with jewelry on the morning of October 19, 2025, a source close to the case says, adding that its value is still being evaluated. A police source says an unknown number of thieves arrive on a scooter armed with small chainsaws and use a goods lift to reach the room they are targeting.
2.5: Amazon Web Services, the largest cloud computing provider in the United States, was down for roughly two-and-a-half hours early this morning, disrupting several major economic sectors – including banks, airliners, social media platforms, and many others. AWS reported at 5:30 am ET that the systems were coming back online. The firm is still looking into the root cause of the shutdown, but said it stemmed from problems with Amazon DynamoDB, a system that lends computing power and storage to websites.
4: Tensions are high in Ivory Coast as President Alassane Ouattara seeks a fourth term in Saturday’s election. Ouattara has sidelined his rivals: The 83-year-old leader has banned protests, cracked down on opposition, and ignored calls to step aside. Analysts warn his bid risks reigniting past instability in one of West Africa’s biggest economies.
2,600: An estimated 7 million people joined “No Kings” protests in 2,600 rallies across nearly all 50 states, accusing President Donald Trump of acting like a monarch. Republicans and the White House rebuked the protests.Hard Numbers: Chile makes inflation error, Trump indicts ex-ally, Gaddafi’s son seeks freedom from Lebanon, China conduct military purge
Latin America News Agency via Reuters
$117 million: Chile’s government admitted it double counted inflation when setting electricity rates, costing consumers about $117 million. The error triggered a 2% rate cut for January, sent inflation expectations below target, and cost Energy Minister Diego Pardow his job.
18: Former National Security Adviser John Bolton was indicted on 18 counts of mishandling classified information, having been accused of sharing over 1,000 pages of top-secret “diary” notes with family via personal email and apps. Bolton denies wrongdoing, calling the case political. If convicted, the 76-year-old could face life in prison.
$11 million: A Lebanese judge has set bail for Hannibal Gadhafi – the son of the assassinated Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi – at $11 million. The younger Gadhafi has been jailed in Beirut for a decade, after Lebanese militants abducted him in an apparent bid to gain information about a Shiite cleric. He hasn’t faced any formal charges.
9: Chinese President Xi Jinping ousted nine high-ranking military officers, including the second-most senior general, in an apparent crackdown against corruption and disloyalty. All nine will face court martial.
Federal officers detain a man at the Immigration court office areas at the Jakob Javits Federal Builing in Lower Manhattan on July 28,2025 in New York City.
48: Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire after a series of skirmishes along their 1,622-mile long border over the last week. The two neighbors have long had a testy relationship, dating back to Afghanistan’s vote against allowing Pakistan to join the United Nations in 1947. Their current tensions center on the Taliban’s reporting funding for a militant group that seeks to undermine the Pakistani government.
14%: Soy plantations cover 14% of Brazil’s agricultural land – and they are now the subject of a major geopolitical muddle involving the US and China. At stake are Brazil’s rainforests. Beijing has stopped buying soybeans from the US amid a broader trade dispute, and seeks to fill the shortfall through Brazil, which could threaten President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s efforts to stem deforestation.
79: South Korea is working to rescue citizens trapped in Cambodia’s online scam centers, where hundreds have been trafficked, tortured, or killed after being lured by fake job offers. Officials say 79 remain missing. The crackdown follows US, UK, and Chinese actions against Southeast Asia’s multibillion-dollar cybercrime networks.Hard Numbers: Kenya’s long-time opposition leader dies, World Bank doubles down on agriculture, US revokes visas of Charlie Kirk critics, & more
Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga addresses delegates after President William Ruto signed the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Amendment Bill 2024, backed by the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO), at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 9, 2024.
80: Kenya’s long-time opposition leader Raila Odinga, who unsuccessfully ran for president five times but served as prime minister from 2008 to 2013, died of a heart attack in the Indian city of Kochi on Wednesday, at the age of 80. Though Odinga was generally out of power, his populist ideals and combative style gave him an outsized influence on the East African country.
$9 billion: At the World Bank/IMF annual meetings this week, the Bank pledged to double its annual investment in agriculture and farming to $9 billion. The program, called AgriConnect, will help fund the 500 million smallholder farmers globally who produce 80% of the food consumed, aiming to create more jobs and financing opportunities for the sector.
250,000: El Fasher, Sudan, has been declared “uninhabitable” after 549 days under siege by RSF forces. Ninety percent of homes are destroyed, food and water are nearly gone, and acute malnutrition affects children and mothers. Constant bombardment, hospital attacks, and communication blackouts have left 250,000 civilians trapped and barely surviving inside the paramilitary force’s blockade of the city.
6: The US has revoked the visas of at least six foreigners who “celebrated” the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on “far-left radicals.” The move follows expanded social media vetting by immigration officials and mass visa cancellations. Trump also posthumously awarded Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday.
3.5 million: In a desperate bid to end France’s short-term political chaos, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said he will delay President Emmanuel Macron’s signature pension reform, a move he says will benefit 3.5 million people. Lecornu hopes that the move will bring Socialist Party deputies onside, ensuring that he lives to fight another day.
64: Torrid rains in Mexico last week – the result of an unusual clash of hot and cold fronts – have left 64 dead and another 65 missing. The rain damaged some 100,000 homes, and has left five states without power. The worst-affected areas were in the central parts of the country, as well as along the Gulf Coast.
3: Just three days after the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded its Peace Prize to Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, Caracas shut its embassy in Oslo on Monday. The Venezuelan didn’t mention Machado in its statement about the closure. Norway also suffered a diplomatic blow for similar reasons in 2010, when China suspended trade relations after the Nobel Committee awarded its prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
5: China sanctioned five US-linked subsidiaries of South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean, accusing them of aiding US investigations. The move coincided with new US-China port fees and sent Hanwha shares down nearly 6%. Seoul said it’s assessing the impact as tensions over shipbuilding escalate.