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Hard Numbers
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to press before boarding Marine One to depart for Florida, on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 1, 2025.
$199: For the low low price of $199 you too can wear the scent of the US president. Donald Trump has just released a line of signature fragrances – “for patriots who never back down” – with names like “Fight Fight Fight” and “Victory 47.” For true enthusiasts there’s even a limited edition bottle featuring a golden (and deceptively svelte) statuette of Trump, costing a mere $249. Yes, by the way, it’s legal for the president to sell perfumes.
250,000: Over 250,000 Afghans left Iran last month, after the government ordered the expulsion of all undocumented Afghans – many of whom fled the Taliban – by July 6. The expulsions are part of a broader forcible repatriation effort by Iran and Pakistan that the UN’s Refugee Agency warns could destabilize an already fragile region.
39: More than 39 people have been killed so far in a factory fire in South India’s Telangana state. While the cause is still unclear, Sigachi Industries – the pharmaceutical company which operates the factory – has announced that it will suspend operations for 90 days.
115.9 (46.6): A heat wave is ripping across Europe, with temperatures soaring into the triple digits, reaching 115.9°F (46.6°C) in one Portuguese town on Sunday. The high temperatures are causing all manner of chaos: two Italians have died as a result, and heat-stoked wildfires are ravaging Turkey.A banner announces the construction of a photovoltaic solar farm in Cabaiguan, Cuba, on May 21, 2025.
55: China is financing 55 new solar power projects in Cuba this year, the latest sign of how it is overtaking Russia as the crisis-wracked island’s main benefactor. Some of Moscow’s recent projects in the communist country have stalled: a Russian firm pledged two years ago to revitalize a sugar mill that once employed 2,000 people, but it still sits idle.
3%: In a win for US President Donald Trump, Canada walked back on its 3% Digital Services Tax that prompted the United States to suspend trade talks on Friday. The tax, which disproportionately affected American technology firms, was set to take effect on Monday.
71: Israel’s strike last Tuesday allegedly killed 71 people at a notorious detention facility in Tehran, per Iranian State Media. The prison houses thousands of political prisoners, including opposition politicians, journalists, and activists.
4,000: More than a third of Tuvalu’s population – around 4,000 residents – have applied for a landmark ‘climate visa,’ which grants Australian residency to migrants from Pacific Island nations battling rising sea levels. NASA scientists expect that the country’s main island, home to 60% of the population, will be fully submerged by 2050.
$80,000: US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reportedly re-routed $80,000 in political donations to a newly established personal company during her time as South Dakota’s governor in 2023. Noem’s lawyer said she “fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law.”Anna Wintour attends The Costume Institute's exhibition "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, U.S., May 5, 2025.
37: Anna Wintour is stepping down after 37 years as editor-in-chief of American Vogue. She revolutionised the iconic fashion magazine, introducing celebrities to the cover and spotlighting emerging designers. Wintour will remain Vogue’s global editor, as well as chief content officer at the magazine’s publisher Condé Nast.
1: China’s Central Military Commission, the country’s highest military leadership body, now has one fewer member after voting to remove Miao Hua, senior admiral of the People’s Liberation Army. Miao has been under investigation for “serious violations of discipline” since last November, and his ouster is seen as part of a broader crackdown on corruption under Chinese President Xi Jinping.
28: Norwegian police on Friday accused Marius Borg Høiby, the 28-year old stepson of Crown Prince Haakon, of multiple counts of rape, sexual assault, and bodily harm. The announcement follows a months-long investigation involving “double-digit” victims.
$30 million: The US State Department approved $30 million in funding for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial US and Israeli-backed aid organization that has been criticized by the UN and other rights groups. Over 400 Palestinians have been killed at various aid points in recent weeks, per UN estimates, after Israeli soldiers fired into crowds seeking food. Israel has reportedly launched a war-crime probe into the incidents.A Canadian border services superintendent, stands at the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) border crossing with the United States in Stanstead, Quebec, Canada
115: Canada’s border agency has opened at least 115 investigations into how suspected agents of Iran were able to enter Canada despite being banned from the country since 2022. Three individuals have been given deportation orders, and another has already been removed from the country.
1.3 billion: The US State Department has been advised by the Office of Budget and Management to end nearly all pro-democracy programs, effectively halting $1.3 billion in grants supporting pro-democracy activists or minority populations in authoritarian countries like China and Yemen.
20: The remote town of McCallum, Newfoundland, is home to just 20 people, and the youngest of them just graduated as the high school’s only student. The celebratory event has reopened conversations about the future of the town, where residents remain fiercely connected to a place and a community at risk of dying out within a generation.
800: A visit to the dentist is always a bit of a bear, but this time … quite literally. Tundra, an 800-pound Alaskan brown bear, was sedated in a northeastern Minnesota zoo and fitted with the world’s largest dental crown ever created — marking the first time the procedure has been performed on a bear.
Hard Numbers: European leader faces no confidence vote, Sheinbaum wants to sue SpaceX, & more
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the European Council summit at the headquarters of the European Council, in Brussels, Belgium, on June 26, 2026.
401: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen faces a no-confidence vote over “Pfizergate,” a scandal over how she secured vaccines in 2021 by personally texting Pfizer’s CEO. It would take an unlikely 401 votes in the 720-strong European Parliament to oust her, but the vote may push her to make political concessions to both the left and right to shore up support.
25: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is threatening to sue Elon Musk’s SpaceX for debris from ground tests near the Mexican border. Her move comes after the US government in May increased the permitted number of annual SpaceX launches from 5 to 25, despite concerns about adverse effects on the environment.
2: Two Chinese international students studying in South Korea were arrested on Wednesday for using drones to film a US carrier at a naval base. They were accused of violating the Protection of Military Bases and Installations Act, and it’s the first time foreign nationals have been detained on such charges. South Korea’s new left-leaning president has sought to distance Seoul from Washington somewhat, raising the prospect of greater tension between its largest security partner, the United States, and its largest trading partner, China.
6-3: In a 6-3 vote, the US Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Planned Parenthood cannot sue the state of South Carolina over its effort to defund the reproductive health clinics. Abortion is legal in South Carolina only during the first six weeks of pregnancy, but the decision is expected to diminish Planned Parenthood’s ability to provide other healthcare to patients, like physical exams and cancer screenings.
HARD NUMBERS: Corruption bombshell in Costa Rica, Tax Protests in Kenya, flaming butts in Greece, and more…
President of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves Robles, smiles and points finger up while listening to interpreter headphones during the opening of the Third United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice.
7: Costa Rica’s attorney general’s office accused 7 government officials – including President Rodrigo Chaves – of illicit campaign financing in 2022. The prosecutors called on the country’s Supreme Court to lift Chaves’ immunity so he could be placed on trial. Chaves’ office has yet to respond to the allegations.
1: Exactly one year after demonstrators stormed the Kenyan parliament to stop a new tax bill, protesters are again taking to the streets to mark that event. Police have responded by cracking down, hurling tear gas canisters at the crowds.
120: ISIS-linkedgroups in Mozambique’s restive, energy-rich Cabo Delgado province have kidnapped at least 120 children in recent days, according to Human Rights Watch. The groups allegedly use the children for forced labour and marriages, and also as soldiers.
1 billion: Thailand’s health ministry moved to prohibit the sale of recreational cannabis on Tuesday, disrupting an industry that has grown to over $1 billion. The country was the first in Asia to decriminalize cannabis in 2022, but a public backlash over harm to children forced the government to reverse that.
10,000: Authorities arrested a Georgian woman accused of sparking a wildfire that has burned through more than 10,000 acres on the Greek island of Chios. She is suspected of unintentionally starting the blaze by dropping a cigarette butt in the brush..
75: Today marks 75 years since the start of the Korean war, which pitted Soviet-and-Chinese backed North Korea against the US-backed South in the first major clash of the Cold War. The three year long conflict, known as “the forgotten war” in the US, killed as many as three million people, but resulted in little change to the borders of the divided Korean peninsula. And technically, it never ended.
Firefighters try to tackle a wildfire burning on Chios island, Greece, June 23, 2025.
400: Over 400 firefighters were deployed to the Greek Island of Chios on Tuesday, as wildfires rage there for a third straight day. While the cause is still unknown, officials declared a state of emergency on Sunday, forcing hundreds of villagers to evacuate.
25: Israeli forces reportedly killed at least 25 Palestinians at an aid distribution site in Gaza on Tuesday, per hospitals and witnesses in the area. These appear to be the latest killings at US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites, which began operations in Gaza in late May.
40: More than 40 people were killed in an attack at a hospital in Sudan’s West Kordofan over the weekend, near the frontline between the Sudanese Army and the rebel paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces. Sudan’s civil war has been ongoing since April 2023.
57: The Colombian military has freed 57 soldiers from captivity, days after they were captured by locals residing in the southwestern Cauca region, an area that produces much cocaine. The country’s defense minister blamed rebel groups linked to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for their kidnapping.