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Hard Numbers: Bird flu spreads, Modi joins Truth Social, Trans-Niger Pipeline explodes, JFK files released, Majority of Americans oppose tariffs, Who thinks Trump is a dictator?

A bird flu warning sign and quarantine zone in Switzerland.

A bird flu warning sign and quarantine zone in Switzerland.

IMAGO/Bihlmayerfotografie via Reuters Connect
Tasha Kheiriddin
By Tasha KheiriddinMarch 18, 2025
Tasha Kheiriddin
Tasha is a political columnist, commentator, and author based in Toronto, Canada. You can read her in The National Post, on Substack at In My Opinion, and in her most recent book, "The Right Path."
See Full Bio

166 million: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is concerned over the spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus to mammal species, including zoo animals, pets, and cattle, which is causing havoc in agriculture and increasing the likelihood it could jump to humans. The spread among birds has already caused the culling of at least 166 million chickens in the United States, sending egg prices soaring.

31,600: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined Truth Social, the social media platform owned by US President Donald Trump. In his inaugural post on Monday, Modi shared a photo with Trump taken in 2019 in Houston, Texas, and as of Wednesday morning, he had 31,600 followers.

450,000: An explosion occurred Monday night on the Trans-Niger Pipeline in Rivers State's Bodo community, threatening over 450,000 barrels of daily crude oil production and causing a fire to rage through a local mangrove. Two individuals have been arrested in connection with the incident, and an investigation is underway. The pipeline has been the subject of terror attacks before, but no such link has yet been established.

80,000: Conspiracy theorists, start your engines. President Donald Trump on Tuesday released approximately 80,000 pages of unredacted documents related to President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination. While White House Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields claimed that Americans “are truly going to be shocked,” historians do not expect significant new revelations.

38: The latest exclusive GZERO-Echelon poll shows that 54% of American voters oppose US President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, while 38% support them. Republicans favor them by a 47-point margin, but Independents and Democrats oppose them by margins of 30 and 76, respectively.

36: The same poll asked respondents which of a list of world leaders they would consider to be a dictator. North Korean President Kim Jong Un topped the list at 77%, followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin at 75%, and then by US President Donald Trump, at 36%.
echelon pollechelonmodinigeriajfkbird flu

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Hard Numbers: Ukrainian Olympian disqualified for political helmet, Falling cocoa prices hit Ghana, US troops to deploy to Nigeria, and Lufthansa goes on strike

PA via Reuters Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych, with his helmet, which features pictures of people killed in the war with Russia. Heraskevych was ruled out of the Men's Skeleton event by the International Olympic Committee just over an hour before competition began, pictured at the Cortina Sliding Centre, on day six of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Italy. Picture date: Thursday February 12, 2026.

PA via Reuters Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych, with his helmet, which features pictures of people killed in the war with Russia. Heraskevych was ruled out of the Men's Skeleton event by the International Olympic Committee just over an hour before competition began, pictured at the Cortina Sliding Centre, on day six of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Italy. Picture date: Thursday February 12, 2026.

PA Images
20: The number of fallen Ukrainian athletes and coaches depicted on a Ukrainian skeleton racer’s helmet at the Winter Olympics, which prompted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to disqualify him on Thursday. The IOC said the helmet violated Olympic rules, which prohibit political messaging during games. Critics of the disqualification said [...]

Hard Numbers: Mass shooting in Canada, Vance deletes posts about Armenian memorial visit, Argentinian inflation jumps again, Switzerland considers population cap

​US Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance at the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial, in Yerevan, Armenia, February 10, 2026.

US Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance hold flowers as they walk towards the eternal flame at the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial, in Yerevan, Armenia, February 10, 2026.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/Pool
1.5 million: The number of Armenians killed by Ottoman Turkss during World War I, per one estimate, in what historians consider to be a genocide. Why mention this now? US Vice President JD Vance visited a memorial to the mass killing in Yerevan on Tuesday. His office then posted about it on social media, before deleting it. The reversal may have [...]

Hard Numbers: Indonesia to deploy troops in Gaza, Signs of a crypto crash, Arrests at pro-Palestinian protest in Australia, Italian-style carbo-loading at the Olympics

Protesters carry posters during a demonstration in support of Palestine at the Asia-Africa Monument in Bandung, West Java. They demand the Indonesian government's immediate withdrawal from the Board of Peace and express solidarity with the people of Gaza and Palestine involved in the conflict with Israel.

Protesters carry posters during a demonstration in support of Palestine at the Asia-Africa Monument in Bandung, West Java. They demand the Indonesian government's immediate withdrawal from the Board of Peace and express solidarity with the people of Gaza and Palestine involved in the conflict with Israel.

Credit Image: © Dimas Rachmatsyah/ZUMA Press Wire
8,000: The maximum number of troops that Indonesia is set to deploy to Gaza, making it the first country to lend soldiers to the international peacekeeping efforts in the enclave. The move is a risky one for Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, as citizens of the world’s largest Muslim-majority country oppose overt engagement with Israel. [...]

Hard Numbers: Bad Bunny steals the show, Hong Kong democracy activist sentenced to 20 years in jail, Japanese markets split on Takaichi’s success, Socialist wins in Portugal

​Bad Bunny performs during the Super Bowl halftime show at Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 8, 2026.

Bad Bunny performs during the Apple Music halftime show at Super Bowl LX between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 8, 2026.

135 million: The number of viewers of Bad Bunny’s performance at the Super Bowl halftime show in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday. Early estimates suggest it was the most-watched halftime show of all time. The Puerto Rican superstar infused politics into the performance, delivering a roll call of every country in the Americas and emblazoning [...]