Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Cocaine bandits, Mpox hits the DRC, Ukraine in contention, Trump Bibles, Lieberman's passing

A member of Colombia's Navy checks cocaine seized in the Gulf of Morrosquillo

A member of Colombia's Navy checks cocaine seized in the Gulf of Morrosquillo

REUTERS

6,600: Following a high-speed boat chase in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday, Colombia’s navy seized about 6,600 pounds of cocaine from drug smugglers.

400: The Democratic Republic of Congo is now seeing record levels of Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox. Some 400 suspect cases are reported each week, mainly in children, and this strain of the virus kills about 10% of those infected, a remarkably high level.


2-1: Ukraine’s national soccer team has qualified for this summer’s European Championships with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Iceland, sending tens of thousands of Ukrainians inside the Wroclaw Stadium in Poland into rapturous celebration.

59.99: Presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump is partnering with country music star Lee Greenwood to sell “God Bless the U.S.A. Bibles.” The price? $59.99, not including shipping and handling fees. “Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country, and I truly believe that we need to bring them back,” said Trump at the product launch.

1 of 1: Joseph Lieberman, the former US senator for Connecticut, died on Wednesday at the age of 82 due to complications from a fall. Lieberman was nearly the first Jewish vice president in US history. He was a centrist and foreign policy hawk known for his dogged individualism, which could be controversial at times. Lieberman was the first Jewish candidate on a major party’s presidential ticket in the disputed 2000 election and unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. In 2008, Lieberman enraged many Democrats when he endorsed Republican Sen. John McCain for the presidency over then-Sen. Barack Obama, but was also applauded by liberals over the years for his strong support for abortion rights and gay rights. “In an era of political carbon copies, Joe Lieberman was a singularity. One of one," Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said in a tweet.

More For You

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)'s Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, one of the world's largest nuclear facilities, stands along the seaside in Kashiwazaki, Niigata prefecture, Japan December 21, 2025.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)'s Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, one of the world's largest nuclear facilities, stands along the seaside in Kashiwazaki, Niigata prefecture, Japan December 21, 2025.

REUTERS/Issei Kato
54: Japan is reopening the world’s largest nuclear power plant after a regional vote gave the greenlight on Monday. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, located 136 miles outside of Tokyo, had its 54 reactors shuttered following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that spurred the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. The decision reflects Japan’s push to [...]
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the July 14, 2025 military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. - 14/07/2025 - France / Ile-de-France (region) / Paris

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the July 14, 2025 military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. - 14/07/2025 - France / Ile-de-France (region) / Paris

Julien Mattia / Le Pictorium.
1: French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to build France’s first aircraft carrier in decades, as Europe accelerates rearmament. The ship won’t be ready before 2038. Germany, similarly, plans to recruit 80,000 troops and spend up to 3.5% of GDP on defense by 2029. [...]
Zambia, Collum Coal Mine ZAMBIA, Sinazese, chinese owned Collum Coal Mine, underground mining of hard coal for copper melter and cement factory, loading place ***SAMBIA, Collum Coal Mine eines chinesischem Unternehmens, Untertageabbau von Steinkohle, Ladeplatz Sinasese Zambia

Zambia, Collum Coal Mine ZAMBIA, Sinazese, chinese owned Collum Coal Mine, underground mining of hard coal for copper melter and cement factory, loading place ***SAMBIA, Collum Coal Mine eines chinesischem Unternehmens, Untertageabbau von Steinkohle, Ladeplatz Sinasese Zambia

  • imago images/Joerg Boethling via Reuters Connect
$753 million: Angola secured $753 million in loans from the US and South Africa to revamp a railway line linking mining regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. For Washington, the investment is strategic: the Lobito corridor offers the shortest route from the DRC’s copper and cobalt belt to Atlantic shipping lanes, helping secure [...]
​A Boeing 737 Max 8 with Afghans on board lands at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on December 16, 2025.

A Boeing 737 Max 8 with Afghans on board lands at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on December 16, 2025. 160 Afghans have come to Berlin on a charter flight organized by the German government.

Fabian Sommer/dpa via Reuters Connect
500: By the end of the year, Germany plans to accept over 500 Afghan refugees who assisted German troops on the ground in Afghanistan, or face threats from the Taliban. Although these refugees have already been approved for admission, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition government delayed their entry into the country. [...]