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Hard Numbers: Cuba’s fuel shortage prompts garbage crisis, Cyclone in Madagascar kills dozens, China set for Lunar New Year travel, Israel issues Hamas disarmament deadline

​A man throws trash on a street in downtown Havana, Cuba, February 16, 2026.

A man throws trash on a street in downtown Havana, Cuba, February 16, 2026.

REUTERS/Norlys Perez
41.5%: The proportion of Havana’s garbage trucks that were operational this month, according to state-run media, as Cuba’s fuel crisis prompts a garbage crisis. Rotten food, cardboard boxes, and plastic bottles have been piling up on the streets. Just 44 of 106 garbage trucks were functioning.

59: The number of people who have died in Madagascar due to Cyclone Gezani, which hit the island nation last week. Another 15 remain missing, while over 16,000 people have been displaced. The cyclone had sustained winds of 115 miles per hour.

9.5 billion: The record number of passenger trips that are expected across China during the Lunar New Year holiday to usher in the Year of the Horse. The Chinese government is hoping the holiday will boost domestic spending, which it identified as a priority for the year ahead.

60: The number of days that Israel gave Hamas to disarm in an ultimatum issued yesterday. As expected, the militant group rejected those demands, which is a critical facet of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

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​An employee cuts flowers inside a greenhouse, ahead of Valentine's Day, at Ayura Flowers, in Sopo, Colombia February 3, 2026.

An employee cuts flowers inside a greenhouse, ahead of Valentine's Day, at Ayura Flowers, in Sopo, Colombia February 3, 2026.

REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
65,000: The tons of fresh-cut flowers that Colombia exported between Jan. 15 and Feb. 9 this year, ahead of the Valentine’s Day rush. However, US tariffs and a weaker dollar threaten to undermine the sector. Americans buy 80% of Colombia’s flower exports, but the Trump administration imposed 10% tariffs on Colombia last April. [...]
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.

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 [...]
​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 [...]
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. [...]