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Hard numbers: Fears rise of another South Sudan civil war, Democrats get their way in Texas primaries, Shots fired at Toronto synagogue, Iran conflict has India seeking alternative oil sources

A man holding a South Sudan flag takes part in a national day of prayers for peace in Juba, South Sudan, on September 19, 2019.​

A man holding a South Sudan flag takes part in a national day of prayers for peace lead by South Sudan's President Salva Kiir at the state house in Juba, South Sudan, on September 19, 2019.

REUTERS/Jok Solomun

178: The number of people killed in South Sudan on Sunday, according to a local official, after dozens of young gunmen launched a surprise attack in the north of the East African state. Ninety children were among the dead. The attack has exacerbated fears that the country could slide back into civil war, just eight years after the last one ended.


53%: The share of the vote that Texas state Rep. James Talarico received in yesterday’s Democratic Senate primary, with most ballots counted. His opponent, US Rep. Jasmine Crockett, conceded this morning. The Republican primary, meanwhile, will go to a runoff, as neither Sen. John Cornyn nor Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton received more than 50% of the vote. It’s the ideal scenario for Democrats, as they seek to win in a Texas Senate race for the first time since 1988.

20: The number of shots fired at Temple Emanu-El synagogue in Toronto, Canada, on Monday night, as Jewish people went to celebrate the festival of Purim. Nobody was injured, though the shots did some damage to the building. No suspects have been identified. Antisemitic attacks have doubled or tripled, depending on the location, over the last few years.

40%: The proportion of India’s oil imports that go through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway Iran has threatened to close – by bombing ships that pass through it – amid its conflict with the US and Israel. New Delhi, whose crude stocks could only satisfy about 25 days of demand, is therefore searching for alternative sources of oil. It may look again to Russia, from whom it had significantly reduced its purchases.

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​U.S. President Donald Trump, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi and President of Rwanda Paul Kagame take part in a signing ceremony at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 4, 2025.

U.S. President Donald Trump, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi and President of Rwanda Paul Kagame take part in a signing ceremony at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 4, 2025.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
6,500: The number of M23 rebels fighting in Congo. On Monday, the US imposed sanctions on the Rwandan government for allegedly supporting the rebels, who’ve been accused of human rights abuses, despite a peace deal that Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi signed in Washington, D.C., last year. Rwanda disputes the [...]
​Military personnel operate during the BAMEX'25 Defense Expo, in Bamako, Mali, November 11, 2025.

Military personnel operate during the BAMEX'25 Defense Expo, in Bamako, Mali, November 11, 2025.

REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko
30: The number of foreign nationals who were kidnapped in Mali and Niger in the first 11 months of 2025, according to data from the independent conflict monitor ACLED, up from seven in the preceding three years combined. The Islamist insurgencies in these West African states have been threatening the broader region, but it could now turn into a [...]
Hard Numbers: Kenya restarts railroad project without China, South Africans return from Ukraine war, the rapper who wants to run Nepal, Russians say things are going well
$4 billion: The amount Kenya wants to raise in order to complete a partially built railway line that was abandoned in 2019. The project, which will link Nairobi with South Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya, came to a halt after initial funding from China dried up. This time around, Kenya wants to finance the project itself, through new import tariffs, [...]
​People approach the entrance of the Provincial Clinical-Surgical Hospital "Arnaldo Milian Castro" in Santa Clara, Cuba, on February 25, 2026.

People approach the entrance of the Provincial Clinical-Surgical Hospital "Arnaldo Milian Castro," where, according to local information, injured people were being treated after an armed incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat and a Cuban patrol, at a time of heightened tensions with the United States, in Santa Clara, Cuba, on February 25, 2026.

REUTERS/Norlys Perez
10: The number of Cubans who took a Florida-registered speedboat to Cuba’s coast on Wednesday before engaging in a gunfight with border troops from the communist-run island. Four of them died in the shootout. All 10 reportedly resided in the United States. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the incident was not part of a US government operation. [...]