Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Houthis widen strike zone, Americans sour on TikTok, Warsaw synagogue targeted, Russia shows off US tank

​Protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to show support to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen April 26, 2024.

Protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to show support to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen April 26, 2024.

REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Make us preferred on Google

300: A Houthi drone launched from Yemen last Friday struck the MSC Orion, a cargo vessel transiting the Indian Ocean, over 300 nautical miles away from the Red Sea, where Houthis have constrained their attacks until now. Striking targets in the Indian Ocean presents a serious escalation, and experts told the Guardian that ships linked to Israel, the US, or the UK would likely need to be rerouted even further from normal shipping lanes to stay safe.


58: A 58% majority of Americans said they believe China is using the social video-sharing app TikTok to “influence American public opinion,” according to a new poll from Reuters and Ipsos. The same poll found that a slim 50% majority also supported banning the app, which the Biden administration may do if parent company ByteDance can’t find a buyer.

3: An unknown perpetrator hurled three firebombs into Warsaw’s main synagogue Tuesday night, drawing major condemnations from Polish political figures but causing little damage. Before the Holocaust, Poland had Europe’s largest Jewish population, over three million, which was so thoroughly expelled or exterminated by the Nazis that today the country has only a few thousand practicing Jews.

30: A Moscow exhibition is displaying over 30 pieces of Western military equipment captured on the battlefield in Ukraine, including an American M1 Abrams tank, a German Leopard 2, and a French AMX-10RC. The Russian government is using the exhibition to show that “the West destroys peace on the planet,” according to Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

More For You

Mexico’s newest export boom
Natalie Johnson
Mexico’s top export to the US might surprise you. For decades, cars dominated trade, but computer servers have taken the top spot, according to a Financial Times analysis. Over the past year, Mexico has rapidly increased exports to the US of servers used in AI data centers. As in the auto industry, many core components come from Asia, particularly [...]
Japan’s outside-the-icebox way to stay cool
Will Fitzpatrick
A Japanese company has come up with a novel way to beat the heat: a human-sized refrigerator. The “Do Hiemon” personal cooling booth blasts users with cold air and claims it can lower body temperature in just minutes. The product comes as Japan endures another punishing summer marked by temperatures over 104 degrees and a surge in heat-related [...]
Europe’s first full solar eclipse in decades
Natalie Johnson
The skies over Greenland, Iceland, and Spain will briefly darken today as continental Europe experiences its first total solar eclipse in over 25 years. Millions more across Canada, the northern US, and northwest Africa will see a partial eclipse. The celestial spectacle has also revived an earthly debate: Do you really need special glasses to [...]
Zambia’s elections put its democratic reputation to the test
Will Fitzpatrick
Zambians head to the polls this week in national elections that will test a country that’s garnered a reputation as one of southern Africa’s most stable democracies. Since Zambia returned to multiparty elections in 1991, it has had six different presidents from three different parties. President Hakainde Hichilema is seeking reelection after [...]