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Hard Numbers: Portugal will likely vote (again), US markets swoon, A breath of fresh air, Baloch militants seize train, Trump trumpets Tesla

Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro

Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro looks on during the confidence motion at the parliament in Lisbon, Portugal, on March 11, 2025.

REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

3/4: Portugal’s parliament has voted no-confidence in Prime Minister Luis Montenegro over a planned parliamentary inquiry into his business dealings. The result: Portugal will probably hold its third election in less than four years. A poll published this week found the opposition Socialists with a small lead over the governing center-right party.


214: On Tuesday, armed insurgents, acting on behalf of a separatist group in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, attacked and boarded a packed passenger train near Quetta. The militants claimed they were holding 214 passengers hostage. But local police said the majority of the passengers were believed to be safe and that 35 had been taken hostage.

4 trillion: From its peak in February, a US stock market sell-off has wiped out $4 trillion from the S&P 500. Many economists blame the meltdown on the potential inflationary impact of President Donald Trump’s growing number of tariff threat


7:
Only seven countries – Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Estonia, and Iceland – met World Health Organization air quality standards last year, data showed on Tuesday. The smoggiest five were the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Chad, and India.

50: On Monday, shares in the Elon Musk-owned electric vehicle maker Tesla were down more than 15% for the day and more than 50% from their peak three months ago. Shares recovered a bit on Tuesday, closing up 3.8%. Analysts place much of the blame for the losses on investors spooked by anti-Musk Tesla boycotts. In response, President Donald Trump pledged on Monday that he would buy a “brand new Tesla,” despite his past criticism of electric vehicles.

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The site of a destroyed drug rehabilitation hospital following a Pakistani air strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 17, 2026.

Afghan men stand at the site of a destroyed drug rehabilitation hospital following a Pakistani air strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 17, 2026.

REUTERS/Sayed Hassib
408: The number of people killed in the Afghan capital of Kabul, after a Pakistani strike hit a drug rehabilitation center there, according to Taliban officials. Another 250 were reported injured. Islamabad claimed the facility was being used as an ammunition depot, as the conflict between the two neighbors, which started as border clashes last [...]
​A Boeing C-135 Stratotanker / Stratolifter military aircraft known as KC-135 of the United States Air Force USAF configured as Air Tanker Transport for aerial refueling, powered by 4x CFMI jet engines and tail number 63-8003. The military plane spotted flying over the Netherlands in the blue sky from Mainland USA to Tel Aviv TLV to support the Israel USA - Iran war known as Operation Epic Fury by the US Department of Defense. Venlo, the Netherlands on March 2, 2026

A Boeing C-135 Stratotanker / Stratolifter military aircraft known as KC-135 of the United States Air Force USAF configured as Air Tanker Transport for aerial refueling, powered by 4x CFMI jet engines and tail number 63-8003. The military plane spotted flying over the Netherlands in the blue sky from Mainland USA to Tel Aviv TLV to support the Israel USA - Iran war known as Operation Epic Fury by the US Department of Defense. Venlo, the Netherlands on March 2, 2026

Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto
4: The number of crew members aboard a US refuelling plane – out of six total – who died after the aircraft crashed in neighboring Iraq on Thursday, US Central Command said this morning. CENTCOM said the cause of the crash is still under investigation, but noted it was neither due to friendly nor hostile fire. The plane was part of Operation Epic [...]
​Participants hold placards during a protest to condemn the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and commemorate students killed in a strike on a girls' primary school in Minab in southern Iran on February 28, in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, March 12, 2026.

Participants hold placards during a protest to condemn the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and commemorate students killed in a strike on a girls' primary school in Minab in southern Iran on February 28, in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, March 12, 2026.

REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon
175: The number of people killed at an Iranian girls’ school in a strike on Feb. 28. Initial intelligence reports suggest that the US was to blame for the strike, per the New York Times, after the military used a now-defunct set of coordinates to deploy the hit. The White House hasn’t claimed responsibility and said the investigation is ongoing. [...]
​Iran player Fatemeh Pasandideh (right) reacts during the national anthem of Iran prior to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group A match between Iran and Philippines at Gold Coast Stadium on the Gold Coast, Sunday, March 8, 2026.

Iran player Fatemeh Pasandideh (right) reacts during the national anthem of Iran prior to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group A match between Iran and Philippines at Gold Coast Stadium on the Gold Coast, Sunday, March 8, 2026.

AAP
7: The number of members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who were granted asylum in Australia on Wednesday – including six players and one of the team’s support staff – after they refused to sing the national anthem during the Asian Cup soccer tournament there. However, one of the seven women withdrew her request on Wednesday and is set to [...]