Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: The Netherlands nixes asylum-seekers, Sudan strife escalates, South Koreans agitate, Beijing condemns US-Taiwan arms deal, Bulgarians vote – again

Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom party, part of the hard-right coalition government.

Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom party, part of the hard-right coalition government.

Alessandro Bremec/ipa-agency.n/IPA/Sipa USA via Reuters
Make us preferred on Google

51,000: The Dutch nationalist government on Friday approved tough new migration measures in Parliament, including enhanced border checks, an end to mandatory municipal settlement of asylum-seekers, and limits on family reunification. The policy comes after 51,000 asylum applications were made in the past 12 months and reflects shifts in Italy, Sweden, and other EU nations towards tighter migration controls.


124: An attack by the Rapid Support Forces on Friday killed at least 124 people in Al-Sareeha village in Sudan, with reports of over 200 injured and 150 detained. The attack marked the latest escalation in the conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces, which has displaced millions and triggered a severe humanitarian crisis.

230,000: South Korean Christians held a mass protest in Seoul on Sunday to oppose a court ruling granting same-sex partners spousal health benefits, fearing it paves the way for legalizing same-sex marriage. The protest disrupted traffic as organizers claimed over a million participants, while police estimated the crowd at 230,000.

2 billion: China on Saturday condemned a $2 billion US arms sale to Taiwan, the 17th of the Biden administration to the island, vowing “countermeasures” to defend its sovereignty. Beijing warns that the deal, which includes advanced air defense systems, “seriously damages China-US relations, and endangers peace and stability” in the strait.

7: Exit polls show Boyko Borisov's GERB party leading Bulgaria’s seventh election in three years, but forming a coalition could be difficult: The last election in June produced a hung Parliament. This time, the pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party underperformed, while the Reformist PP-DB exceeded expectations. Final results are expected on Monday.

More For You

Hunger strike in India intensifies
Farida Dowidar
Sonam Wangchuk has long campaigned for the reform of India’s corrupt and inefficient system of entrance exams for higher education. That issue is also central to the recently formed Cockroach Janata Party protest movement, led by people decades younger than Wangchuk, who is 59-years-old. In India, millions of students compete vigorously for a [...]
China’s economic engine cools
Will Fitzpatrick
China’s economy posted one of its slowest quarterly growth rates on record. The slowdown was hardly a surprise: earlier this year, Chinese officials set the country’s lowest growth target since 1991. The weak growth is not coming from a decrease in manufacturing. In fact, exports rose 27% year over year in June. Instead, it’s coming from sluggish [...]
No more father-son time for the Bolsonaros
Will Fitzpatrick
The ban comes after a court ruled that Flavio helped his father sidestep his court-ordered social media ban by publishing a letter on his behalf. The message, which highlighted Jair Bolsonaro’s support for Flávio’s presidential bid, was also viewed as premature campaigning, as Brazil’s election season cannot officially begin until Aug. 16. The ban [...]
Europe has one last spree of Russian gas
Will Fitzpatrick
Months before an EU ban on Russian gas imports goes into effect, European countries are filling up their proverbial cups. The massive purchase of liquified natural gas, mostly from France, Belgium and Spain, highlights just how reliant Europe has been on Russian energy, even as it has sought to wean itself off since the beginning of Moscow’s [...]