351,000: Some 351,000 Chinese students studied in the United States during the 2016–2017 academic year, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Under new rules being prepped by the Trump administration, Chinese students specializing in robotics, aviation, advanced manufacturing and other fields strategically important to Beijing could be subject to new visa restrictions, according to the Associated Press.
1,770: Chinese President Xi Jinping is looking to burnish his legacy with a massive urban development, the Xiong’an New Area, that will cover an area of 1,770 kilometers, more than twice the size of New York City. It will include an estimated 20,000 sensors for facial and sound recognition.
75: Up to 75 percent of the land in northern Nigeria, where the economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, has become desert over the past few decades, according to the International Crisis Group. That’s fueling tensions between predominantly Christian farming communities and Muslim herdsman.
44: Just 44 percent of Italians say their country has benefited from membership in the European Union, according to a recent survey. That’s the lowest of any country in the 28-member bloc.
2.5: The United Nations has warned that a drought in Afghanistan could lead to a shortage of 2.5 million tons of wheat this year, with two-thirds of the heavily bread-dependent country gripped by drought.
