Hard Numbers: Babies stranded in Ukraine, Rwandan killer caught, Iran and US play chicken

100:At least 100 babies in Ukraine born to surrogate mothers are now stranded there as coronavirus-related restrictions prevent their parents from coming to pick them up. Ukraine is thought to have the largest surrogate birth industry in the world, and more than 1,000 more babies could be born there before travel rules ease.

26: After 26 years on the run, Rwandan tycoon Felicien Kabuga, who funded the massacre of as many as 800,000 people during his country's 1994 genocide, was arrested in Paris, where he had been living under a false name. The 84-year old Kabuga will now face justice for his crimes before an international tribunal at the Hague.

45.5: A US-Iran naval confrontation looms as a flotilla of Iranian tankers carrying at least $45.5 million worth of gasoline to Venezuela is currently steaming across the Atlantic, in violation of Washington's sanctions. US warships have been deployed to the Caribbean, potentially to stop the delivery.

70: At least 70 refugees living at one of Germany's designated homes for asylum-seekers have tested positive for coronavirus. The outbreak underscores advocacy groups' concerns about weak precautions against the disease at the country's many "reception-centers," which house migrants while their asylum applications are processed.

More from GZERO Media

Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami, hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack, are released by Hamas militants as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel on Feb. 8, 2025.

REUTERS/Hatem Khaled

Hamas released three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners. But the return of Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami, and Or Levy sparked outrage in Israel due to their severely malnourished state.

President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, on Feb. 5, 2025.
REUTERS/Kent Nishimura

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday halting all “non-essential” assistance to South Africa. He also ordered American agencies to assist white South Africans fleeing racial discrimination and resettle them as refugees in the US.

Spanish Vox party leader Santiago Abascal presided over the European Patriots Summit in Madrid over the weekend. The event brought together numerous conservative leaders from across Europe under the banner of "Make Europe Great Again."

Photo by David Cruz Sanz/Alter Photos/Sipa USA via Reuters

Leaders of the far-right Patriots for Europe bloc addressed 2,000 supporters in Madrid on Saturday under the slogan “Make Europe Great Again.”

Listen: President Trump has already made sweeping changes to US public health policy—from RFK Jr.’s nomination to lead the health department to withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization. On the GZERO World Podcast, New York Times science and global health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli joins Ian Bremmer for an in-depth look at health policy in the Trump administration, and what it could mean, not just for the US, but for the rest of the world.

Elon Musk walks on Capitol Hill on the day of a meeting with Senate Republican Leader-elect John Thune (R-SD), in Washington, U.S. December 5, 2024.

REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

As the deadline for federal employees to resign in exchange for eight months of pay closed in on Thursday, a federal judge in Massachusetts stepped in and temporarily blocked it. Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. ordered that a hearing be held on Monday afternoon. In response, the Office of Personnel Management – the agency Elon Musk has harnessed to carry out the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to downsize the government – has postponed the deadline until Monday.