Hard Numbers: Britain’s bananas, Houthis' drones, Chile’s Constitution, Haitians’ exodus, Hong Kong’s democrats, Kenya’s visa-free approach

October 31, 2023

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Men stand near bunches of bananas at Yopougon market

REUTERS/Luc Gnago (IVORY COAST)

11.5: African plantations’ 11.5% share of the UK banana market could be in peril as London — freed from its former EU trade policy obligations — looks to lower tariffs even further on Latin American producers who already supply two-thirds of Britain’s bananas. The move, meant to contain banana costs amid high inflation, could put some 80,000 jobs in Africa at risk. Side note: A banana is actually a berry, and a raspberry is NOT actually a berry. We don’t make the rules, we just report them.

1,000: Missiles fired by Houthi forces in Yemen traveled over 1,000 miles in an attempt to strike Israel before Israeli air defenses destroyed them. The Iran-backed Houthis threatened to expand the war on Tuesday, saying they will continue to launch drone and missile attacks against the Jewish state.

33: Chile has a new proposed constitution after 33 of the 50 members of the drafting Constitutional Council voted in favor. It’s the second time in as many years Chile has tried for a new basic charter. The first time, a draft written by a left-dominated assembly failed a public plebiscite. The new draft, written by a more right-wing group, will go to a referendum in December. Polls show 34% of Chileans today would vote for it.

40,000: Rising violence in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince has driven at least 40,000 more people from their homes since August, according to the UN. Since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, the country has descended into simultaneous political, economic, and humanitarian crises, as powerful gangs run rampant. See here for our look at the far-off country that wants to fight Haiti’s gangs directly.

29: For the first time in the 29 years since it was founded, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy party will not be allowed to participate in upcoming local elections. The democratic party was unable to surmount new, higher hurdles to registration that have come into effect since mainland China cracked down on the once-democratic city-state in 2020.

4: Kenya has become the fourth African Union country to lift visa requirements for African nationals as part of an effort to remove travel barriers between countries. Visa requirements and high airfares have inhibited inter-African travel, but with e-visas doubling since 2016 and many countries granting visas upon arrival, Kenyan President Ruto’s hope that people on the continent “should not be locked in borders in Europe and also be locked in borders in Africa” is coming to fruition. Also, is that a subtle dig at the supposedly border-free Schengen Area, Ruto?

Defending Ukraine and Europe without the US

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Three years into the war in Ukraine, what does the future of European security look like without the United States? That’s the question European leaders and NATO officials at this year's Munich Security Conference asked themselves after announcing a 90-minute phone call between President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin and a blistering speech from Vice President JD Vance criticizing European allies. On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer spoke with US Senator Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA analyst and Pentagon official, in Munich about Europe’s security, the war in Ukraine, and America’s role in an increasingly multipolar world.

Conservatives come first, far right second in German election

Christian Democratic Union party leader Friedrich Merz speaks at the party headquarters after the exit poll results are announced for the 2025 general election, in Berlin, Germany, on Feb. 23, 2025.

REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth

As expected, the conservative Christian Democratic Union and its sister party, the Christian Social Union, came out on top in Germany’s election on Sunday with 28.6% of the vote. But the biggest celebrations were held by those supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which scored a second-place finish with 20.8%, doubling its share of the vote since the last election. It beat the centrist SPD’s 16.4% and the Greens’ 11.6%.

Musk seeks productivity lists amid federal crackdown as discontent emerges

Elon Musk holds a chainsaw onstage as he attends the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Feb. 20, 2025. The idea is that he's taking a chainsaw to the federal bureaucracy.

REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Mimicking a tactic he used to slash the size of Twitter’s workforce, White House senior adviser Elon Musk has instructed all 2.3 million federal employees to list five things they “accomplished last week" by midnight Monday. Some departments are instructing their employees to ignore the request.

Sudan’s RSF declares ‘Government of Peace,’ but war continues

Representatives of political and military groups in Sudan take part in a meeting to form a counter-government in the areas occupied by the Rapid Support Forces militia.

Reuters

After nearly two years of armed conflict, Sudan’s rebel Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, signed a charter with allied groups on Saturday to establish a “government of peace and unity” in territories now under their control.

The Ukraine war at three

People visit the graves of their relatives killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A large-scale light installation "Lights of Memory" was held to mark the third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion at the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Feb. 23, 2025.

REUTERS/Roman Baluk

Monday marks three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering Europe’s largest and deadliest war since World War II. GZERO looks at where things stand on the battlefield, the state of Western support, and who supports a negotiated settlement.

Hard Numbers: Britain’s bananas, Houthis' drones, Chile’s Constitution, Haitians’ exodus, Hong Kong’s democrats, Kenya’s visa-free approach

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Pope Francis is in critical condition

Struck by “initial, mild kidney failure” and pneumonia in both lungs, the pontiff sought to soothe his faithful on Sunday morning with a message of gratitude for letters he had received.

Sudan’s RSF declares ‘Government of Peace,’ but war continues

After nearly two years of armed conflict, Sudan’s rebel Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, signed a charter with allied groups on Saturday to establish a “government of peace and unity” in territories now under their control.

The Ukraine war at three

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Hard Numbers: Britain’s bananas, Houthis' drones, Chile’s Constitution, Haitians’ exodus, Hong Kong’s democrats, Kenya’s visa-free approach

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More from GZERO Media

“Those same geopolitical tensions that we see in physical space certainly are playing out in digital space as well,” says Anne Neuberger, former US Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technologies.

The Israeli government says it won’t return 600 Palestinian prisoners until Hamas commits to halting the hostage “ceremonies.” Moving beyond phase one of the ceasefire is dependent upon their return.

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

Struck by “initial, mild kidney failure” and pneumonia in both lungs, the pontiff sought to soothe his faithful on Sunday morning with a message of gratitude for letters he had received.

After nearly two years of armed conflict, Sudan’s rebel Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, signed a charter with allied groups on Saturday to establish a “government of peace and unity” in territories now under their control.

Monday marks three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering Europe’s largest and deadliest war since World War II. GZERO looks at where things stand on the battlefield, the state of Western support, and who supports a negotiated settlement.