Hard Numbers: Brits host Ukrainians, Turkmen succession, deadly COVID in HK, Puerto Rico in the black

Hard Numbers: Brits host Ukrainians, Turkmen succession, deadly COVID in HK, Puerto Rico in the black
Ukrainians wait to board a train to Poland as they flee Russia's invasion in Lviv.
REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

100,000: Over 100,000 Brits have signed up for a new government program to host Ukrainian refugees in their homes. The UK has been criticized for granting so few visas to Ukrainians thus far, but those without UK family ties will now be eligible.

73: The son of outgoing Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was “elected” to succeed his dad on Saturday. But Serdar Berdymukhamedov only got 73% of the vote, 24 percentage points less than what his eccentric father got five years ago in the gas-rich Central Asian nation.

25: Hong Kong’s daily COVID death rate has this month surpassed 25 per 100,000 people, the highest in the world. The big problem there is that more than half of elderly Hong Kongers don’t want to get vaccinated, in part because they don’t trust jabs from mainland China.

70 billion: The US territory of Puerto Rico formally exited bankruptcy on Tuesday, almost seven years after defaulting on over $70 billion in debt. But Puerto Ricans aren’t out of the woods yet — they need to get their books checked before being able to borrow money again.

More from GZERO Media

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The world is quietly being reshaped by a demographic time bomb: Birthrates are plummeting, and the global population is rapidly aging. By 2050, one in six people will be over 65. While the overall population is still increasing—driven by growth in developing countries like Nigeria and Pakistan—experts predict it will peak in about 60 years. The shift to depopulation will have huge implications for the future of work, healthcare, and retirement. So what can we do about it? On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer breaks down the different strategies governments are using to try to get people to have more kids, particularly in East Asia, where the population crisis is severe.

The Puerto Princesa Forest Restoration Initiative is a project to plant more than 400,000 seedlings to restore Palawan forests destroyed by Super Typhoon Odette in the Philippines. It’s part of a larger global effort by the Priceless Planet Coalition, launched by Mastercard with Conservation International and the World Resources Institute, to fund the restoration of 100 million trees around the world. These projects extend beyond carbon sequestration — they’re aimed at creating economic opportunities for women in the region, enabling them to better provide for their families. Read more about how many local women and community members are leading the charge on nursery construction, maintenance, and seedling production.

- YouTube

Listen: The world is on the brink of one of the most fundamental demographic shifts in modern human history: populations are getting older, and birth rates are plummeting. By 2050, one in six people on Earth will be over 65, which will have a huge impact on the future of work, healthcare, and social security. On the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with Jennifer Sciubba, President & CEO of the Population Reference Bureau, to discuss declining fertility, the aging crisis, and why government efforts all over the world to get people to have more babies don’t seem to be working.

Republican U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz speaks at a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Henderson, Nevada U.S. October 31, 2024.
REUTERS/Mike Blake

President-elect Donald Trump’s unconventional picks for a number of important Cabinet positions in his second administration have set him on a collision course with the GOP-led Senate.

Accompanied by tugs, the LNG tanker "Hellas Diana" transports a cargo of LNG to the "Deutsche Ostsee" energy terminal.
Stefan Sauer/Reuters

While other countries in Europe still import small amounts of Russian LNG under long-term contracts, the EU broadly is looking to import more of the stuff from the growing American market.

Luisa Vieira

Cabinet-building has long been crucial for both the success of a presidency and the direction of the United States. From the presidencies of Abraham Lincoln to Donald Trump, the team often tells the tale of power. Publisher Evan Solomon looks at what Trump’s Cabinet picks are telling us all.