Hard Numbers: China bans Japanese fish, India hoards sugar, Foot Locker steps into danger, a library on the high seas

 Customers prepare to buy seafood at a supermarket in Fuyang city, East China's Anhui province
Customers prepare to buy seafood at a supermarket in Fuyang city, East China's Anhui province

1: China banned Japanese seafood imports on Thursday in response to Tokyo releasing radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific. The water has accumulated since the facility was hit by a tsunami in 2011. Analysts say the move won’t have a big economic impact, because even though Beijing is Tokyo’s largest seafood market, seafood exports account for less than 1% of Japanese exports.

7: Bakers may want to stock up now. Starting in October, India will ban sugar exports for the first time in seven years. Lack of rain has slashed sugar cane yields, putting additional pressure on food prices as India deals with ballooning inflation. New Delhi also recently imposed restrictions on rice and onion exports to try and dampen food prices. This protectionist move is likely to have an impact on global food prices.

28: Sneaker giant Foot Locker is the latest company to see its share price plummet, dropping 28% on Wednesday after reporting dismal earnings. Foot Locker blames the trend on “consumer softness” as a result of inflation as well as … fast-footed shoplifters!

5,000: The world’s largest floating library has docked in Mombasa, Kenya, carrying 5,000 books spanning a wide range of genres. The ship, operated by a German non-profit, allows people to read the books on board or purchase them and take them home. To date, it’s had a whopping 49 million visitors come aboard worldwide.

More from GZERO Media

A combination photo shows a person of interest in the fatal shooting of U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah, U.S. shown in security footage released by the Utah Department of Public Safety on September 11, 2025.
Utah Department of Public Safety/Handout via REUTERS
A drone view shows the scene where U.S. right-wing activist, commentator, Charlie Kirk, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah, U.S. September 11, 2025.
REUTERS/Cheney Orr

The assassination of 31-year old conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a college event in Utah yesterday threatened to plunge a deeply divided America further into a cycle of rising political violence.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro stands next to members of the armed forces, on the day he says that his country would deploy military, police and civilian defenses at 284 "battlefront" locations across the country, amid heightened tensions with the U.S., in La Guaira, Venezuela, September 11, 2025.
Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS

284: Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has deployed military assets to 284 “battlefront” locations across the country, amid rising tensions with the US.

A member of Nepal army stands guard as people gather to observe rituals during the final day of Indra Jatra festival to worship Indra, Kumari and other deities and to mark the end of monsoon season.
REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

Nepal’s “Gen-Z” protest movement has looked to a different generation entirely with their pick for an interim leader. Protest leaders say they want the country’s retired chief justice, Sushila Karki, 73, to head a transitional government.