Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Egypt accepts Gazan evacuees, Debating a 70-hour work week, Pushing voters buttons with warplanes, Afghan refugee arrests

​Scores of foreign passport holders trapped in Gaza started leaving the war-torn Palestinian territory on Nov. 1 -- some are seen here waiting at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip before crossing into Egypt.
Scores of foreign passport holders trapped in Gaza started leaving the war-torn Palestinian territory on Nov. 1 -- some are seen here waiting at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip before crossing into Egypt.
Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto

400: On Wednesday, Egypt allowedmore than 400 people, injured Palestinians and foreign nationals, to enter the country from Gaza. These were the first refugees allowed across the border, and Egypt will face international pressure to accept many more. Egypt’s government, fearing the long-term burden that large numbers of refugees might impose, will continue to resist.

70: Indian software billionaire NR Narayana Murthy kicked off a furious debate within his country with a recent comment that India’s young people should work 70 hours per week. (Mr. Murthy is the father-in-law of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.)

43: Taiwan’s Defense Ministry announced Wednesday it had detected 43 Chinese warplanes and seven naval vessels near the island in a single 24-hour period. There are many reasons why Beijing is unlikely to launch a war anytime soon, but it does hope to persuade Taiwan’s voters to elect a new president in January who has a more cooperative relationship with Beijing than the outgoing incumbent has had.

1.7 million: On Wednesday, authorities in Pakistan began nationwide arrests of Afghan refugees who lack permission to remain in the country as the deadline passed for undocumented Afghans to leave. There are some 1.7 million undocumented Afghans still in Pakistan, and Pakistan’s government hopes the arrests will spur more to leave on their own.

More For You

FILE PHOTO: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands before posing for a photo during the G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis, in Alberta, Canada, June 17, 2025.
REUTERS/Amber Bracken/File Photo

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney struck a series of deals during a meeting in New Delhi on Monday, including a 10-year nuclear energy deal under which Canada will provide India with uranium.

A satellite image shows black smoke rising and heavy damage at Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's compound, following strikes by the United States and Israel in Tehran, Iran, on February 28, 2026.

Pleiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026/Handout via REUTERS

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead, the conflict is spreading, and US President Donald Trump still isn’t clear on who he wants to run Iran.