Hard Numbers: Latvians vote against Russia, Paraguay squeezes Taiwan, Rwandan genocide trial begins, US offers Pacific cash

A Latvian flag flutters in the wind next to a Russian flag near a hotel in Daugavpils.
A Latvian flag flutters in the wind next to a Russian flag near a hotel in Daugavpils.
REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

5.1: When Latvians go to the polls in a general election Sunday, only 5.1% of them say they'll cast a ballot for Harmony, the opposition party favored by ethnic Russians and Belarusians. Harmony came in first in the last election in 2018, but other parties agreed to keep it out of the government — and it’ll be out of parliament if it doesn’t get at least 5% of the vote.

1 billion: Want me to keep recognizing you instead of mighty China? Show me the money. That's what Paraguay is saying to Taiwan by asking Taipei to invest a whopping $1 billion in the South American country to resist overtures from Beijing to switch sides.

23: On Thursday, a UN tribunal kicked off the trial of longtime fugitive Félicien Kabuga, accused of encouraging and bankrolling the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Kabuga, 87, was on the run for 23 years before he was finally arrested in 2020 in France. He refused to show up in court.

810 million: The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled its new Pacific strategy, which includes $810 million in aid for Pacific Island nations. The US hopes the cash will help it beat China in the race to dominate the region.


This article comes to you from the Signal newsletter team of GZERO Media. Sign up today.

More from GZERO Media

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland on February 20, 2025
Jack Gruber-USA TODAY

A new measure would cut back the popular program in order to fund continuation of Trump's first term tax cuts.

President Donald Trump looks on while meeting with President of France Emmanuel Macron in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC on Monday, February 24, 2025.

Bonnie Cash/Pool/Sipa USA

The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution is crystal clear: No person can be elected to the presidency more than twice. Ratified in 1951, it was a response to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four-term tenure.

- YouTube

What is the European reaction to what President Trump is trying to achieve in terms of peace? Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, shares his perspective on European politics from Kyiv, Ukraine, on the three-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale aggression against the country.

China's President Xi Jinping attends a meeting in Brazil in November 2024.

REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

Just days after a Chinese naval helicopter nearly collided with a Philippine patrol plane over a contested reef, China’s military started live-fire drills in waterways near Vietnam on Monday and between Australia and New Zealand over the weekend in an “unprecedented” display of firepower.