Hard Numbers: No recall in California, Biden’s Ethiopian pen pals, El Chapo’s house lottery, China hits gambling

September 15, 2021

Hard Numbers: No recall in California, El Chapo’s house lottery, Biden’s Ethiopian pen pals, China hits gambling

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks after the polls close on the recall election, at the California Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento, California, U.S., September 14, 2021.

REUTERS/Fred Greaves

28: Governor Gavin Newsom easily survived a recall election in California, where voters backing him now lead those who want him out by a margin of 28 percentage points with two-thirds of ballots counted. Although polls were tight-ish a few weeks ago, in the end a higher-than-expected turnout was enough for Newsom to keep his job in America's most populous state.

5 million: Young supporters of Ethiopia's ruling Prosperity Party want to "flood the White House" with five million letters about the conflict in Tigray. They hope to convince Joe Biden to back embattled PM Abiy Ahmed's military campaign against militants in the restive region, where a civil war has been raging since November.

183,000: After receiving no bids in an auction, Mexico's Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People is giving away a house that used to belong to Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, from which the famed drug kingpin escaped arrest in 2014 by fleeing through a tunnel. The Mexican government says the modest two-bedroom house is worth $183,000.

18.4 billion: Macau's top casinos lost a combined $18.4 billion of their stock value in just a few hours on Wednesday, after China announced new regulations — including the appointment of government reps to directly oversee each business — to renew licenses in the world's top gaming hub. Beijing has long worried about gambling addiction and casinos being used to stash away illicit funds from the mainland.

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What We’re Watching: US’s Iran decision postponed, Court OK’s Trump’s use of the national guard in LA, Rwanda detains top opposition leader

A miniature statue of US President Donald Trump stands next to a model bunker-buster bomb, with the Iranian national flag in the background, in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, on June 19, 2025.

STR/NurPhoto

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will decide whether to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities “in the next two weeks,” a move that re-opens the door to negotiations, but also gives the US more time to position military forces for an operation.

Hard Numbers: A Pride Month look at LGBTQ+ rights and challenges around the world

People ride motorcycles as South Korea's LGBTQ community and supporters attend a Pride parade, during the Seoul Queer Culture Festival, in Seoul, South Korea, June 14, 2025.

REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon

June is recognized in more than 100 countries in the world as “Pride Month,” marking 55 years since gay liberation marches began commemorating the Stonewall riots – a pivotal uprising against the police’s targeting of LGBTQ+ communities in New York.

What we’re watching: The subnational US-Canada relationship, Golden Dome’s leaden weight, MAGA Iran crackup

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks during a meeting of northeastern U.S. Governors and Canadian Premiers, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., June 16, 2025.

REUTERS/Sophie Park

While the national level drama played out between Donald Trump and Mark Carney at the G7 in Kananaskis, a lot of important US-Canada work was going on with far less fanfare in Boston, where five Canadian premiers met with governors and delegations from seven US states.

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Hard Numbers: No recall in California, Biden’s Ethiopian pen pals, El Chapo’s house lottery, China hits gambling

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What we’re watching: The subnational US-Canada relationship, Golden Dome’s leaden weight, MAGA Iran crackup

While the national level drama played out between Donald Trump and Mark Carney at the G7 in Kananaskis, a lot of important US-Canada work was going on with far less fanfare in Boston, where five Canadian premiers met with governors and delegations from seven US states.

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Hard Numbers: No recall in California, Biden’s Ethiopian pen pals, El Chapo’s house lottery, China hits gambling

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More from GZERO Media

Think you know what's going on around the world? Here's your chance to prove it.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will decide whether to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities “in the next two weeks,” a move that re-opens the door to negotiations, but also gives the US more time to position military forces for an operation.

June is recognized in more than 100 countries in the world as “Pride Month,” marking 55 years since gay liberation marches began commemorating the Stonewall riots – a pivotal uprising against the police’s targeting of LGBTQ+ communities in New York.

Eurasia Group’s biodiversity and sustainability analyst María José Valverde sat down with Rebecca Hubbard, the director of the High Seas Alliance, to discuss the High Seas Treaty.

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

Canada recorded a population growth of 0% in the first quarter of 2025, the lowest mark since 2020.

While the national level drama played out between Donald Trump and Mark Carney at the G7 in Kananaskis, a lot of important US-Canada work was going on with far less fanfare in Boston, where five Canadian premiers met with governors and delegations from seven US states.

The G7 meeting this week was always going to be a tricky one.

What’s next for Iran’s regime? Ian Bremmer says, “It’s much more likely that the supreme leader ends up out, but the military… continues to run the country.”