Hard Numbers: Strikes hit Amazon, Japanese city to put trash violators on blast, North Korean troops get clobbered in Kursk, bad air shuts down Bosnian capital, Cuba’s tourism collapse continues
9,000: The Japanese city of Fukushima is about to go through the trash and put people on blast. Beginning next year, city authorities will rummage through bags that have been incorrectly sorted or improperly disposed of in order to identify, and in some cases publicly shame, those responsible. The move is part of a wider push to improve waste disposal in a city where 9,000 garbage disposal violations were recorded last year.
100: So far, at least 100 North Korean soldiers have been killedand nearly 1,000 wounded while fighting on Russia’s behalf in the Ukraine war, according to South Korea. Those are heavy losses for a total force of about 10,000 that arrived in late summer to help the Kremlin repel a Ukrainian invasion of the Russian border region of Kursk. The North Koreans’ lack of experience with drone warfare is believed to be one reason they are getting hit so hard.
225: The Bosnian capital of Sarajevo grounded flights and asked people to stay indoors on Thursday as a toxic winter fog settled over the city, bringing the air quality index to a “very unhealthy” level of 225. The widespread burning of coal and wood for heat in the winter months contributes to pollution, which tends to gather in the city, which lies in a valley surrounded by mountains.
2.2 million: This year, only 2.2 million tourists visited Cuba, a full million short of the communist government’s target, and less than half the pre-pandemic average. The collapse of the tourism industry — once responsible for more than 10% of GDP — has dealt a crippling blow to the island nation, which has suffered blackouts and shortages of fuel and food. The deepening economic crisis has caused more than 10% of Cuba’s population to flee the communist-led country over the past two years.