☰
HomeLiving Beyond BordersGZERO WorldSignalIn 60 SecondsPuppet RegimeGZERO World PodcastContact UsAbout UsCareersPrivacy PolicyTerms

Hard Numbers: Ukraine’s food storage dilemma, American tourists behaving badly, Vietnam’s health minister in cuffs, British journalist missing in the Amazon

June 08, 2022
Beatrice Catena
and
Gabrielle Debinski
Ukraine’s food storage dilemma, American tourists behaving badly, Vietnam’s health minister in cuffs, British journalist missing in the AmazonUkraine’s food storage dilemma, American tourists behaving badly, Vietnam’s health minister in cuffs, British journalist missing in the Amazon
Ukraine's grain exports are being held hostage.
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

23.5 million: Ukraine is being forced to find storage capacity for a whopping 23.5 million tons of grain thanks to Russia’s blockade of Black Sea ports usually used to transport Ukrainian exports like corn and wheat. Kyiv is trying to up its storage capacity ahead of a summer harvest, wary that improperly stored grains can easily spoil.

150: After being criticized for a slow initial response, Brazil has deployed 150 soldiers to the Amazon to search for a British journalist who went missing on a reporting trip along with a Brazilian indigenous expert. But critics say far more people are needed to comb the vast landscape. Meanwhile, Brazil’s brash President Jair Bolsonaro blamed the men for embarking on “an unadvisable adventure” in the first place.

45: Vietnam’s Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long has been arrested for his role in a massive price-gouging scheme of COVID-19 test kits. Long, along with the mayor of Hanoi, is accused of allowing a pharmaceutical company to inflate sale prices to hospitals and clinics by up to 45% in exchange for kickbacks.

25,000: An American tourist was slapped with a fine after throwing an electric scooter down Rome’s 18th-century Spanish Steps, causing €25,000 ($26,788) worth of damages. The Yankee was also banned from revisiting the world heritage site in the future. Damaging historical landmarks is a crime in Italy that could land an offender in prison for up to one year.


This comes to you from the Signal newsletter team of GZERO Media. Subscribe for your free daily Signal today.

More from GZERO Media

Is the DRC on the path to peace?

Protesters hold Democratic Republic of Congo flags during a march to voice concerns about issues regarding the recent conflict in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), outside the parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, February 7, 2025.
REUTERS/Esa Alexander

On Tuesday, Angola offered to mediate an end to the conflict between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group.

What happened at the UN Biodiversity Summit in Rome, and what comes next?

Flags hung at the reconvening of the COP16 conference in Rome last month, with an inset image of Adrian Gahan, the ocean lead for Campaign for Nature.
María José Valverde and Adrian Gahan

Countries gathered in Rome in late February to finalize key decisions left unresolved after last year’s COP16 summit in Colombia. In Italy, negotiators agreed to the first global deal for finance conservation, which aims to achieve the landmark goal of protecting and restoring 30% of the world’s land and seas by 2030. Eurasia Group’s María José Valverde interviewed Adrian Gahan, the ocean lead for Campaign for Nature, a global campaign founded in 2018 to safeguard the 30x30 target, as we look ahead to the UN ocean conference and continue building on the nature agenda for 2025.

America is souring on Trumponomics. Trump may not care.

Trump in front of a downward trending graph and economic indicators.
Jess Frampton

For someone who campaigned on lowering grocery prices on day one and rode widespread economic discontent to the White House, Donald Trump sure seems bent on pursuing policies that will increase that discontent.

Israel and Lebanon are set for border talks

An Israeli soldier stands next to a gate on a road near the Israel-Lebanon border, in Israel, on March 12, 2025.

REUTERS/Avi Ohayon

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to start talks “as soon as possible” on their disputed land border nearly four months after a ceasefire ended the most recent war between the two countries.

Snubbing Trump, Greenland votes to stick closer to Denmark – for now

A man walks as a Danish flag flutters next to Hans Egede Statue ahead of a March 11 general election in Nuuk, Greenland, March 9, 2025.
REUTERS/Marko Djurica

Greenland’s center-right parties trounced the ruling left-wing coalition in Tuesday’s election. In a blow to US President Donald Trump’s plans to annex the Arctic territory, a once-marginal party that favors a slow separation from Denmark is set to lead the next government.

About UsCareers PressContact Us Privacy PolicyTerms of Use
© 2020 GZERO Media. All Rights Reserved | A Eurasia Group media company.