Hard Numbers: Wildfires rage, top goods exporters to the US, slim chances for Swifties, shoe injustice

13 million: Deadly wildfires continue to rip through both the US and Canada. Dystopian scenes are currently playing out in Hawaii, where at least 36 have been killed by blazes in Maui caused by dry conditions and intense winds. Meanwhile, Canada continues to contend with its worst wildfire season in history, with 13 million hectares of land (32 million acres) having burned since January.

1.2: China was the top exporter of goods to the US for the past decade … until now. Mexico and Canada are now both the largest supplier of goods to America as China contends with an economic downturn (more on that here). Still, as Canada deals with its own trade hiccups, including a recent workers’ strike at some of its busiest ports, exports to the US fell by 1.2% in June compared to the same time last year, according to fresh data.

1/400: One of the biggest stories sweeping Canada right now is how to get tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Toronto in Nov. 2024. Many Swifties are irate that they missed out on receiving a code that would then give them access to try to purchase tickets – albeit with no guarantees! The Globe and Mail calculates that, given out-of-control demand, the chances of getting a ticket are just 1/400.

50: Is Anca Nitu, a resident of Langley, British Columbia, literally the (old) woman who lived in a shoe!? Over the past two months, she has had 50 Amazon boxes of women's shoes dropped at her doorstep. When she tried to return them, Nitu incurred fees – topping $300 – from the United Postal Service. Nitu believes that third-party retailers have used her address to dump their unwanted stock and to avoid paying Amazon pickup and handling fees.