Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Myanmar’s junta in talks with China and India, Royal cake piece sells, Boeing strike ends, Polls show Trump landslide against Biden

Myanmar's army chief General Min Aung Hlaing inspects troops during a parade to mark the 67th anniversary of Armed Forces Day in Myanmar's capital Naypyitaw March 27, 2012.

Myanmar's army chief General Min Aung Hlaing inspects troops during a parade to mark the 67th anniversary of Armed Forces Day in Myanmar's capital Naypyitaw March 27, 2012.

REUTERS/Soe Zeya/

5,350: Myanmar’s ethnic groups fighting against the junta are up in arms over China hosting junta leader Min Aung Hlaing for the first time since the military coup in 2021. According to a UN report, 5,350 civilians have been killed by the junta. The talks come as ethnic minority militias and pro-democracy fighters are making unprecedented gains in parts of Myanmar, including areas bordering China. and as India is reportedly in talks with some rebels and the shadow pro-democracy government.


2,200: Seventy-seven years after it was sliced, a piece of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s wedding cake has sold at auction for £2,200 (US$2,863) to a phone bidder from China. The family selling the slice are the descendants of the queen’s housekeeper, who was gifted it by the royal.

38: US Boeing workers have ended their seven-week strike, accepting the aviation manufacturer's offer of a 38% pay raise over the next four years. The walkout consisted of 30,000 workers demanding a 40% pay rise and has cost Boeing nearly $10 billion.

7: Ever wonder what would have happened if Joe Biden hadn’t dropped out of the presidential race? According to a YouGov, if we lived in an alternative reality where Biden was still on the ballot, Donald Trump would be ahead seven points nationally. In this scenario, such a poll would have translated to a Trump landslide.

More For You

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)'s Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, one of the world's largest nuclear facilities, stands along the seaside in Kashiwazaki, Niigata prefecture, Japan December 21, 2025.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)'s Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, one of the world's largest nuclear facilities, stands along the seaside in Kashiwazaki, Niigata prefecture, Japan December 21, 2025.

REUTERS/Issei Kato
54: Japan is reopening the world’s largest nuclear power plant after a regional vote gave the greenlight on Monday. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, located 136 miles outside of Tokyo, had its 54 reactors shuttered following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that spurred the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. The decision reflects Japan’s push to [...]
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the July 14, 2025 military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. - 14/07/2025 - France / Ile-de-France (region) / Paris

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the July 14, 2025 military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. - 14/07/2025 - France / Ile-de-France (region) / Paris

Julien Mattia / Le Pictorium.
1: French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to build France’s first aircraft carrier in decades, as Europe accelerates rearmament. The ship won’t be ready before 2038. Germany, similarly, plans to recruit 80,000 troops and spend up to 3.5% of GDP on defense by 2029. [...]
Zambia, Collum Coal Mine ZAMBIA, Sinazese, chinese owned Collum Coal Mine, underground mining of hard coal for copper melter and cement factory, loading place ***SAMBIA, Collum Coal Mine eines chinesischem Unternehmens, Untertageabbau von Steinkohle, Ladeplatz Sinasese Zambia

Zambia, Collum Coal Mine ZAMBIA, Sinazese, chinese owned Collum Coal Mine, underground mining of hard coal for copper melter and cement factory, loading place ***SAMBIA, Collum Coal Mine eines chinesischem Unternehmens, Untertageabbau von Steinkohle, Ladeplatz Sinasese Zambia

  • imago images/Joerg Boethling via Reuters Connect
$753 million: Angola secured $753 million in loans from the US and South Africa to revamp a railway line linking mining regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. For Washington, the investment is strategic: the Lobito corridor offers the shortest route from the DRC’s copper and cobalt belt to Atlantic shipping lanes, helping secure [...]
​A Boeing 737 Max 8 with Afghans on board lands at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on December 16, 2025.

A Boeing 737 Max 8 with Afghans on board lands at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on December 16, 2025. 160 Afghans have come to Berlin on a charter flight organized by the German government.

Fabian Sommer/dpa via Reuters Connect
500: By the end of the year, Germany plans to accept over 500 Afghan refugees who assisted German troops on the ground in Afghanistan, or face threats from the Taliban. Although these refugees have already been approved for admission, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition government delayed their entry into the country. [...]