HARD NUMBERS

10,000: The number of newly-enrolled foreign-born students in US universities decreased by nearly 10,000 in 2016, the latest year for which data is available, according to a new report from the Institute of International Education. That’s the first such decline in 12 years.

100: Israeli warplanes have carried out more than 100 airstrikes in Gaza in recent days, after violence erupted following the deaths of 10 Palestinian fighters and an Israeli commando in a botched special forces operation. The flare up in violence – which also saw 400 rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israel – is the worst in between the two sides since 2014.

30: Russia may be the biggest beneficiary of newly-imposed US sanctions on Iranian oil exports. Last month, Russia pumped an average of 11.4 million barrels of the black stuff per day – a 30-year record – amid higher global oil prices and a push in many countries to replace Iranian barrels.

7: The military is among the most trusted institutions in Mexico according to a recent poll, with citizens rating their confidence in the country’s fighting forces a 7 out of 10. Only the church and universities ranked higher. Mexico’s political parties ranked last, at 5.1 out of 10 – below even the country’s notoriously corrupt police, which came in at 5.5.

3: The preparations of the government of Papua New Guinea for this weekend’s APEC leaders’ summit included hiring three cruise ships to house foreign dignitaries and media, due to a lack of hotel rooms in the country’s capital, Port Moresby.