Hard Numbers: American shoppers set new records

126: Marking the Year of Return – the 400th anniversary of the beginning of the US slave trade– Ghana granted citizenship to 126 African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans last week as part of an effort to encourage slaves' descendants to return. Three quarters of the West African slave "dungeons" that held slaves before their forced journey to the Americas were based in what is now Ghana.

18: The death toll from a capsized boat carrying Libyan migrants last week has risen to 18 after five more bodies were discovered Sunday in the waters off the Italian coast. More than 1,100 migrants have died or gone missing this year while trying to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean by boat.

9.4 billion: American consumers are projected to have spent $9.4 billion on "Cyber Monday" purchases, the highest on record and an 18.9 percent jump from a year ago, according to a retail tracking report. That's on top of the record $7.4 billion spent on "Black Friday" in the US. What were Friday's biggest selling items? Frozen 2 toys, FIFA 20 video games, and L.O.L Surprise Dolls.

400,000: Boats carry 90 percent of global trade, and a quarter of the world's 1.6m commercial seamen hail from just one country: the Philippines. The 400,000 Filipinos who ply the high seas send home about $6 billion in remittances every year. (This NYT profile of the seamen has some amazing photographs, plus you'll learn what bolitas are.)

More from GZERO Media

When Walmart stocks its shelves with homegrown products like Fischer & Wieser’s peach jam, it’s not just selling food — it’s creating opportunity. Over two-thirds of what Walmart buys is made, grown, or assembled in America, fueling jobs and growth in communities nationwide. Walmart’s $350 billion commitment to US manufacturing is supporting 750,000 jobs and empowering small businesses to sell more, hire more, and strengthen their hometowns. From farms to shelves, Walmart’s investment keeps local businesses thriving. Learn how Walmart's commitment to US manufacturing is supporting 750K American jobs.

- YouTube

"We don’t want an outcome where everyone in the world is not participating equally in this opportunity economy that’s coming from AI,” says Baroness Joanna Shields, Executive Chair of the Responsible AI Future Foundation. Speaking with GZERO Media’s Tony Maciulis, Shields emphasizes that responsible AI must deliver impact.

A Venezuelan Navy patrol boat sails off the Caribbean coast, amid heightened tensions with the U.S., in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, October 24, 2025.
REUTERS/Juan Carlos Hernandez

On Tuesday, the US struck four boats off the Pacific coast of Central America, killing 14 people who the White House said were smuggling narcotics.

Israeli warplanes launched heavy airstrikes targeting an entire residential block near the Al-Sousi Mosque in Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City. The strikes destroyed a large number of homes, levelling some to the ground. Civil defense and ambulance teams rushed to the scene and are working to rescue victims and recover bodies from under the rubble amidst widespread destruction and significant difficulties in rescue operations due to the ongoing bombardment and a shortage of equipment.

Israeli strikes in Gaza killed 100 people last night, according to local officials, in the deadliest day since the signing of the ceasefire three weeks ago.