Hard Numbers: Argentina's debt deal, Americans blame China, Kashmir's dark anniversary, Harry Potter vs Thai king

65 billion: Argentina has reached a deal with its international creditors to restructure $65 billion of its sovereign debt. This is great news for the country, which defaulted on its debt for the ninth time last May and whose economy is expected to shrink by 12 percent this year, following two years of recession.

78: Some 78 percent of Americans blame China for the global spread of the coronavirus, according to a Pew study. Two thirds of those surveyed disapprove of China's handling of the initial outbreak in Wuhan, while Americans' negative views of China have increased by seven points since last March, when the World Health Organization declared the pandemic.

370: Wednesday is the first anniversary of India's controversial move to revoke article 370 of the constitution, stripping Indian-administered Kashmir of its semi-autonomy from New Delhi. Authorities have imposed a curfew and shut down the internet to prevent any protests in the Muslim-majority region, disputed by India and Pakistan since 1948.

200: Around 200 protesters dressed up in Harry Potter-themed costumes held a rally in Bangkok, calling for sweeping reforms to the Thai monarchy. The police did not arrest any of the activists — part of a growing anti-government youth movement — but said they will investigate them for alleged offenses against the royal family, punishable by up to 15 years in jail in Thailand.

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Listen: On this episode of the GZERO World Podcast, while the Gaza war rages on with no end in sight, Ian Bremmer and three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman discuss how it could end, who is standing in the way, and what comes next. It may seem premature to talk about a resolution to this conflict, but Friedman argues that it is more important now than ever to map out a viable endgame. "Either we're going to go into 2024 with some really new ideas,” Friedman tells Ian, “or we're going back to 1947 with some really new weapons."

2024 04 04 E0819 Quick Take CLEAN FINAL

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: On the back of the Israeli Defense Forces strike killing seven members of aid workers for the World Central Kitchen, their founder, Chef Jose Andres, is obviously very angry. The Israelis immediately apologized and took responsibility for the act. He says that this was intentionally targeting his workers. I have a hard time believing that the IDF would have wanted to kill his workers intentionally. Anyone that's saying the Israelis are only to blame for this—as well as the enormous civilian death toll in this war–I strongly disagree.

President Joe Biden pauses during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023.
Miriam Alster/REUTERS

Biden told Netanyahu that the humanitarian situation in Gaza and strikes on aid workers were “unacceptable,” the White House readout of the call said.

Commander Shingo Nashinoki, 50, and soldiers of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB), Japan's first marine unit since World War Two, take part in a military drill as U.S. Marines observe, on the uninhabited Irisuna island close to Okinawa, Japan, November 15, 2023.
REUTERS

Given the ugly World War II history between the two countries, that would be a startling development.