Hard Numbers: Bibi's (alleged) demands, South Korean population shrinks, Venezuela's oil plunge, bloodshed in Niger

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

150: Israeli prosecutors have amended one of three corruption indictments against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming that the PM was personally aware of or involved in making 150 demands to a powerful media executive to ensure positive coverage of his government in exchange for regulatory benefits. Netanyahu, for his part, denies any wrongdoing, calling the cases part of a "witch hunt" against him.

21,000: South Korea's population dropped for the first time in over a decade, falling by almost 21,000 year-on-year as the number of deaths surpassed the number of births. South Korea is grappling with an increasingly aging society, with more than 24 percent of the population now over the age of 60.

37.5: Venezuela's oil exports plunged in 2020, dropping by 37.5 percent compared to the previous year, a staggering 77-year low. Venezuela's once-booming oil sector has taken a hit in recent years as a result of US economic sanctions — and has been further pummeled because of COVID-19 disruptions.

100: Just a week after its presidential election, the West African country of Niger experienced one of its worst attacks in history on Saturday, when militants stormed two towns in the southwestern region of Tillabéri, killing at least 100 people. No group has claimed responsibility for the rampage yet, but Islamic State affiliates have increasingly made inroads in Niger over the past few years.

More from GZERO Media

Police arrest Emory economics professor Caroline Fohlin during a rally in which Pro-Palestinian protestors set up an encampment at the Emory Campus in Atlanta, on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
Arvin Temkar/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS/ABACAPRESS.COM

Pro-Palestinian student demonstrations and encampments have popped up at dozens of US universities in recent weeks. Columbia University – where protests began – and other elite schools in the Northeast have grabbed plenty of headlines, but where they are facing the harshest pushback – and could ultimately help Republicans win back the White House – is in the South.

A cannabis rights activist waves a flag outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 24, 2022.
Alejandro Alvarez/Reuters

The Biden admin. says it’s high time to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, and it wants to knock it from Schedule I to Schedule III — meaning it would no longer be grouped with heroin and LSD.

Supporters and armed members of the Fatah movement protest against the Palestinian Hamas government during a rally in Jabalya camp September 22, 2006.
REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Beijing, already a global economic power, wants to cut a larger figure in diplomacy, cultivating an image as a more honest broker than the US, with closer ties to the so-called “Global South.”

TikTok logo on a phone surrounded by the American, Israeli, and Chinese flags.
Jess Frampton

Last Wednesday, as part of the sweeping foreign-aid package that included much-neededfunding for Ukraine’s defense, President Joe Biden signed into law a bill requiring that TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, sell the popular video-sharing app to an American buyer within a year or face a ban in the United States.

Russia And China benefit from US infighting, says David Sanger | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

On GZERO World, Pulitzer prize-winning New York Times correspondent David Sanger argues that China's rise and Russia's aggressive stance signal a new era of major power competition, with both countries fueling instability in the US to distract from their strategic ambitions.

NYPD officers arrive at Columbia University on April 30, 2024, to clear demonstrators from an occupied hall on campus.

John Lamparski/NurPhoto via Reuters

Last night, hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbia University in riot gear, one night after students occupied a building on campus and 13 days after students pitched an encampment that threw kerosene on a student movement against the war in Gaza.

Israel seems intent on Rafah invasion despite global backlash | Ian Bremmer | World In :60

How will the international community respond to an Israeli invasion of Rafah? How would a Trump presidency be different from his first term? Are growing US campus protests a sign of a chaotic election in November? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.