Hard Numbers: British inflation soars, Spain adopts menstrual leave, COVID stimulus gambler fesses up, Schröder to be evicted

British inflation soars, Spain adopts menstrual leave, COVID stimulus gambler fesses up, Schröder to be evicted
Wads of British Pound Sterling banknotes.
Reuters

9: Inflation in the UK has risen to 9%, a four-decade high, as Britons grapple with the worst cost-of-living crisis in half a century. Energy bills for the average household rose by almost £700 ($865) a year in April, and the Bank of England warns that the surge will likely worsen this fall.

1: Spain’s cabinet on Tuesday approved legislation granting paid leave to women experiencing severe menstrual pain, making it the first European country to advance such a bill. It is part of a broader women-focused legislative package that includes reforms to abortion laws, whereby 16-year-olds will no longer require parental consent to get an abortion.

357,400: A Japanese man who spent 46.3 million yen ($357,400) of state-supplied COVID relief funds says he is “sorry” for splurging and that he will slowly pay back authorities. The money was supposed to be divided between 463 low-income people in a town in western Japan but was mistakenly sent as a lump sum to one individual, who gambled it away on casino sites.

407,000: Germany’s governing coalition is planning to strip former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of his sprawling office complex in Berlin that costs German tax payers around €407,000 ($427,552) annually. Schröder, who is buddies with Vladimir Putin and has refused to condemn Russia’s onslaught in Ukraine, will reportedly still keep his monthly ex-chancellor’s stipend of €8,300 ($8,717).

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