Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: CIA keeps mum about sexual assaults, Oil prices fall, Europe cuts rates, Korea goes (back to) nuclear

The lobby of the CIA Headquarters Building in Langley, Virginia, U.S. on August 14, 2008.
The lobby of the CIA Headquarters Building in Langley, Virginia, U.S. on August 14, 2008.
REUTERS/Larry Downing

648: How rampant is sexual misconduct at the CIA? The agency has produced a 648-page report detailing the problem, in the wake of an Associated Press inquiry that found accusations from dozens of women, as well as a number of ongoing trials and investigations of CIA officers accused of sex crimes. What’s in the report? Well, for now, that’s classified.

10: Oil prices are falling fast, as producers keep pumping even as demand slows on concerns over economic slowdowns in the US and China, the world’s two largest economies. Over the past two weeks, prices for Brent crude, a benchmark barrel, have plunged by more than $10, falling below $70 for the first time in three years.

3.5: Speaking of concerns about an economic slowdown, the European Central Bank, which runs monetary policy for countries that use the euro, cut interest rates by a quarter of a point to 3.5% on Thursday. The decision to cut was unanimous, as inflation continued to fall, the regulator said, but “economic activity is still subdued.”

2: Korea has officially commissioned two new nuclear reactors to boost non-fossil power generation. The move reverses a 2017 decision by a previous government to move away from atomic energy because of safety concerns. Korea’s renewed focus on nuclear power echoes a broader global trend as more countries revisit the power of the atom to increase capacity while reducing emissions.

More For You

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with journalists to comment on new U.S. sanctions targeting two major Russia's oil producers, as well as other international issues, in Moscow, Russia, October 23, 2025.
Sputnik/Alexander Shcherbak/Pool via REUTERS

The US has paused Russian oil sanctions in a bid to stabilize energy markets rocked by the war with Iran. Administration officials stress that it’s a “tailored” measure, applying only to oil already loaded onto tankers, but it’s still a gift to Russia, which has already been clocking an extra $150 million daily in oil revenues since the war began.

A Boeing C-135 Stratotanker / Stratolifter military aircraft known as KC-135 of the United States Air Force USAF configured as Air Tanker Transport for aerial refueling, powered by 4x CFMI jet engines and tail number 63-8003. The military plane spotted flying over the Netherlands in the blue sky from Mainland USA to Tel Aviv TLV to support the Israel USA - Iran war known as Operation Epic Fury by the US Department of Defense. Venlo, the Netherlands on March 2, 2026
Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto

4: The number of crew members aboard a US refuelling plane – out of six total – who died after the aircraft crashed in neighboring Iraq on Thursday, US Central Command said this morning.