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.

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Iranian policemen monitor an area near a residential complex that is damaged in Israeli attacks in Tehran, Iran, on June 13, 2025.
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Israel bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities Thursday night, causing “significant damage” at the country’s main enrichment plant, killing leading Iranian military figures and nuclear scientists, and sparking fears that the Middle East is on the verge of a wider war.

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Kyodo via Reuters Connect

The official reason for this weekend’s military parade in Washington DC is to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the US Army – but the occasion also just happens to fall on President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.