Hard Numbers: Colombia wants US papers for Colombians, European inflation slows, Afghan school bombed, Indian port project sows sectarian strife
17,195: Colombian President Gustavo Petro wants Washington to grant temporary legal status to undocumented Colombians in the US. Petro says it’s only fair given that Colombia itself has absorbed — and legalized — millions of Venezuelan refugees in recent years. Experts say there could be as many as 200,000 Colombians in the US without papers. In October, US immigration officials apprehended 17,915, making Colombians one of the largest national groups at the border today.
0.6: Inflation in Europe fell for the first time in more than a year, dropping by 0.6 percentage points to an even 10%. That’s the first time prices have eased since June of 2021, mostly due to slower price growth for energy, which jumped a mere 35% last month, down from more than 40%. Although 10% is crazy high by recent European standards, the slight drop will create room for the European Central Bank to raise rates more slowly when it next meets to tweak the benchmark in December.
15: At least 15 people, including several students, are reported dead after a bombing at a religious school in northern Afghanistan. No one has claimed responsibility, but since reclaiming power in 2021, the Taliban has been at pains to secure the country against growing threats from rival militants, particularly a powerful local offshoot of the Islamic State group.
900 million: Sectarian tensions are rising over a $900 million planned port project in southern India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hails the new port, to be built in the state of Kerala, as an economic boon for the whole country. But a group of mostly Christian local fishermen has held it up over concerns it will destroy their livelihoods. Clashes between the fishermen and police left dozens wounded on Monday, and two days later hundreds of members of a rival Hindu group marched in support of the port.