Hard Numbers: Dutch riot, Israel's COVID balancing act, Estonia's new PM, Germans heart Biden

Protests during the Dutch lockdown in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Protests during the Dutch lockdown in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Pro Shots/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

10: Violent protests against new coronavirus restrictions have erupted in at least 10 regions in the Netherlands, which recently imposed the country's first nationwide curfew since World War Two. Protesters clashed with police and looted stores — and police say that a far-right anti-immigrant group has taken advantage of the discontent to exacerbate tensions.

1: Estonia's parliament has approved the nomination of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas of the centre-right Reform party, making her the country's first-ever female head of government. Kallas takes the reins after Estonia's government was recently thrown into chaos amid a corruption scandal and will now oversee the country's post-COVID recovery.

40: Despite rolling out the most successful vaccine drive in the world, Israel's vaccination rate cannot keep pace with the spread of disease as Israelis continue to flout social distancing rules. The country will now close its airport to all international travel for at least a week to try and stop the spread of new COVID variants, with the British strain now accounting for around 40 percent of all new infections in the country.

79: After a tumultuous few years under the Trump presidency, Germans are feeling good about Joe Biden: 79 percent of them say they have confidence in Biden's approach to global affairs, compared to just 10 percent who said the same about President Trump last fall.

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The Gen Z group led by Miraj Dhungana escalates their ongoing demonstrations, confronting police outside the prime minister's official residence in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Nov. 26, 2025.
Sanjit Pariyar/NurPhoto

Youth unemployment is making headlines from China to Canada, with many countries’ rates at historic highs. The fallout is fueling Gen Z discontent, creating migration pressures, and threatening social unrest in nations around the globe.

People stay at a school, which is functioned as the temporary shelter at flooded area, on November 30, 2025 in Sumatra, Sumatra. The authorities in Indonesia were searching on Sunday for hundreds of people they said were missing after days of unusually heavy rains across Southeast Asia that have killed hundreds and displaced millions.
Photo by Li Zhiquan/China News Service/VCG

800: The death toll from the tropical storm that battered parts of Southeast Asia is now close to 800.

US President Donald Trump pardons a turkey at the annual White House Thanksgiving Turkey Pardon in the Rose Garden in Washington, D.C., USA, on Nov. 25, 2025.
Andrew Leyden/NurPhoto

Although not all of our global readers celebrate Thanksgiving, it’s still good to remind ourselves that while the world offers plenty of fodder for doomscrolling and despair, there are still lots of things to be grateful for too.