27.5: A district council election held in Hong Kong amid 2019’s surge in anti-government protests set a record for turnout with 71.2% of registered voters casting a ballot. But on Sunday, just 27.5% turned up for the first vote since Beijing passed new restrictions on who is allowed to run for office.
64: The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Monday that a funding shortfall will cut the number of people who can expect the agency’s help in 2024 by 64 million. With one-third less funding in 2023 than hoped for, investments in food, water, and health projects will benefit 181 million people rather than the hoped-for 245 million.
600: In Israel, a country with strict firearm control laws, gun license applications have increased 600% since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. In recent weeks, the government has relaxed gun ownership rules, speeding up applications and supplying rifles to new volunteer rapid-response units.
128,000: Large numbers of Iranians have taken to social media to post videos of themselves dancing as a way of protesting the censorship of a video of a dancing 70-year-old man known as “Sadegh Booghi.” Authorities labeled Sadegh’s move-busting videos, which had reportedly earned him 128,00 followers, as “criminal content."
The Regime's viral banger "Special Military Operation" is NOW STREAMING on most platforms, including those TWO BIG ONES. #PUPPETREGIME
What is President Trump trying to achieve in Iran, and how does his strategy compare to past US interventions in the Middle East?
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.
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.