777,000: When it rains, it pours – and Iran is getting absolutely soaked right now. After watching its main proxy Hezbollah get destroyed by Israel, then losing its most important regional ally in Syria, and now suffering an energy crisis that has forced the closure of schools and government offices, the Iranian rial has plunged to 777,000 against the dollar. That’s the lowest level ever.
10: In an ongoing bid to boost tourism, the Chinese Communist Party has extended the period of visa-free travel to 10 full days for citizens of 50 countries, including the US. Passport holders of nearly 40 other countries are able to stay for a full month. Since the end of Covid restrictions, foreign visitors have flocked to the country: In the first 11 months of this year, arrivals grew 86%, to nearly 30 million people.
1,041: The South African government has shuttered 1,041 informal mom and pop grocery spots across the country. The move comes after dozens of children have died from consuming pesticide-laden foods purchased at the so-called “spaza shops.” Evidently the pesticides that shop owners are using to control vermin have found ways into the food, leading to illness and injuries.
100,000: Russia has arrested a suspect in the assassination of a high-ranking Russian general in Moscow earlier this week. Russia’s Federal Security Service said the man is an Uzbek national, who was paid $100,000 by Ukraine to kill Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov with a bomb hidden in a scooter. Kyiv earlier alleged that Kirillov, who oversaw Russia’s use of chemical weapons, had used banned weapons thousands of times in Ukraine since Moscow’s 2022 invasion.Ever since Donald Trump returned to office last year, governments have been hedging bets on the future of American power and what it might mean for them.
Microsoft is advancing its efforts to eliminate single-use plastics across its global packaging portfolio through material innovation and design changes across products like Surface and Xbox. By rethinking how packaging works—from cushioning to coatings and structural components—the company is reducing waste and demonstrating how design decisions at scale can deliver meaningful sustainability impact. Last week, Microsoft marked a key milestone in reducing single-use plastic in its packaging to just 0.07%, reflecting significant progress toward its broader commitment to become a zero-waste company by 2030. Read the full story here.
In this “ask ian,” Ian Bremmer says the United Arab Emirates’ decision to withdraw from OPEC reflects a broader erosion of trust in longstanding institutions amid growing regional instability.