Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Israel assassinates Hezbollah commander, DOGE gets DOGE’d, Ethiopian volcano erupts, Not much to show for COP30

​People walk past a damaged building during the funeral of Hezbollah's top military official, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, and of other people who were killed by an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, despite a U.S.-brokered truce a year ago, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon November 24, 2025.
People walk past a damaged building during the funeral of Hezbollah's top military official, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, and of other people who were killed by an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, despite a U.S.-brokered truce a year ago, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon November 24, 2025.
REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
5: The Israeli military assassinated a senior Hezbollah commander in an airstrike on the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Sunday. The attack killed at least five people overall. Lebanon’s president lambasted the strike. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the commander was trying to help Hezbollah regroup.

8: DOGE has been DOGE’d, with a White House official declaring that the Department of Government Efficiency – which, under Tesla owner Elon Musk, tried to slash government spending– no longer exists. The department still had eight months left before the end of its charter.

12,000: A long-dormant Ethiopian volcano, Hayli Gubbi, erupted for the first time in nearly 12,000 years, sending ash 9 miles high and drifting across the Red Sea. No casualties were reported, but ash is strangling the local vegetation and threatening local herders’ livelihoods.

1.5: As COP30 comes to a close, the conference concludes with an agreement projecting that the world will likely exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming in the next five years, with few promises made to stop it. The agreement did not mention fossil fuel curtailment, and instead focused on climate change adaptation, in a sign that countries are prioritizing energy security over climate commitments.

More For You

Chris, an Army veteran, started his Walmart journey over 25 years ago as an hourly associate. Today, he manages a Distribution Center and serves as a mentor, helping others navigate their own paths to success. At Walmart, associates have the opportunity to take advantage of the pathways, perks, and pay that come with the job — with or without a college degree. In fact, more than 75% of Walmart management started as hourly associates. Learn more about how over 130,000 associates were promoted into roles of greater responsibility and higher pay in FY25.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Finland's President Alexander Stubb, Estonia’s Prime Minister, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and other European leaders visit memorial to fallen Ukrainian defenders at the Independent Square on the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 24, 2026.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

Somewhere in the Donbas region, Ukrainian soldier Artem Bondarenko says he hasn’t slept through the night in months as he defends Eastern Ukraine.

- YouTube

In the latest episode of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping's hit wellness podcast This Authoritarian Life, we learn how positive communication patterns can break negative cycles in our relationships -- especially our relationships with Iran, Syria, Venezuela, and Cuba. #PUPPETREGIME