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Hard Numbers: Israel PM hopeful, Facebook board punts on Trump, Japan’s COVID squid, US population declining

May 05, 2021

Carlos Santamaria

Hard Numbers: Israel PM hopeful, Facebook board punts on Trump, Japan’s COVID squid, US population declining

Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid gestures as he delivers a speech following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's general election at his party headquarters in Tel Aviv.

REUTERS/Amir Cohen

28: Yair Lapid, leader of Israel's opposition Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party, has 28 days to form a new government. President Reuven Rivlin tapped Lapid after incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to cobble together a governing coalition by Tuesday's midnight deadline, further prolonging Israel's political stalemate.

6: Facebook has six months to decide whether to reinstate or permanently ban former US president Donald Trump on its platform, its oversight board has ruled (or punted, depending on your view). Facebook dropped Trump for his role in inciting the US Capitol insurrection on January 6.

25 million: A Japanese town has spent 25 million yen (almost $229,000) in COVID relief money to build a life-size statue of a giant squid. The mayor's office hopes the attraction will help boost tourism, but netizens complain it's a waste of funds needed to help local economies recover from the pandemic.

4: The number of births in the US dropped by 4 percent in 2020, double the average rate of decline in the past six years, according to new CDC data. This means that America's population is now below replacement levels, with more people dying than being born each day.

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Hard Numbers: BBC leader resigns over Trump edit, Another typhoon tears through the Philippines, US same-sex marriage isn’t going away, China ends some export controls

Members of the media gather outside Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters in central London, as BBC Director General Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness resign following accusations of bias and the controversy surrounding the editing of the Trump speech before the Capitol riots on 6 January 2021 in a BBC Panorama documentary.

(Credit Image: © Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire)

+26: Two BBC leaders, Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News Head Deborah Turness, resigned on Sunday after it emerged that the British news organization edited footage of US President Donald Trump in a misleading fashion.

What We’re Watching: Longest-ever US shutdown coming to an end, Georgia Dream making one-party rule reality, Syria’s president in Washington

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) heads back to his office following a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on November 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C. The shutdown of the Federal Government has become the longest in U.S. history after surpassing the 35 day shutdown that occurred during President Trumps first term that began in the end of 2018.

(Photo by Samuel Corum/Sipa USA)

Anatomy of a Scam

Mastercard

Behind every scam lies a story — and within every story, a critical lesson. Anatomy of a Scam, takes you inside the world of modern fraud — from investment schemes to impersonation and romance scams. You'll meet the investigators tracking down bad actors and learn about the innovative work being done across the payments ecosystem to protect consumers and businesses alike. Watch the first episode of Mastercard's five-part documentary, 'Anatomy of a Scam,' here.

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Hard Numbers: Israel PM hopeful, Facebook board punts on Trump, Japan’s COVID squid, US population declining

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In this Quick Take, Ian Bremmer breaks down the changing dynamics of the Russia-Ukraine war, where Europe is taking the lead in military support while the US adjusts its approach.

+26: Two BBC leaders, Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News Head Deborah Turness, resigned on Sunday after it emerged that the British news organization edited footage of US President Donald Trump in a misleading fashion.

It’s been six months since the Catholic Church elected its first American pope, Leo XIV. Since then, the Chicago-born pontiff has had sharp words for US President Donald Trump.

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

For better and worse, China has become an engineering powerhouse. Dan Wang joins Ian Bremmer on GZERO World to talk about what the US can learn from China’s example.

Author and tech analyst Dan Wang joins Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World Podcast to talk about the similarities between the US and China, and what Washington can learn from Beijing’s race to build the future.

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Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt asks whether the world is sliding back into the dangerous era of open nuclear weapons testing, and it all started with a misunderstanding by US President Donald Trump.

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