0: Although Tokyo and Seoul reached a landmark agreement for a South Korean fund to compensate victims of Japan’s 20th-century colonization of the Korean peninsula, zero of the remaining survivors of Japan’s forced labor camps will accept the money.
5,000: There are now as many as 5,000 Russian asylum-seekers at the southern border of the US, according to the immigration-focused website Border Report. Most are wealthy Russians who have fled Vladimir Putin’s mandatory conscription.
5 billion: Saudi Arabia will give $5 billion to Turkey in a bid to stabilize Turkish foreign exchange reserves, which have taken a huge hit since last month’s earthquakes in the southeast. Bilateral ties have come a long way since the two countries clashed over Turkey’s support for Islamist movements in the region and Riyadh’s 2018 assassination of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. But Turkey needs the cash, and Saudi has lots and lots and lots of it.
90: Attention @tindernightmares! Over the past year, some 90% of all kidnappings in the Brazilian megalopolis of São Paulo occurred after the victim set up a meeting on a dating app. In recent years, mobile payment technologies have also abetted the rise of Brazil’s “flash kidnappings” in which victims are held for short periods and small ransoms.GZERO Media is back on the podium at the 47th Annual Telly Awards, adding six more trophies to our shelf — including three in Gold! We’re so grateful to be recognized for our groundbreaking work in global analysis and… *checks notes*... geopolitical puppetry.
Two weeks of protests have paralyzed Bolivia's capital, La Paz, costing businesses $50 million a day amid the country's worst economic crisis in 40 years. Unions are calling for the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz, just six months into his tenure.
Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung meet this week for a two-day summit focused on security, energy, and critical minerals. The two leaders appear to differ on China’s engagement in the future of the region.