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Hard Numbers: Piling on Beijing, 7th time’s the charm for Boris, massacre in Myanmar, US unemployment claims drop

December 09, 2021
Gabrielle Debinski
Staff members sit near a board with signs of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, at the National Aquatics Center, known colloquially as the "Ice Cube", in Beijing, China April 1, 2021

5: Five countries — Australia, Canada, the UK, New Zealand and Lithuania — have so far joined the US in refusing to send government officials to the Beijing Winter Olympics in February over China’s human rights abuses. China’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday said these states would “pay the price” for the diplomatic boycott.

52: US unemployment claims plunged last week to a 52-year low. Several factors likely influenced the drop, including the ongoing pandemic recovery as well as job market changes related to the holiday season.

11: Myanmar's military reportedly rounded up 11 civilians — including five children — on Tuesday, tied them up, and then burned them alive. The massacre in the country’s northwest reportedly came after a military vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

7: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson became a dad for the seventh time Thursday, when his wife Carrie gave birth to a baby girl. It’s a welcome reprieve for Johnson, who has been having a very rough time politically, including over a recent scandal in which his staff allegedly breached lockdown restrictions to party.

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