Hard Numbers: Russia quits ISS, Global GDP growth slows, Peruvians sour on Castillo, Lebanon buys wheat

Hard Numbers: Russia quits ISS, Global GDP growth slows, Peruvians sour on Castillo, Lebanon buys wheat
Russian cosmonauts pose with a flag of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic at the International Space Station.
Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS

24: After 24 years as a member of the International Space Station — a major step in post-Cold War reconciliation — Russia announced Tuesday it’ll leave the module by the end of 2024. But the US says it didn’t get the memo.

3.2: The IMF now says the world economy will grow only 3.2% this year, 0.4 percentage points less than it predicted in April. Meanwhile, global inflation will rise one percentage point more than expected to 8.3%.

19: Only 19% of Peruvians polled believe President Pedro Castillo is doing a good job one year after his election. He's already survived two impeachment votes, and Congress may try again soon over allegations that he obstructed justice by firing his interior minister.

150 million: Lebanon's parliament voted Tuesday to use a $150 million World Bank loan to buy enough wheat for at least six months. The cash-strapped nation is almost entirely reliant on imports to feed its population, and its food inflation rate was at 332.25% in June.

More from GZERO Media

Five years ago, Microsoft set bold 2030 sustainability goals: to become carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste—all while protecting ecosystems. That commitment remains—but the world has changed, technology has evolved, and the urgency of the climate crisis has only grown. This summer, Microsoft launched the 2025 Environmental Sustainability Report, offering a comprehensive look at the journey so far, and how Microsoft plans to accelerate progress. You can read the report here.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian shake hands as they meet with the media to make a joint statement following their talks in Yerevan, Armenia, August 19, 2025.
Hayk Baghdasaryan/Photolure via REUTERS

$3 billion: Armenia and Iran pledged to triple bilateral trade to $3 billion this week, just days after Yerevan inked a US-brokered peace deal with Azerbaijan.

An Indian paramilitary soldier guards a road during India's 79th Independence Day celebrations in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on August 15, 2025. Prime Minister Narendra Modi issues a stern warning to Pakistan, stating that India will not tolerate nuclear blackmail anymore and will give a befitting reply to the enemy. He asserts that India has now set a ''new normal'' of not differentiating between terrorists and those who nurture terrorism.
Photo by Firdous Nazir/NurPhoto

For four days in May, two nuclear rivals stood at the brink of a potentially catastrophic escalation, one that could impact a fifth of the world’s population.

People celebrate after early official results show Bolivian presidential candidate Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga of the conservative Alianza Libre coalition in second place, and as the ruling party Movement for Socialism (MAS) was on track to suffer its worst electoral defeat in a generation, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, August 17, 2025.
REUTERS/Ipa Ibanez

20: The centrist Rodrigo Paz and the conservative Jorge Quiroga advanced to Bolivia’s presidential runoff election after winning the most votes in Sunday’s first round, ensuring that a left-wing politician won’t occupy the country’s presidency for the first time in 20 years.

Enaam Abdallah Mohammed, 19, a displaced Sudanese woman and mother of four, who fled with her family, looks on inside a camp shelter amid the ongoing conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army, in Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan July 30, 2025.
REUTERS