News
Hard Numbers: Trump’s favorability, Niger attack, lone ship braves Black Sea, Vietnamese EV maker’s big debut, neo-Nazis take to the streets
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he campaigns in Iowa.
Reuters
35: A new poll finds that just 35% of Americans have a favorable view of Donald Trump, while 62% have an unfavorable view of the former president. The survey, which also found that 53% approve of the recent Justice Department decision to indict Trump, was conducted before Trump was indicted Monday in Georgia.
17: Seventeen Nigerien soldiers were killed and scores more were injured when a jihadist group launched an attack Wednesday near the border with Mali. It’s the first major attack in that country in six months and comes just weeks after a military coup that regional and Western leaders have warned will leave a power vacuum that the Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliates will seek to exploit.
1: On Wednesday, a 1,000-foot-long civilian container ship, stranded in Odesa since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 18 months ago, became the first to leave port since Russia threatened to sink all ships moving to and from Ukraine. Kyiv says the safe corridor it has established will help ships maneuver past mines. But there is no guarantee that Russian forces won’t attack them.
85 billion: On its first day of trading in New York, shares in Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast closed above $37, giving the company a stock market valuation of $85 billion. Compare that with the market capitalization at Tuesday’s close of $48 billion for Ford and $46 billion for General Motors.
3: Germany saw a three-fold increase in marches by neo-Nazi groups and other far-right extremists in the first six months of this year, perhaps as a result of the end of the COVID regulations that prevented public protests. Want to understand why the far-right is on the rise in Germany? Read our explainer here.The Regime's viral banger "Special Military Operation" is NOW STREAMING on most platforms, including those TWO BIG ONES. #PUPPETREGIME
What is President Trump trying to achieve in Iran, and how does his strategy compare to past US interventions in the Middle East?
The US has paused Russian oil sanctions in a bid to stabilize energy markets rocked by the war with Iran. Administration officials stress that it’s a “tailored” measure, applying only to oil already loaded onto tankers, but it’s still a gift to Russia, which has already been clocking an extra $150 million daily in oil revenues since the war began.
4: The number of crew members aboard a US refuelling plane – out of six total – who died after the aircraft crashed in neighboring Iraq on Thursday, US Central Command said this morning.