Hard Numbers: US homelessness soars, Chad votes again, Kim Jong Un makes Trump plan, Chess champ refuses to change, Norovirus surges in US

18.1: Homelessness in the United States rose by a whopping 18.1% in 2024, according to data from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. This follows a 12% increase in 2023. But since the 2024 data is from January, it is feared that the homeless rate could be far worse — thanks to recent migration surges, natural disasters, and a lack of affordable housing.

3: Chadians took to the polls on Sunday for a parliamentary and regional election meant to end the country’s three-year transition from military rule. Three months ago, junta leader Mahamat Idriss Deby, won the presidency in an election to restore democracy to the country. But the result was highly disputed, and the main opposition boycotted Sunday’s vote, saying authorities were not ensuring a credible electoral process.

5: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has big plans for President-elect Donald Trump. Kim held a five-day plenary of the ruling Workers’ Party last week, vowing to adopt the Hermit Kingdom’s “toughest” anti-US policy yet. He said the US “regards anti-communism as its invariable state policy” and noted that the US, Japan, and South Korea are developing into “a nuclear military bloc for aggression.”

200: Nothing gets between Magnus Carlsen and his jeans. The world’s No. 1 chess player showed up for the World Rapid Chess Championship in New York on Friday in denim — a no-no — and refused to change. The reigning champ was fined $200 and given the opportunity to change into appropriate attire, but the Norwegian grandmaster refused and was disqualified instead.

91: Norovirus, a bug that causes sudden vomiting and diarrhea, is rising this winter in parts of the US. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were 91 reported outbreaks of norovirus during the week of Dec. 5, up from 69 the previous week — and far higher than early December figures from recent years.