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Hard Numbers: Cash to stop EU migrants, Chinese population growth slows, US gas prices up, Thais arrest Myanmar journalists
Migrants rest at a reception center after arriving on the southern island of Lampedusa, Italy.
13,000: Around 13,000 migrants from North Africa have landed in Italy so far this year, three times as many as in the same period in 2020. Prime Minister Mario Draghi has denied a media report that Italy wanted the European Union to pay Libya to stop those migrants from leaving for the EU from its shores.
0.53: China's population grew at an abysmal 0.53 percent annually over the last decade. That's below replacement levels, and puts more pressure on China to encourage its citizens to make more babies... as long as they're not Uighurs in Xinjiang.
6: US gas prices have risen by an average six cents per gallon so far this week, close to their highest level since 2014. This is due to supply disruptions tied to last Friday's ransomware cyberattack on the Dominion Pipeline, which serves almost half the country and has already been shut down for five days.
3: Thailand has arrested three Myanmar journalists for illegally crossing the border to escape the Burmese military's crackdown on pro-democracy forces — including independent media outlets — following a coup earlier this year. Thai authorities are widely expected to deport the reporters back to Myanmar, where they will surely face lengthy jail terms for covering anti-government protests.