Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Gershkovich to remain in Russian prison, Myanmar refugee camp airstrike, Micheal Jordan pumpkin breaks records, fall of the Argentine peso

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing

Reuters
Make us preferred on Google

9: Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter detained by Russian authorities earlier this year, lost his appeal on Tuesday and will remain in a Russian prison until at least Nov. 30. At that point, he will have spent 9 months behind bars for allegations of espionage. Espionage trials in Russia can be lengthy, and the country’s Foreign Ministry says it will not consider a prisoner swap until after a verdict is reached.


29: In Myanmar, an artillery strike on a refugee camp near the Chinese border killed 29 people. Myanmar has been embroiled in a civil war since a military coup in 2021, but several ethnic insurgents, including the Kachin Independence Organization – which controlled the area where the strike occurred – have been fighting for self-rule for decades.

2,749: A new record has been set for the world's largest pumpkin. Named Michael Jordan because it resembled a basketball early on, the large orange squash weighed in at a whopping 2,749 pounds. It was planted in April by a horticultural teacher in Minnesota, who put $15,000 into the pumpkin’s care to win himself $30,000 in prize money.

17: Javier Milei, the frontrunner in Argentina’s election race who seeks to dollarize Argentina’s economy, continued his attacks on the peso this week, discouraging Argentinians from holding any investments in the currency. As a result, the peso has fallen 17% since Monday, further driving up prices amid the country’s worst financial crisis in two decades.

More For You

Milei malaise?
Will Fitzpatrick
Three years into his presidency, Argentina’s eccentric libertarian leader is facing growing political pressure. Milei took office promising to rein in Argentina’s runaway inflation, and he has largely delivered. But that success has come at a cost. Sweeping cuts to social spending and a struggling labor market are increasingly weighing on [...]
Mississippi blue(s)
Will Fitzpatrick
The last time the Deep South state started a Black senator was in 1875, during “Reconstruction,” a roughly twenty-year period when the US federal government sought to support the integration and equality of Southern Black people after the Civil War. Mississippi actually sent two Black men to the Senate during that time: Hiram Revels and Blanche [...]
Court overturns Trinidad and Tobago's anti-gay laws
Natalie Johnson
That list got shorter on Tuesday after a UK court overturned laws criminalizing homosexuality in Trinidad and Tobago, ending an 11-year-long legal battle. The Caribbean is home to several Commonwealth countries – mostly former British colonies that still recognize the British monarch as their head of state – that still have laws around [...]
Americans want Trump to prioritize their wallets
Will Fitzpatrick
A new YouGov poll, conducted on behalf of the Institute for Global Affairs, a nonprofit geopolitics education organization founded by Ian Bremmer, reveals how much affordability was top of mind for voters during last week’s midterm elections. Most voters said they’d rather prioritize their wallets over military goals. It’s a timely reminder as [...]