Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: Iftar inflation, cash for jabs, US fires warning shots, same-sex do-over

Hussein al-Khaled and his family eat their Iftar (breaking fast) meal during the holy month of Ramadan inside a tent at an informal tented settlement in Bar Elias, in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon April 22, 2021.
Make us preferred on Google

300: As Lebanon grinds through an ongoing economic crisis that has crippled the value of its currency, the cost of an Iftar meal — the meal at which Muslims break their Ramadan fast each day — has increased 300 percent over the past two years. That's in part because the cost of imported agricultural goods like seeds and pesticides has forced farmers to cut back production or raise prices.


27.5 million: To encourage young people to get vaccinated, the Republican governor of the US state of West Virginia wants to give everyone who gets the jab a $100 savings bond. The total cost of the plan is so low, just $27.5 million, that the governor says critics can "kiss my butt."

4: A US Navy vessel in the Persian Gulf recently fired warning shots at an Iranian boat for the first time in four years, the Pentagon says. Tense face-offs between American ships and Iranian speedboats operated by Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have increased recently, right as the two sides are exploring ways to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

50,000: Opponents of same-sex marriage in Switzerland reached the 50,000 signatures needed to force another referendum on the issue, even though the Swiss parliament has already allowed the practice and 80 percent of Swiss support it.

More For You

Uncle Sam celebrating July 4th

Uncle Sam celebrating July 4th

America turns 250 at a time when even celebrating the country can feel political. In the latest episode of the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with comedian and political commentator Bill Maher to discuss patriotism, polarization, and the arguments Americans are having over what their country represents. [...]
People vote in the legislative elections in Algiers, Algeria, on July 2, 2026.

People vote in the legislative elections in Algiers, Algeria, on July 2, 2026. The electorate, including the diaspora, consists of 24,727,041 registered voters. These elections will elect the 407 members of the tenth legislature of the People's National Assembly (APN), with a mandate of five years.

Billel Bensalem/APP/NurPhoto
Algerians are headed to the polls today to elect their next members of parliament. Nearly 25 million people are eligible to vote, selecting from over 1,200 candidates for 407 seats in the lower house. It’s the country’s second parliamentary election since the pro-democracy Hirak movement swept the country in 2019 – the peaceful uprising that [...]
​Smoke rises from an oil refinery following a Ukrainian drone attack, in Moscow, Russia, on June 18, 2026.

Smoke rises from an oil refinery following a Ukrainian drone attack in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Moscow, Russia, on June 18, 2026.

SOCIAL MEDIA/via REUTERS
With refiners ablaze, Russia is now importing fuel from IndiaYes, you read that correctly: Russia, one of the world’s largest oil exporters and a huge supplier of crude to India, is now buying fuel from its Soviet-era ally. The reason? Ukraine’s widening barrage of drone and missile strikes on Russian petrochemicals facilities has knocked out [...]
Over a million migrants seek legal status in Spain
Farida Dowidar
Spain has taken a very different tack from other European countries toward migrants, with Sánchez welcoming them into the country and pledging to grant legal status to half a million undocumented migrants under a new program. However, the PM underestimated how many people would apply: his government had expected 750,000 applications. With [...]