Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: Iran kills four zeros, Putin hits all-time low, EU sees worst contraction ever

Hard Numbers: Iran kills four zeros, Putin hits all-time low, EU sees worst contraction ever
0000: With the value of the Iranian rial plummeting amid low oil prices and crippling US sanctions, the government has decided to simply slash four zeroes off of the value of its currency. While moves like this are an accounting trick, the thinking is that they can have a positive psychological effect for consumers and lenders. Over the next several years, Iran's rial will be replaced by a new currency called the toman.

59: Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval has fallen to 59 percent. That's not bad by global standards, but it's the lowest mark for him since he first took power two decades ago. Plummeting oil prices and rising coronavirus deaths are taking a toll on his power.

7.4: The European Commission predicts that the coronavirus crisis will cause the EU's economy to shrink by 7.4 percent this year, the largest annual contraction in the bloc's history. On the upside, Brussels predicts a swift recovery in 2021, with GDP growing by 6 percent.

1.9 trillion: Last year countries around the world spent a total of $1.9 trillion on weapons, the highest mark on record for SIPRI, an arms watchdog. The US, which accounted for nearly forty percent of that, spends more than the next nine countries combined. Now that countries are fighting the "invisible enemy" of coronavirus, will that number fall?

More For You

​U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hold up signed documents regarding securing the supply of critical minerals and rare earths, at a bilateral meeting at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan, October 28, 2025.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hold up signed documents regarding securing the supply of critical minerals and rare earths, at a bilateral meeting at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan, October 28, 2025.

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Critical mineral deals to be cut in Washington this weekRepresentatives from the European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, and others will meet in Washington this week to discuss a strategic alliance on critical minerals. The aim: decrease reliance on China, which currently controls an average market share around 70%. The Trump administration also [...]
​People take part in a rally in support of Czech President Petr Pavel, organised by Million Moments for Democracy group in reaction to dispute between President Pavel and Czech Foreign Minister and Motorists chair Petr Macinka, in Prague, Czech Republic, February 1, 2026.

People take part in a rally in support of Czech President Petr Pavel, organised by Million Moments for Democracy group in reaction to dispute between President Pavel and Czech Foreign Minister and Motorists chair Petr Macinka, in Prague, Czech Republic, February 1, 2026.

REUTERS/Eva Korinkova
80,000: The number of people estimated to be in the streets of Czechia on Sunday to show their support for President Petr Pavel after he blocked the nomination of an environmental minister who performed the Nazi salute and posted Nazi memorabilia. The drama is emblematic of the deepening polarization between the pro-European Union president and [...]
​US President Donald Trump and musician Nicki Minaj in Washington, D.C., USA, on January 28, 2026.

US President Donald Trump and musician Nicki Minaj hold hands onstage at the US Treasury Department's Trump Accounts Summit, in Washington, D.C., USA, on January 28, 2026.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Last week, US President Donald Trump unveiled the “Trump Accounts” – government-seeded investment accounts for children born during his second term – at an event featuring Nicki Minaj and Kevin O’Leary, two celebrity business figures from very different corners of the marketplace. The idea was straightforward: the government contributes $1,000 at [...]
Graphic Truth: Costa Rica’s severe murder rate
Eileen Zhang
Costa Rica was once known as one of the most tranquil and stable countries in Latin America. A dollarized, tourism-oriented democracy so peaceful and picturesque that it didn’t even have an army. That idyll has been blown apart in recent years as murder rates – particularly among young men – have shot up to new highs. The culprit? Drug cartels. [...]