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Hard Numbers: Italian vax mandate, China ups its space game, Malawi’s food inflation woes, Indian online abuse
A photo illustration of Green Pass and the Christmas Tree, in L'Aquila, Italy, on December 6, 2021. From today, 6 December 2021, the Super Green Pass comes into force throughout Italy.
50: Italy will make COVID vaccines mandatory for everyone over 50. No penalties have been announced for those who don't comply, but those who refuse jabs — or have not recently recovered from infection — will be denied the "super green pass" necessary to enter a workplace.
40: China plans to carry out more than 40 space launches this year, a number roughly on par with the US. Beijing clearly wants to up its space exploration game, as China also aims to complete its first orbiting space station and kick off at least two crewed missions there in 2022.
5,000: Skyrocketing food prices have prompted Malawi’s government to issue a new 5,000 kwacha ($6) bill that’s worth more than double the previous highest-denomination currency. Malawians have taken to the streets in recent months to protest inflation in a country that has been one of Africa's biggest democratic success stories.
4: Four men have been arrested in India for setting up Bulli Bai, an "auction" website that offered photos of more than a hundred Muslim women presumably for sale to the highest bidder. The revelation has sparked an uproar in the country, where online anti-Muslim misogyny has risen since the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP party of PM Narendra Modi swept to power in 2014.