Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: Pentagon finds billions in “error,” opponents warm to Brazil’s Lula, US reading scores plummet, prison tragedy in Honduras

The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington, DC.

The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington, DC.

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Make us preferred on Google

6.2 billion: Ever found $5 in the pocket of a jacket you haven’t worn in a while? OK, ever found $6.2 billion? That’s the feeling in Kyiv right now, thanks to a Pentagon accounting error that accidentally overestimated the cost of weapons the US sent to Ukraine. The upshot: that amount is still available to fund fresh military kit for Kyiv.


56: Brazilian President Lula’s approval rating has jumped 5 points to 56% since April as voters’ perceptions of the economy have improved. What really caught our attention though is that Lula's approval jumped by 7 points among supporters of his political nemesis, the opposition leader and former President Jair Bolsonaro.

33: Reading scores for US 13-year-olds fell to their worst level in 33 years according to a new national survey. Math results weren’t much better, backsliding 19 years. Pandemic-related school closures are a major factor.

46: Armed clashes between rival gangs at a women’s prison in Honduras left at least 46 people dead after one of them set the prison on fire. Honduras’ prison system is bursting at the seams, with an overcapacity of 150%. Transnational rival gangs MS-13 and 18th Street Gang run the joints.

More For You

Fewer migrants, but deadlier journeys to Europe
Will Fitzpatrick
The number of migrants and refugees reaching the continent by sea has dropped sharply this year as many European countries tighten their immigration rules. But despite fewer crossings, more migrants have died. Nearly 2,300 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, up from roughly 2,000 during the same period last year, as [...]
Followers of the Shi'ite Houthi group ride on a truck at a gathering near the Yemeni capital Sanaa August 20, 2014.

Followers of the Shi'ite Houthi group ride on a truck at a gathering near the Yemeni capital Sanaa August 20, 2014.

REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Saudis ask China for help“Hi, China, it’s Saudi Arabia, could you tell Iran to ask the Houthis to chill out?” That, in so many words, is the current telephone game amid intensifying attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi oil export routes. With the US seemingly unable to contain the regional consequences of its war on Iran, China is [...]
A woman walks past a billboard, displaying portraits of Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Pyotr Tolstoy and promoting the United Russia party ahead of the upcoming parliamentary election, near the Moscow International Business Centre in Moscow, Russia.

A woman walks past a billboard, displaying portraits of Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Pyotr Tolstoy and promoting the United Russia party ahead of the upcoming parliamentary election, near the Moscow International Business Centre in Moscow, Russia, September 15, 2026.

REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov
Why does Vladimir Putin even bother with elections? It’s a fair question to ask as Russia goes to the polls this weekend for nationwide local and parliamentary votes in which the outcome is certain. The ruling United Russia party, closely associated with Putin himself, polls at nearly 40%. Its closest competitors, a small handful of occasionally [...]
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives with incoming Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh for Warsh's swearing-in ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 22, 2026.

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives with incoming Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh for Warsh's swearing-in ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 22, 2026.

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
This week — Independent institutions: 2, Trump: 0The US president took two big domestic losses this week. First, the Supreme Court ruled against his demand for restrictions on mail-in voting in the upcoming midterms. The stinger? All three Trump-appointed justices sided with the decision. “These are not the people I interviewed,” he griped on [...]