Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

popular

Hard Numbers: Shanghai lockdown, US billionaire tax, Amazonian NFTs, Houthi truce

Hard Numbers: Shanghai lockdown, US billionaire tax, Amazonian NFTs, Houthi truce

Medical staff in PPE walk in front of barriers of a Shanghai area under lockdown.

REUTERS/Aly Song

2,631: Shanghai will go into lockdown after reporting a record 2,631 new asymptomatic COVID infections on Sunday. China’s largest city had been trying to avoid this extreme measure, but authorities ultimately caved to Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy.


100 million: On Monday, the Biden administration will propose a 20% minimum income tax on US households worth at least $100 million in order to cut the deficit. This includes taxing unrealized capital gains, which Democrats failed to pass in Congress last year.

150: A Brazilian company that owns some 150 square miles of the Amazon is funding conservation efforts by auctioning off sponsorship of rainforest lots as non-fungible tokens. NFT holders will not own the land itself but rather get access to information about how it is being preserved.

7: On Saturday, Houthi rebels declared a three-day truce with the Saudi-led coalition to mark the seventh anniversary of Yemen’s civil war. The olive branch came a day after the Houthis attacked a Saudi oil plant near the Formula One race track in Jeddah, to which Riyadh responded with airstrikes on rebel-held cities in Yemen.

More For You

​Iran war threatens water access in Middle East

Iran war threatens water access in Middle East

Natalie Johnson, Eileen Zhang
As missiles fly and oil prices soar, the Iran war is exposing another major resource vulnerability in the Middle East: water. Drinking water has been a scarce commodity in a region defined by a dry climate and low rainfall, but attacks on the region’s desalination plants, which convert seawater into potable water, threaten to open a new front.At [...]
Endgame in Iran?
- YouTube
The war in Iran has escalated quickly, with the US, Israel, and Tehran pursuing diverging strategies. As the conflict intensifies, the chance of a short, clean exit for President Trump is slowly slipping away, with munitions stretched thin, oil prices spiking, and no clear path forward. [...]
US ​President Donald Trump holds a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., USA, on April 30, 2025.

US President Donald Trump listens to remarks during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., USA, on April 30, 2025.

Ken Cedeno/Pool/Sipa USA
US President Donald Trump’s first term in office sometimes looked like an episode of “The Apprentice.” He fired or forced out eight Cabinet members, with 14 in total leaving – more than the preceding three presidents combined. Total turnover among his top officials was 92% across all four years, higher than that of his immediate predecessors. [...]
You vs. the News collage
Think you know what's going on around the world? Here's your chance to prove it. [...]