Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: The US gets tear gassed, Peru's GDP plunges, global investment dries up, Moldova seeks a billionaire crook

Hard Numbers: The US gets tear gassed, Peru's GDP plunges, global investment dries up, Moldova seeks a billionaire crook
Make us preferred on Google

98: Law enforcement officers have used tear gas in at least 98 different US cities in response to the George Floyd protests. That's the most widespread use of the chemical for crowd control in the country since the massive social unrest of the late 1960s and early 1970s, according to a scholar at Johns Hopkins.


1 trillion: The pandemic could cause global foreign direct investment (FDI) to plunge by half over the next 2 years, falling below $1 trillion for the first time since 2005, according to a new report by the Conference on Trade and Development. As global investment flows dry up, developing economies are expected to be the hardest hit.

40: Peru's GDP plunged by more than 40 percent in April, the worst monthly output drop in the country's history. Coronavirus lockdowns have clobbered the mining sector, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of the Peruvian economy. Although Peru was one of the first countries in South America to impose a lockdown, it is now second in cases and deaths only to Brazil, which has a population seven times as large.

1 billion: Moldova has asked the US to hand over Vladimir Plahotniuc, an influential oligarch accused of swindling up to $1 billion — about one-eighth of the country's GDP — from three local banks in 2014-2015. Plahotniuc, a former legislator and one of Moldova's richest men, is also wanted by Russia for alleged involvement in a cybercrime gang.


More For You

Another Polymarket ban
Will Fitzpatrick
Spain temporarily banned the US-based prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi on Tuesday, as well as its rival Kalshi, arguing that they were operating without a gambling license. The ban will last three to four months, pending a review from the country’s gambling watchdog. The move comes as other bans against Polymarket, in particular, are [...]
French President Macron shaking hand with Norway's Prime Minister of the Kingdom Jonas Gahr Støre
The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, receiving the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on May 27, 2026.
Quentin de Groeve / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect
France to give Norway nuclear protectionWhen the sun shines, we’ll shine together — but when it doesn’t, you’ll have the protection of France’s nuclear arsenal. That, to adapt the classic Rihanna record, was the message from French President Emmanuel Macron to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at a bilateral meeting in Paris on Wednesday. [...]
​Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony commemorating Israel’s Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, on April 21, 2026.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony commemorating Israel’s Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers, or Yom HaZikaron, at the Military Cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, on April 21, 2026.

ILIA YEFIMOVICH/Pool via REUTERS
The United States and Iran seem to be moving closer to a deal to end the war, recent skirmishing and mixed signals notwithstanding. If concluded – still a big if – this agreement would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, lift the US blockade, unfreeze Iran’s frozen assets (via Qatar), and extend the ceasefire – while kicking nuclear negotiations down the [...]
Iranian President Pezeshkian and Acting Minister of Defense Brigadier General Ebn-e-Reza during a meeting in Tehran.

May 26, 2026, Tehran, Iran: Iranian President MASOUD PEZESHKIAN (L) and Iranian Acting Minister of Defense Brigadier General MAJID EBN-E-REZA (R) during a meeting in Tehran.

Iranian Presidency via ZUMA Press
US-Iran: Is a deal still possible? The merry-go-round of negotiations between the two countries continues. The latest began on Saturday, when US President Donald Trump said an agreement was “largely negotiated,” before Iran poured cold water on this. The US military then hit Iranian missile launchers and boats suspected of dropping mines in the [...]