Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: US inflation spikes, Nicaraguan visas scrapped, COVID booster debate, global hunger soars

Hard Numbers: US inflation spikes, Nicaraguan visas scrapped, COVID booster debate, global hunger soars
Make us preferred on Google

5.4: Inflation spiked 5.4 percent last month, marking the fastest monthly pace since the Great Recession in 2008. The Biden administration says that this is a "bump in the road" as temporary post-pandemic supply shortages distort prices, but some economists say that high prices are here to stay because of too-generous government stimulus doled out during the pandemic.


100: The US State Department on Monday scrapped travel visas of 100 Nicaraguan legislators, judges and prosecutors who have backed Daniel Ortega's Sandinista government. Ortega, who is running for his fourth term in November elections, has arrested dozens of opposition candidates and journalists in recent months, and has long been labeled an abuser of human rights by the international community.

1: Israel has become the first country to offer COVID-19 booster shots as a bulwark against the spreading Delta variant, offering the third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot to immunocompromised people. This comes as the World Health Organization slammed the idea of high-income countries offering third shots before many low- and middle-income states have secured access to first doses.

811 million: About a tenth of the global population — 811 million people — was undernourished in 2020, an uptick in global hunger linked to the pandemic. More than half of the world's undernourished population lives in Asia, while one third lives in Africa.

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 [...]