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Hard Numbers
Hard Numbers: Russia reportedly indoctrinating kidnapped Ukrainian children, Fed to discuss rate cuts amid political firestorm, Argentina’s Milei presents budget, & More
Protesters led by children march in London, United Kingdom, on June 1, 2025, demanding the release of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia and an end to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
210: The Kremlin is holding Ukrainian children at 210 different sites across Russia, according to a Yale University report, and forcing them to have re-education sessions and military training. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has regularly cited the abductions as evidence that Moscow is committing genocide in Ukraine. Kyiv estimates that 20,000 children have been taken since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
€1 billion: Poland increased its cybersecurity budget from €600 million ($708m) to €1 billion ($1.18b) after Russian hackers targeted its hospitals and Warsaw’s water supply. The Polish foreign minister said the country faces 20-50 cyber threats to critical infrastructure each day, most of which it thwarts.
3: The US military hit a Venezuela drug boat on Monday, killing three people. The attack marks the second time this month that the US has hit a boat suspected of drug smuggling off the coast of Venezuela.
7: A political storm is clouding the US Federal Reserve as its seven governors meet over the next couple of days to decide whether to cut interest rates – the target range is currently 4.25%-4.5%. Among the seven decision-makers are Lisa Cook, whom President Donald Trump has tried to fire but remains in situ after a court win yesterday, and Stephen Miran, a Trump ally whom the Senate confirmed only yesterday.
1.5%: Argentine President Javier Milei presented his 2026 budget proposal Tuesday to the National Congress, with the aim of having a fiscal surplus of 1.5% next year. The budgets for each of the last two years have been rejected, so the government has instead extended and continued to use the one implemented in 2023. With the midterm election only six weeks away, the budget could have political ramifications for Milei.
HARD NUMBERS: Adolescence cleans up at Emmys, Canada unveils new housing agency, India-Pakistan rice wars paralyze the EU, sea levels put coastal Ozzies at risk
Stephen Graham, winner of Best Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and Best Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, Owen Cooper, Best Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, and Erin Doherty, Best Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, for "Adolescence", Best Limited or Anthology Series pose with their awards at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 14, 2025.
8: Netflix teen murder series "Adolescence" won eight Emmys including for best limited series. Supporting actor Owen Cooper,15, became the youngest male actor to win an Emmy. The series centers on a schoolboy accused of killing a female classmate. It has provoked a global conversation about toxic masculinity and social media use by young boys.
9 billion: Canadian PM Mark Carney announced the creation of a new federal agency tasked with building affordable housing for low-income Canadians. The Build Canada Homes agency will receive an initial capitalization of more than $9 billion. Housing shortages, and broader cost of living pressures, have become a major national issue in Canada in recent years.
7: India has waited seven years for the EU to rule whether “Basmati” rice is a trademarked Indian product. But India’s rival Pakistan also produces basmati and wants that protection itself. The issue has paralyzed a new EU-India trade deal, because basmati is produced in Kashmir, a region contested by India and Pakistan. Granting the trademark to one side or the other would imply recognition of Kashmir claims. So far, Brussels is doing what it does as well as anyone: punting on the issue pending further review…
1.5 million: Australia’s first National Risk Assessment warns that rising sea levels will put at risk the homes of 1.5 million Australians by 2050. The report also predicts worsening floods, cyclones, heatwaves, droughts and bushfires, as well as more heat-related deaths, reduced water quality, and lower property values.HARD NUMBERS: Nigerian docs strike, UN closes aid centers in Afghanistan, Russia cuts rates, Ebola emerges again in Congo.
A clinic support staff takes blood sample from a child at a clinic operated by Doctors without Borders in Bagega village in northeastern state of Zamfara August 14, 2013. Picture taken August 14, 2013.
8: The UN office in Afghanistan has closed eight aid centers set up to support Afghan refugees returning to the country, because the Taliban government is preventing female UN staff from entering the facilities. Afghanistan is suffering a refugee crisis as Pakistan and Iran have begun deporting hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghan migrants.
17: Russia’s central bank cut interest rates by a single point, but they are still at a staggering 17%. The central bank is in a tight spot: cautiously trying to prop up flagging economic growth even as inflation remains sky high due to Ukraine-related sanctions and military spending.
32: The WHO says it is still confident that an ebola outbreak in Congo can be contained, but only if prompt action is taken. The country has recently registered 32 suspected cases and 16 deaths. It is the country’s 16th outbreak of the deadly disease.Hard Numbers: Venezuela readies “battlegrounds”, US inflation creeps up, art market continues to collapse, Mexico to boost China tariffs
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro stands next to members of the armed forces, on the day he says that his country would deploy military, police and civilian defenses at 284 "battlefront" locations across the country, amid heightened tensions with the U.S., in La Guaira, Venezuela, September 11, 2025.
2: The European Central bank held interest rates steady at 2% today, waiting to see the impact of the new US-EU trade agreement. Meanwhile, across the pond, US consumer prices rose 0.2 percentage points to 2.9% in August, highlighting the ongoing challenges for the Fed as President Trump’s tariff policies stoke inflation fears while he also pressures the regulator to lower rates. For more on why that matters, see this explainer by GZERO’s Alex Kliment.
248 million: Going once, going twice. The famed auction house Sotheby’s annual losses have doubled to $248 million, as the global art market continues to collapse due to uncertainty about the US economy and a tapering-off of interest from high-end Asian buyers.
50: Mexico will slap 50% tariffs on Chinese/Asian automobiles, up from the current 20%. The move is part of a broader tapestry of new trade barriers meant to protect the country’s own industries from Asian competition, but the moves will also be welcomed by the US – Washington has accused Mexico of being a “back door” for cheaper Asian goods to enter the US.
HARD NUMBERS: Trump pitches Europe on joint tariffs, Mexico nabs uniformed diesel smugglers, Hong Kong lawmakers veto same-sex bill, Apple holds prices steady
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, after an announcement of a trade deal between the U.S. and EU, in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, July 27, 2025.
14: Mexican authorities have detained 14 people, including several active duty Marines, for smuggling diesel fuel into the country from the United States. The scandal could put further pressure on an already-strained relationship between the US and Mexico, key allies in Washington’s “War on Drugs.”
71: Hong Kong’s legislature vetoed a government-backed bill that would have granted some additional marital rights to same-sex couples registered overseas. Seventy-one lawmakers voted against the bill, with 14 in favor.
5.6: Apple on Wednesday introduced a new, slimmer iPhone “Air” model which is just 5.6mm thick. But the fatter news from the event is that the company has decided not to increase prices for iPhones, despite the impact of new US tariffs, which are currently costing the tech giant more than $1 billion per quarter.
Hard Numbers: Walmart heads to Africa, Israel orders Gaza City evacuation, France faces financial fallout, & More
Shoppers leave the Shoprite store in Daveyton, South Africa May 23, 2018.
1: US retail giant Walmart is set to launch its first store in Africa by the end of the year, opening a location in South Africa, the continent’s most industrialized economy.
23: A Russian strike on the Ukrainian village of Yarova on Tuesday killed 23 people who were waiting in line to collect their pensions, per a local official. The Kremlin escalated its strikes on Ukraine over the weekend, launching its biggest drone assault since the war began.
1 million: Israel ordered the full evacuation of Gaza City’s one million residents ahead of a new offensive, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to “break Hamas.” Many Palestinians say they can’t move again amid severe shortages of food and few safe destinations.
3.48%: France’s 10-year bond yields – the interest rate at which the government borrows money – jumped to 3.48% after Prime Minister François Bayrou lost his confidence vote Monday, surpassing the rate in Italy (a traditional debt laggard) for the first time since 1998. France’s sky-high debt appears to be putting it at financial risk.
46%: Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani has 46% support in the New York City mayoral race, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll, putting him 22 points ahead of former state Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent. If the other candidates dropped out of the field, though, Mamdani’s lead over Cuomo would drop to just four points.HARD NUMBERS: Terrorist attack in Jerusalem, US gets mail drop, Argentina’s Peronists stage capital comeback, OPEC+ to slow pace of increases, & More
The body of Israeli Levi Itzhak Pash, who was killed when Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a bus stop at the outskirts of Jerusalem, is transported on the day of his funeral procession in Jerusalem September 8, 2025.
6: A group of terrorists from the West Bank opened fire on civilians at a major junction in Jerusalem on Monday morning, killing at least six people and injuring another 21. A soldier and several civilians who were at the scene engaged with the gunmen, who were then killed. Hamas praised the attack but did not claim responsibility.
80: Postal deliveries from the rest of the world to the United States have fallen 80% since the Trump administration did away with de minimus rules, which granted customs and tariff exemptions to any packages worth less than $800. Those rules were a major loophole used by exporters to the US. See our Graphic Truth on it here.
46.8%: Argentina’s opposition Peronist party took 46.8% of the vote in legislative elections in Buenos Aires this weekend, beating the party of libertarian President Javier Milei by more than 10 points. With midterms approaching, the result is another warning sign for Milei, who is facing a backlash against his cost-cutting radicalism, as well as a corruption scandal involving his sister. More on that here.
137,000: The OPEC+ oil cartel will increase production by just 137,000 barrels per day in October, down from an increase of 550,000 barrels per day in September. The announcement, coupled with expectations of potential further sanctions on Russia, caused oil prices to blip up in early trading on Monday, even as markets broadly expect global oil demand to soften as the northern hemisphere heads into winter.
6: Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz defeated his Italian rival Jannik Sinner on Sunday to claim the US Open Championship, his sixth major title. The two players now dominate men’s tennis: between them they’ve won all four majors this year, and they faced each other in the last three consecutive major finals. In the women’s final, Belarussian superstar Aryna Sabalenka bested American Amanda Anisimova to win her fourth major title.