0: In a reflection of the deep political divisions within Israel over the government’s approach to freeing the hostages held in Gaza, zero government officials were invited to the funeral of a mother and her two children, whose remains Hamas returned to Israel last week. A relative of the three victims – Shiri Bibas and her two sons, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months – recently rebuked the government for leaking details about their deaths. Hamas said the three were killed in an Israeli airstrike, but Israel says they were beaten and strangled to death. Thousands of Israelis poured into the streets on Wednesday to pay their respects to the family. Meanwhile, Hamas returned the bodies of four more slain Israeli hostages and Israel began releasing 600 Palestinian prisoners in what is envisioned as the final swap of the first phase of the Israel-Hamas hostage deal.
800 billion: Global cryptocurrencies have lost $800 billion in value since January, a huge reversal of the crypto-euphoria that preceded Donald Trump’s inauguration. Traders blame the rout on worries about the global economy, disappointment with the slow rollout of Trump’s anticipated pro-crypto agenda, and a series of high-profile scandals (looking at you Javier Milei.) All told, here’s the mood in the crypto space right now, by way of a small camel.
9: Oh baby, this is good news from South Korean maternity wards. The country’s fertility rate rose last year for the first time in 9 years. An average Korean woman will now have .75 babies during her lifetime. That’s up .03 points compared to 2023, but it’s still the lowest in the world – and it’s way below the “replacement rate” of 2.1. Experts say the birth bump was partly due to a surge of post-pandemic marriages. The government has recently boosted parental leave and has increased financial support for childcare.
38: Morocco is suffering a sheep shortage so bad that King Mohammed VI has asked his people to refrain from the tradition of slaughtering the animals as part of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha in June this year. Years of drought have reduced the North African country’s sheep population by nearly 40% over the past decade. This year alone, rainfall was 53% lower than the 30-year average. The kingdom recently signed a deal to import 100,000 sheep from Australia.
25: Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he will soon slap a 25% tariff on all imports from the European Union. By way of explaining the measure, which could affect up to $30 billion of European exports, the US president said the EU was "formed to screw the United States." In fact, the origins of the EU lie chiefly in postwar efforts, backed by the US, to create political and economic interdependencies that would prevent future conflict on the continent.
