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Hard Numbers: Israel arrests violent settlers, US House ends extended recess, Botswana eyes majority stake in diamond giant, & More

​An Israeli activist records illegal settlers driving past a village in Masafer Yatta in the West Bank, on October 28, 2025.

An Israeli activist is seen recording illegal settlers driving past a village in Masafer Yatta in the West Bank, on October 28, 2025.

Davide Bonaldo/Sipa USA

4: Israeli police arrested four Jewish nationalists Tuesday after dozens of them attacked Palestinians and set fire to property in the West Bank. The issue of settler violence in the region has grown over the last two years – in tandem with the war in Gaza – but has spiked further in recent weeks, as Palestinians have been taking to the fields to harvest olives.

54: Who wouldn’t enjoy an almost eight-week break? Well that’s just what members of the US House of Representatives have had, but they are finally returning from their 54-day recess to vote on a continuing resolution that will end the government shutdown. Expect a vote later today.


49: A Catholic mother in the Normandy town of Dozule claimed in the 1970s that she had seen Jesus (of Nazareth) not once, not twice, but 49 times. The Vatican disagrees, though, affirming today that reports of those sightings were not genuine. The last Vatican-confirmed Jesus sighting was in 2013, when his face reportedly appeared at a church in India.

14: Hungary has extended a profit-margin cap to 14 more consumer products, including apples and processed cheese, as inflation remains elevated. Ahead of next spring elections, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is increasingly under pressure from Peter Magyar, the popular Fidesz defector who is now leading him in some polls.

15%: Botswana is bidding to acquire a majority stake of the diamond giant De Beers, up from its 15% share of the firm. The southern African nation’s move is part of an effort to reverse the diamond industry downturn – read all about that here (and watch a video about it here).

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Bad Bunny performs during the Apple Music halftime show at Super Bowl LX between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 8, 2026.

135 million: The number of viewers of Bad Bunny’s performance at the Super Bowl halftime show in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday. Early estimates suggest it was the most-watched halftime show of all time. The Puerto Rican superstar infused politics into the performance, delivering a roll call of every country in the Americas and emblazoning [...]
​Bad Bunny during the Super Bowl LX halftime show press conference at Moscone Center.

Bad Bunny during the Super Bowl LX halftime show press conference at Moscone Center.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
100 million: The number of people expected to watch the Super Bowl halftime performance with Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican superstar and newly minted Album of the Year winner at the Grammys. It’s already sparked a lot of political buzz, with the singer’s criticism of ICE. The conservative group Turning Point USA said it will host a counter-halftime [...]
​Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026.

Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026.

REUTERS/Konstantinos Anagnostou
15: The number of migrants who died after their boat accidentally collided with a Greek Coast Guard vessel in the Aegean Sea on Tuesday. Two dozen people were rescued. Although crossings of this kind have declined since the peak of the European migration crisis a decade ago, tens of thousands of people still risk the journey each year. [...]
​Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) stands in formation in a show of force and response after ICE agents tear gassed, shot less lethal weapons and chased a mostly peaceful group of about 150 protestors who were upset with the recent killings of protestors in Minneapolis and the increased activity in their LA neighborhoods.

Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) stands in formation in a show of force and response after ICE agents tear gassed, shot less lethal weapons and chased a mostly peaceful group of about 150 protestors who were upset with the recent killings of protestors in Minneapolis and the increased activity in their LA neighborhoods.

Credit Image: © Amy Katz/ZUMA Press Wire
700: The number of ICE and border agents that will leave the Minneapolis area, White House border czar Tom Homan announced Wednesday morning. The order is effective immediately. Even with the withdrawal, 2,300 agents will remain in the city’s vicinity, far more than the 80 that were there before Operation Metro Surge began Dec. 1. [...]