Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Israel expands humanitarian zone, Bitcoin bounces, Italy’s Meloni loses in court, OECD prices remain high, A very late book return

​Displaced Palestinians walk in a tent camp amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Nov. 9, 2024.

Displaced Palestinians walk in a tent camp amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Nov. 9, 2024.

Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Reuters
Make us preferred on Google
30: On Monday, Israeli officials announced they have expanded a humanitarian zone in southern Gaza just ahead of the expiration of the Biden administration’s 30-day deadline to provide more aid to Gaza’s civilian population. US officials have warned that failure to comply could have “implications for US policy,” including on US materiel support for Israel. It remains unclear whether Israel’s plan will offer Palestinians much help or satisfy US demands.

84,653: The price of bitcoin hit a record high of $84,653 on Monday afternoon on hopes that President-elect Donald Trump will offer cryptocurrency-friendly policies. A year ago, bitcoin sold for about $37,000.

7: An immigration court in Italy has rejected Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s bid to detain Europe-bound asylum-seekers in Albania. The judge ruled that seven Bangladeshi and Egyptian men brought to Albania by an Italian warship must be taken to Italy and remain there as they await a decision on their asylum application.

30: Though the inflation rate has cooled across wealthy countries, average price levels across the OECD remained about 30% higher in September 2024 than in December 2019, before COVID and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent inflation surging.

51: A book called “The Early Work of Aubrey Beardsley” was returned to a public library in Massachusetts last week. The book was due for return on May 22, 1973, making it 51 years late. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed that China’s government will pay the fine. (Just kidding.) The Worcester Public Library does not charge late fees.

More For You

Fires force evacuations in Europe
Farida Dowidar
Massive fires continue to rage through France, Spain, and as of this weekend, Italy. Flames have torn through over 1,000 square miles of land, and authorities are attempting one of the continent’s biggest evacuation efforts since World War II. Spanish and French militaries joined the battle against the fires late last week, but rising temperatures [...]
Ebola death toll continues to rise
Will Fitzpatrick
The Ebola outbreak, caused by a rare strain of the Bundibugyo virus, has ballooned into the fastest outbreak of the virus in history. The World Health Organization said this week that 80% of the confirmed cases are coming from unknown chains of transmission, meaning that the cases are likely emerging in communities where people aren’t receiving [...]
Where is the world’s oldest head of state?
Will Fitzpatrick
Cameroon’s ruling party faces growing criticism over the prolonged absence of the president, the world’s oldest head of state who has been in power since 1982. It’s not the first time Biya’s disappearance has sparked questions: in 2024, he spent 42 days abroad, triggering rumors that he was actually dead. The government responded by banning public [...]
Hard number: Clemency denied
Earlier this month, the Trump administration had suggested it might mark America’s 250th birthday by granting clemency to hundreds of people. Instead, it issued 11 pardons in early July, including to people convicted of environmental crimes and a political donor, while denying clemency to thousands of other applicants. Reports suggest most of the [...]