Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Thai’s progressive opposition leads polls, Trump Org’s Saudi investments reach newmilestone, Gambian court considers overturning FGM ban, Netanyahu seeks to taper off US military aid

Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, a Bhumjaithai Party leader and prime ministerial candidate, arrives for a party list registration event ahead of the upcoming election, in Bangkok, Thailand, December 28, 2025.

Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, a Bhumjaithai Party leader and prime ministerial candidate, arrives for a party list registration event ahead of the upcoming election, in Bangkok, Thailand, December 28, 2025.

REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Make us preferred on Google
30%: A pair of surveys showed that Thailand’s progressive opposition party is leading the polls ahead of the Feb. 8 general election. Both polls showed the People’s Party ahead with at least 30% of the vote, while Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s conservative Bhumjaithai party languished in the teens. The snap election comes at a rocky time for Thailand, as a border dispute with Cambodia flares up and the PM faces possible impeachment.

$10 billion: The Trump Organization, led by Donald Trump’s son Eric, has passed the $10 billion mark in real estate investments in Saudi Arabia. The milestone came after the company announced it is moving ahead with a second residential project in Jeddah, as well as one in Diriyah, which will include 500 mansions.

¾: In Gambia, the supreme court is resuming a case seeking to overturn a ban on female genital mutilation. Enforcements under the ban began in 2023, in a country with some of the highest rates of FGM in the world – nearly three-quarters of women aged 15 to 49 have undergone the procedure.

$3.8 billion: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told The Economist that he wants his country to taper off US military support, which currently stands at $3.8 billion per year, within the next ten years. “That’s not saying I don’t want to fight for the allegiance and support of the American people,” Netanyahu said.

More For You

Japan's SoftBank zooms past Toyota
Will Fitzpatrick
SoftBank surpassed the Japanese carmaker after pledging over the weekend to invest as much as €75 billion ($87 billion) to build Europe’s largest AI facility in France, helping to boost its share price by 14% on Monday – enough for it to overtake Toyota in terms of market capitalization. Toyota’s ousting from Japan’s top spot reflects the surging [...]
Japan’s population drops by millions
Zac Weisz
The fifth-largest economy in the world is facing a major population crunch. The decline — from 126.1 million to 123 million — is the biggest population drop over a five-year period since the government began collecting census data in 1920. The government has urgently tried to encourage citizens to have more children as a way of preventing a [...]
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 [...]
Cornyn’s defeat could cost Republicans dearly
Will Fitzpatrick
Cornyn’s hefty loss yesterday to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (whom US President Donald Trump endorsed) in the Senate runoff yesterday will be a costly one for the Republican Party. Firstly, the GOP is losing one of their most prolific fundraisers in Senate history. Secondly, Paxton’s scandal-filled history – including allegations of [...]