Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: UK’s deputy PM resigns, US jobs market stagnates, Another earthquake hits Afghanistan, & More

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner arrives at 10 Downing Street in London, United Kingdom, on Sept. 2, 2025.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner arrives at 10 Downing Street for a weekly Cabinet meeting in London, United Kingdom, on Sept. 2, 2025.

Thomas Krych/ZUMA Press Wire
Make us preferred on Google

£40,000: Deputy UK Prime Minister Angela Rayner has resigned from her role after it emerged that she legally avoided £40,000 ($54,000) in stamp duty – the tax incurred on buying a house – when she purchased a second home. Rayner also quit her roles as housing secretary and deputy Labour Party leader, which has prompted a major reshuffle: Foreign Secretary David Lammy replaces Rayner as deputy PM, and also becomes justice secretary. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper replaces Lammy at the helm of the Foreign Office.


22,000: The US economy added just 22,000 jobs in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Further, the rise in nonfarm payroll employment for June and July combined was revised down 21,000. The stagnant labor market will put extra pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at a faster pace.

3: A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan Thursday, the third quake to hit the country this week. At least 2,205 people have now died as a result. Rescue efforts remain hampered by landslides and rough terrain, with helicopters delivering aid. The Taliban has appealed for international aid as aftershocks continue to rattle the quake-prone region.

102: At 102, Kokichi Akuzawa became the oldest person to summit Mount Fuji, climbing with family and friends. Akuzawa broke his own record, having set the last one when he scaled Fuji at 96.

370: Rescue workers have now recovered 370 bodies from a remote mountain village in Darfur, per a local leader, after landslides battered this area of western Sudan on Sunday. Meanwhile, aid workers are using donkeys to deliver aid to those who are still living. Heavy rains and floods continue to batter the area.

More For You

US oil companies fill their coffers
Lottie Tellyn
While the average American household has spent $1,100 more on gas and diesel since the start of the Iran war, oil companies have been profiting from higher fuel prices. The same 50 US oil and gas companies made less than $47 billion in profits over the same period in 2025. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump boasted that the US was making a [...]
Afghanistan’s poppy problem
Will Fitzpatrick
As Afghan farmers struggle with high operating costs and low crop prices, more are taking a risk by illegally growing poppy to feed their families. Poppy is a key ingredient in opium – which can then be used to make heroin – and Afghanistan has long been a major producer. Before the Taliban banned cultivation in 2022, the country supplied more [...]
Fuel costs halt three-year cruise around the world
Lottie Tellyn
Ship owner Villa Vie Residences told passengers the cruise would end its journey early in Cambodia because refueling costs have jumped more than 300% since the start of the Iran war. Some passengers have now flown home, while others are still waiting in the port city of Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The ship, Odyssey, was one of the few designed for [...]
One year since the El Fasher massacre
Will Fitzpatrick
Sudan marks a grim anniversary this week. Tens of thousands still remain missing after the RSF’s siege of El Fasher. The RSF also remains in control of the city, and the civil war continues to drag on with seemingly no end in sight. To mark the occasion, the British government has sanctioned 15 Sudanese military leaders from both the Sudanese [...]