Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

HARD NUMBERS: US prices rise less than expected, Investors bet on European weapons, ICE runs out of jails, Brazil’s egg exports boom

HARD NUMBERS: US prices rise less than expected, Investors bet on European weapons, ICE runs out of jails, Brazil’s egg exports boom

Chickens in a poultry farm in Taquari, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, March 12, 2025. US egg shortages are creating an egg export bonanza for South America's largest economy.

REUTERS/Diego Vara
Make us preferred on Google

2.8: Prices in the US rose 2.8% on an annual basis in February, slightly lower than economists had expected. That was good news for people and businesses uneasy about the potential inflationary impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs, but the full impact of his policies has yet to be felt.

2,527: Still, egg prices remain sky high in the US because of bird-flu-related shortages, and Brazil is scrambling to fill the void. South America’s largest economy exported 2,527 tons of eggs to the US in February, an increase of more than 60% since the same period last year. Brazil’s egg farmers are, you might say, seeing the sunny side up.


10: Europe’s Trump-driven push to rearm itself is bringing joy to the continent’s defense firms. Several big European arms manufacturers – Germany’s Hensoldt and Rheinmetall, and Italy’s Leonardo – have seen their market values more than double since November’s US presidential election. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin and L3 Harris, two American leaders in the industry, have seen theirs fall more than 10%.

47,600: Amid a sweeping US crackdown on undocumented immigrants, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has run out of detention space. According to an ICE official, there are currently 47,600 people detained, with no room for any more. ICE is appealing to the Defense Department and other law enforcement agencies for more prison space.


More For You

Africa, unshrunk
Will Fitzpatrick
Gall-Peters, Mollweide, Eckert IV – take your pick. There are plenty of world maps that show Africa in closer proportion to its true size, and today the UN General Assembly will vote on a resolution encouraging governments, schools, and international organizations to use them. Led by Togo and backed by the African Union, the push targets the [...]
America’s expanding proletariat
Will Fitzpatrick
There is no official definition of “working class” – an economist might point to a certain income bracket or education level, while a Marxist might say it includes anyone who has to sell their labor to survive. But in the US now, the label seems to extend well beyond the traditional industrial proletariat – according to the poll, nearly half of [...]
China’s solar eclipse of the US
Will Fitzpatrick
China now produces more power via solar than coal for the first time ever, with rays of the sun accounting for more than 30% of the country’s total installed power generation, according to Chinese state TV. China, which remains the world’s leading overall greenhouse gas emitter, has leaned heavily into renewable energy installation and generation [...]
All eyez on the verdict
Natalie Johnson
For three decades, Shakur’s death remained one of America’s most famous cold cases, spawning dozens of conspiracy theories but no conviction. That changed yesterday, when a Las Vegas court found Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former gang leader, guilty of orchestrating the murder, which came amid crisscrossing tensions between Los Angeles gangs and an [...]