$13.5 million: Over three days in August, suspected North Korean hackers made off with $13.5 million in an elaborate heist from India’s Cosmos Bank. It’s the latest in a string of attacks against financial institutions by a group suspected of links to Pyongyang, which is hungry for access to hard currency.
6.7 million: China’s internet police received 6.7 million reports of illegal or false information in July, according to official data. Chinese laws dictate that “rumor-mongers” can be charged with defamation and sentenced to up to seven years in prison. That’s one way to combat fake news.
$1.3 million: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa netted $1.3 million from an auction of cattle and game animals from his livestock holdings over the weekend. Ramaphosa’s earnings contrast strongly with the outlook for his country, which in the second quarter of the year slipped into recession for the first time in nearly a decade, according for figures published yesterday.
9,000: Burmese General Min Aung Hlaing, a prolific Facebook user who was banned from the social network after a United Nations report called for him and other military leaders to face charges of genocide against the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority, has resurfaced on VK, a Russia-based Facebook rival. As of last week, his new account had attracted around 9,000 followers, compared with 2.8 million followers on his main Facebook page before he was banned.
1/2: Argentine President Mauricio Macri on Monday revealed a plan to cut the number of government ministries in the Latin American country by more than half, part of a broader belt-tightening intended to restore investor faith in the country. The value of the country’s currency has fallen more than 50 percent this year amid mounting concerns about whether Argentina will be able to pay its dollar-denominated debts.
