257: The Trump administration is preparing to announce tariffs on all remaining Chinese exports to the US if talks between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit next month fail to achieve a breakthrough. The new tariffs, which would total around $257 billion on top of $250 billion already implemented, could be announced by early December.
143: Nearly half of Iran’s 80 million people are set to receive government handouts of rice, chicken, and dairy products worth up to 6 million rials, or $143, as the country braces for the impact of new US sanctions. New curbs on Iranian crude shipments are expected to go into effect early next week.
19: The net worth of the world’s 2,158 billionaires rose 19 percent last year, to $8.9 trillion – the biggest increase on record, according to UBS. Chinese billionaires got the biggest bump. They ended the year 39 percent richer. Asia also surpassed the US in the total number of billionaires for the first time ever.
1.3: Around 1.3 billion tourists hit the road 2017, according to World Tourism Organization. That’sdouble the number of vacationers just 18 years ago. Many of these adventure-seekers are traveling to the same handful of top global destinations, leading to overcrowding and tensions between tourists, locals, and governments.
