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315 million: Profits at a Chinese utility company have increased by $315 million since it began monitoring its employees’ brainwaves with special hats in 2014. The technology allows managers to use AI programs to detect emotional spikes and stress and to change staffing appropriately.
65: Oil prices have risen 65% since last June, touching a four year high of $75 a barrel last week. Three things are driving up prices: ongoing production restraint from Russia and Saudi Arabia, dwindling production in Venezuela and Libya, and the prospect that US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal will mean fresh sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
50: South Koreans’ trust in North Korean leader Kim Jong-un surged by 50 percentage points as a result of the historic Koreas summit last Friday. On the day of the summit, 64.7 percent of those surveyed said they thought the enigmatic North Korean dictator would denuclearize and lay the groundwork for peace on the peninsula, up from 14.7 percent before it, according to the research agency Realmeter.
31: Washington’s Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley says that UN member states voted against the United States 31 percent of the time last year, even though Uncle Sam accounts for 22 percent of the international organization’s budget. “This is not an acceptable return on our investment,” she said, detailing a list of countries that vote against Washington most often.
6: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is currently running an appeal for $46 million to assist Venezuelan refugees who have fled to neighboring countries. But a spokesperson said just 6 percent of the appeal has so far been raised, and many observers believe the target figure is far too low to begin with.