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Tourists in the center of Madrid, Spain, after the announcement of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to block almost 66,000 illegal ads, on May 19, 2025.
HARD NUMBERS: Spain clamps down on Airbnb, Cat busted smuggling drugs in Costa Rica, and More
66,000: Amid growing concerns from residents, the Spanish government is calling for the removal of 66,000 Airbnb listings for violating tourist accommodation regulations. Protests have been erupting across the country – the second most popular tourist destination in the world, behind France – as frustration mounts over over-tourism and a housing crisis.
50: Of the 240 Venezuelans deported from the United States to El Salvador, at least 50 entered the United States legally and violated no immigration laws, according to an analysis from the center-right CATO Institute. This study follows an earlier report that 75% of the 240 men had no criminal record.
100: Israel allowed the United Nations to bring 100 aid trucks into Gaza on Tuesday, caving to mounting international pressure to provide relief for residents affected by an eleven-week blockade. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher called for more aid, estimating that 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in the next 48 hours without immediate access to more aid.
$5 million: The Trump administration is discussing whether to offer $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran who was killed as she stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as part of a settlement over a wrongful-death lawsuit. President Donald Trump granted clemency to all those involved in the Jan. 6 riot, but this move would go a step further.
235.65: Officers at Pococi Penitentiary in Costa Rica apprehended a paws-itively furry culprit caught up in a prison drug-smuggling scheme: a cat carrying 235.65 grams of marijuana and 67.76g of heroin. The drugs have since been confiscated, and the animal was put into the care of the National Animal Health Service.Purrfect automated healthcare
Japanese cat owners are turning to a new AI-powered smartphone app that purports to shed light on the perennial question: Is my cat in pain or just mad at me?
The app, called CatsMe!, was developed by researchers at Nihon University as well as the tech startup Carelogy. The developers trained their AI model on thousands of pictures of cats and claim it can snap a picture of your pet’s face to reveal hidden discomfort with 95% accuracy.
The goal is to help cat owners determine when it’s necessary to take their cat to the veterinarian for further examination — and possibly as an early warning for anything as simple as arthritis or as devastating as cancer. In an ideal world, it might save you a couple bucks with fewer trips to the vet — spending on veterinary care doubled between 2010 and 2021, well above the rate of inflation.
Turkish lira banknotes are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on June 1, 2022
Hard Numbers: Turkey hikes rates, US strikes Syria, France sentences jailbreak legend, Qatar to execute Indians, China cracks cat caper
35: Turkey’s central bank ordered another monster rate hike on Thursday, upping the key lending benchmark by 5 percentage points to 35%. The move comes after a similar increase last month as the Central Bank struggles to tame an annual inflation rate above 60%. Since President Erdogan was reelected in May, he’s allowed the bank to drop his “actually high interest rates cause inflation” approach in favor of a more orthodox hawkish policy.
14: France’s most notorious career criminal and jailbreak artist, Rédoine Faïd, was sentenced to 14 years for his cinematic 2018 escape from Reau prison, a getaway involving two of his brothers, a handful of smoke bombs, and a hijacked helicopter. Faid was later caught dressed in a burqa in his hometown north of Paris. “I have an addiction which consumes me,” Faïd said at the trial. “I am addicted to freedom.”
2: US forces on Friday carried out airstrikes on two targets in eastern Syria that are linked to Iran-backed militias. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes had nothing to do with the current conflict in Gaza, and that they were "narrowly tailored in self-defense" following a recent wave of rocket and drone attacks on US forces in the region. As Israel readies its expected ground invasion of Gaza, the US has been bolstering its defenses in the region to deter possible escalation by Iran or its proxies.
8: A Qatari court has ordered the death penalty for eight Indian citizens who were arrested in the Gulf kingdom last year. The charges against them have never been made public, but local media have suggested they were believed to be spies. The Indian government has said it will “take up” the issue with Doha directly.
1,000: Acting on a tip from local animal rights activists, police in the eastern Chinese city of Zhangjiagang stopped a truck filled with 1,000 cats en route to be slaughtered and passed off as pork or lamb skewers. We’re happy the cats were rescued, but we have one pressing question: Who on earth managed to herd a thousand cats into a truck? Have you ever tried to herd as many as one cat into anything? Whoever this person is, we could use their skills in the US Congress.