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A shopper pays with a euro bank note in a market in Nice, France, amid sky-high inflation.
Hard Numbers: Eurozone inflation record, Saudi woman sentenced for tweeting, US life expectancy drops, Russia cuts off gas to EU … again
9.1: Year-on-year inflation in the Eurozone’s 19 countries rose to 9.1% in August, up from 8.9% last month. It’s the highest rate on record since the group began recording in 1997, and will put pressure on the European Central Bank to again raise interest rates, raising the likelihood of a recession in some EU countries.
45: A Saudi woman has been sentenced to 45 years in prison after a court convicted her of using the internet to "tear the kingdom’s social fabric.” Though Saudi officials have not released many details on the case, a human rights NGO said the woman used a pseudonym to tweet her political opinions.
76: Average life expectancy in the US dropped to 76 in 2021, down three years from 2019. The dip was more pronounced among white Americans and is partly attributable to the pandemic.
745: Russia has again completely halted natural gas deliveries to the European Union via the 745-mile-long Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea. The pipeline was already operating at just 20% capacity after Russia slashed supply because the EU hit Moscow with sanctions over Ukraine. For now, this move has not impacted global gas prices.The Graphic Truth: Where populations are rising ... or falling
The world is currently 8 billion people strong – and is expected to hit almost 10 billion by 2050. That's well into the future, but for the next three years, the UN actually predicts annual population growth will be just under 1%, with vast disparity among regions. Where are populations growing the most and least, and even declining? We take a look at short-term growth trends ahead of World Population Day on July 11.
Israel-Palestine conflict worsening and could lead to a war
Ian Bremmer shares his perspective on global politics this week:
Why has there been a recent escalation of violence in Jerusalem?
Well, it started with demonstrations of the Palestinians expecting a verdict on these cases of Palestinians that have been pushed out of their homes in East Jerusalem by settlers, contested territory that has belonged to the Palestinians. You've had lots of violence against them by Israeli police, then you had Gaza missiles from Hamas, and then Israeli missiles into Gaza, and now we've got a couple dozen Palestinians dead and the potential for this to get a lot worse is real. The shekel has even moved a little bit because there's concerns that this could lead to a war. It's not a broader war. This is not as much of a priority for the Arabs in the region, so it doesn't kill the Abraham Accords, Iran is still moving ahead with a deal, but in terms of potential for real bloodshed between Israel and the Palestinians, absolutely. That's something to worry about.
What's happening in Colombia?
There was an effort by President Duque in his last year, he can't run for another term, to increase taxes to deal with their fiscal balance. And it's still in the middle of a pandemic, the timing was really difficult, especially because it hits the poor too, it's not just wealthy taxes, even things like funerals. Massive outcry, now anger about all sorts of things, a lot of violence, police brutality in the response. His popularity has hit the toilet as a consequence and a lot of instability on the ground of Colombia. This is not just a Colombia problem. You have this kind of outcry against established political figures across South America, right now, as they're dealing with some of the worst outbreaks of coronavirus. This is a region that's been hit both economically and healthcare-wise really bad.
Finally, what's the concern with China's population growth decline?
Well, every 10 years they have a census and the population is flat. There was some belief it might even have decreased a little bit, but it's certainly not growing. India's population is growing. When you look at India versus China, there is a lot of sense of, "Well, how can China become a superpower if their population is going to get old before it gets rich, and if they're running out of workers and if not as many people are consuming, especially when they focus on dual circulation, which means more domestic demand?" But this is a longer-term issue. Near-term, the more proximate point is that the Chinese are at parity with the Americans on key technologies, and that makes them, by far, the most important competitor and national security threat to the United States. Ain't going to change.
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