Hard Numbers: Aussie referendum, West Bank violence, South African peace plan, Titanic sub search, Polish highway to Hel

The moon is seen behind the Australian flag, the Aboriginal flag, and the flag of the Torres Strait Islands flying outside Parliament House in Canberra.
The moon is seen behind the Australian flag, the Aboriginal flag, and the flag of the Torres Strait Islands flying outside Parliament House in Canberra.
AAPIMAGE via Reuters Connect

52-19: With 52 votes in favor and 19 against, Australia's Senate approved holding a national referendum on reforming the constitution to recognize Indigenous people. The plebiscite, to be scheduled within six months, will ask Australians if they want to establish a committee to advise parliament on anything affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people.

6: Six Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces raided a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday. Palestinian militants responded with roadside bombs, while Israel deployed a helicopter gunship in the area for the first time since the second Intifada some 20 years ago.

10: On his trip with fellow African leaders to Kyiv and Moscow, President Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled South Africa's 10-point peace plan for Ukraine. The proposal seems to favor Ukraine, but Vladimir Putin said he'd consider it, and what South Africa really wants is unimpeded exports of Ukrainian grain and Russian fertilizer.

96: The US Coast Guard is searching for a private sub that vanished Sunday off the coast of southeastern Canada while en route to explore the wreck of the Titanic. The five passengers — one of whom is believed to be British billionaire Hamish Hardin — reportedly had 96 hours of oxygen left when they went missing.

666: Poland's infamous No. 666 bus route, which goes to the resort town of Hel, will turn its last number upside down on June 24. The bus company agreed to the change under pressure from religious conservatives worried about “spreading Satanism.” We can understand exactly what the Hel they were thinking, but note that the Polish word for the infernal underworld is is actually pieklo!

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