Hard Numbers: India taxes diesel exports, Donetsk citizens told to flee, France nationalizes EDF, NYC needs lifeguards

Hard Numbers: India taxes diesel exports, Donetsk citizens told to flee, France nationalizes EDF, NYC needs lifeguards
Employee at a gas station during a protest against rising fuel prices in Assam, India.
David Talukdar via Reuters Connect

100,000: New export taxes on fuel could reduce the amount of diesel India sells abroad by as much as 100,000 barrels per day, exacerbating shortages and high prices elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Indians keep scooping up Russian oil at bargain prices.

350,000: The governor of Donetsk is urging 350,000 civilians to escape the Ukrainian province as Russia advances in its bid to seize the entire eastern Donbas region. The Russians took Luhansk over the weekend and now control about half of Donetsk.

100: France will take 100% control of the debt-ridden power group EDF. The state already owned 84%, but EDF has been sustaining huge losses after investing in more nuclear plants and footing the bill for energy price caps introduced in January. The government hopes this will help France move away from fossil fuels.

19: Amid a nationwide shortage of lifeguards, New York City is boosting salaries for the eternally chill summer swimmer saviors to $19 dollars an hour. With signing bonuses!

More from GZERO Media

The White House announces significant changes to the White House press pool on Feb. 25, 2025.

Andrew Leyden/NurPhoto via Reuters

The White House said Tuesday that it will take control of choosing the journalists allowed to participate in the White House press pool – a rotating group of journalists given access to briefings and the ability to ask the president questions — tightening the administration’s control over the press.

A member of German army Bundeswehr exercises during a presentation to German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius during his visit to the airborne brigade of German army Bundeswehr in Saarlouis, Germany, September 17, 2024
REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen

Replacing hundreds of thousands of US troops and other defense equipment would be a huge fiscal challenge for the EU.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) speaks to media during the weekly House Republican Leadership press conference, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, February 25, 2025.
(Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA)

The House of Representatives narrowly approved a Republican-led budget resolution on Tuesday with a 217-215 vote, mostly along party lines.

A cayuco arriving at the port of La Restinga, on August 18, 2024, in El Hierro, Canary Islands (Spain).
Photo by Antonio Sempere / Europa

2: In July 2021, a homophobic mob beat a gay man to death outside a nightclub in A Coruña, a port city in Spain’s northwest, as passersby refused to intervene while some filmed the attack on their phones.

Demonstrators protest against U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk outside the U.S. Capitol as Republicans prepare to vote on Trump's tax-cut agenda, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 25, 2025.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

On Tuesday, 21 engineers, data scientists, product managers, and designers resigned from DOGE in protest of the department’s efforts to “dismantle critical public services.”

In this new episode of Tools and Weapons, Microsoft's Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with Jeffrey Ding, professor at George Washington University and author of "Technology and the Rise of Great Powers." Ding challenges conventional wisdom on how nations achieve global dominance, arguing that the key isn’t just developing breakthrough technologies like AI but effectively integrating and scaling them. They explore what history teaches us about the role of innovation in shaping great powers — and what it will take for the US to remain one. Subscribe and find new episodes monthly, wherever you listen to podcasts.