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Hard Numbers: Israel PM hopeful, Facebook board punts on Trump, Japan’s COVID squid, US population declining

May 05, 2021
Carlos Santamaria
Hard Numbers: Israel PM hopeful, Facebook board punts on Trump, Japan’s COVID squid, US population declining
Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid gestures as he delivers a speech following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's general election at his party headquarters in Tel Aviv.
REUTERS/Amir Cohen

28: Yair Lapid, leader of Israel's opposition Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party, has 28 days to form a new government. President Reuven Rivlin tapped Lapid after incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to cobble together a governing coalition by Tuesday's midnight deadline, further prolonging Israel's political stalemate.

6: Facebook has six months to decide whether to reinstate or permanently ban former US president Donald Trump on its platform, its oversight board has ruled (or punted, depending on your view). Facebook dropped Trump for his role in inciting the US Capitol insurrection on January 6.

25 million: A Japanese town has spent 25 million yen (almost $229,000) in COVID relief money to build a life-size statue of a giant squid. The mayor's office hopes the attraction will help boost tourism, but netizens complain it's a waste of funds needed to help local economies recover from the pandemic.

4: The number of births in the US dropped by 4 percent in 2020, double the average rate of decline in the past six years, according to new CDC data. This means that America's population is now below replacement levels, with more people dying than being born each day.

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