Hard Numbers: Khashoggi murder trial tries...no one, Australia closes major border, American pride plummets, Putin's votes questioned

0: The trial in the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi opened in a Turkish court on Friday, but 0 of the 20 Saudi agents accused of the gruesome murder were actually in the courtroom. Saudi Arabia says its own closed-door trial over the slaying was sufficient, and has so far refused to extradite the suspects to Turkey, where Khashoggi was killed.

100: The border between Victoria and New South Wales, Australia's two most populous states, will close indefinitely for the first time in more than 100 years after Melbourne, Victoria's capital, saw a spike in COVID-19 cases. New daily cases throughout Australia have recently risen above 100, after staying in the single digits throughout most of June.

17: Amid a pandemic, recession, and ongoing protests against racial inequality, Americans aren't feeling so great about their country: just 17 percent of those in a new Pew survey say they feel "proud" of the direction the country is headed. That's down 14 points since April, when the same question was last posed.

22 million: A prominent Russian data scientist says there was an "unprecedented" level of voter fraud during the country's recent constitutional referendum, which gave Vladimir Putin a mandate to serve two more six-year terms when his presidency ends in 2024. Statistical evidence suggests that around 22 million ballots out of a total 88 million may have been cast fraudulently.

More from GZERO Media

Last week, Microsoft committed $15.2 billion to the UAE. This strategic investment expands cloud and AI infrastructure in the Middle East. It aims to boost regional innovation, economic diversification, and digital resilience. The move underscores tech’s role in shaping global competitiveness and security. A milestone for the UAE — and a signal of where the digital future is headed. Read the full blog here.

US President Donald Trump welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House for bilateral discussions about trade and security on February 13, 2025.
India PM Office handout via EYEPRESS

After months of tensions between the world’s richest country and the world’s most populous one, it appears that the United States and India are on the verge of making a trade deal.

Members of the media gather outside Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters in central London, as BBC Director General Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness resign following accusations of bias and the controversy surrounding the editing of the Trump speech before the Capitol riots on 6 January 2021 in a BBC Panorama documentary.
(Credit Image: © Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire)

+26: Two BBC leaders, Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News Head Deborah Turness, resigned on Sunday after it emerged that the British news organization edited footage of US President Donald Trump in a misleading fashion.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) heads back to his office following a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on November 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C. The shutdown of the Federal Government has become the longest in U.S. history after surpassing the 35 day shutdown that occurred during President Trumps first term that began in the end of 2018.
(Photo by Samuel Corum/Sipa USA)