Hard Numbers: Navalny sentenced (again), oily oceans, Alibaba stock buyback, Ukrainian fundraising star

Hard Numbers: Navalny sentenced (again), oily oceans, Alibaba stock buyback, Ukrainian fundraising star
A poster by street artist Harry Greb depicting Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny in Rome.
Reuters

9: Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced on Tuesday to nine more years in jail after being convicted of fraud and contempt of court. In his closing statement, the top Kremlin critic blasted Vladimir Putin and Russia’s war in Ukraine, urging Russians to protest.

52.8 million: That’s the amount of toxic oily water being dumped annually into the world’s oceans, according to an investigation by Deutsche Welle. The figure is roughly five times the equivalent of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, one of the worst maritime environmental disasters ever.

25 billion: Alibaba wants to buy back more than $25 billion worth of stock. The Chinese e-commerce giant aims to reassure investors about the company's future despite being targeted by Xi Jinping’s tech crackdown.

380,000: A seven-year-old Ukrainian girl who went viral for singing the Frozen theme song from a bomb shelter in Kyiv performed her country’s national anthem during a concert in Poland. The event, attended by thousands, raised some $380,000 for Ukrainian refugees like her.

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Digital Saksham — saksham translates to “able” in Hindi — is a collaboration between the Confederation of Indian Industry and Mastercard Strive, a global philanthropic initiative to support small businesses. It’s part of a broader effort by the Indian government to unlock the full potential of micro and small enterprises — and part of Mastercard’s efforts to bring 50 million small businesses into the digital economy by 2025, a goal it recently met. Accessing digital tools can help small businesses scale up, reach new customers, and hire more employees. Read more about these efforts to equip small business owners — especially women — with the tools they need to build their businesses and become financially resilient.

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Listen: On the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer examines the impact of Donald Trump’s return to office, exploring how his populist victory and the GOP’s control could reshape US governance amid historian Nicole Hemmer’s warning of “accelerating democratic erosion” and journalist Molly Ball's concerns over eroding checks on executive power.

Donald Trump gestures after taking the oath of office during his first inauguration in Washington, DC, in January 2017.

Olivier Douliery/ABACAPRESS.COM via Reuters

The US Justice Department on Friday charged three men with plotting to assassinate Donald Trump on the orders of the Iranian government.

Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters are guarded by police after violence targeting Israeli football fans broke out in Amsterdam overnight, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024.
REUTERS/Ami Shooman/Israel Hayom

At least five people were hospitalized and 62 were arrested.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and former President Donald Trump, meeting in New York City on Sept. 27, 2024.
Reuters

Given the tumultuous nature of his initial four years in office, the world is now bracing for the impact of Trump’s return.

A protester looks on near a burning barricade during a "national shutdown" against the election outcome, in Maputo, Mozambique, on Nov. 7, 2024.
REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

In Mozambique, the opposition has accused the ruling FRELIMO party of stealing the country’s Oct. 9 election, and protests have since led to violence.