Hard Numbers: Republicans tune out debate, US moon lander faces trouble, Indian court revisits 2002 violence, Kim Jong Un skips the big 4-0, German soccer legend dies, Argentina’s big bill

Former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in the fourth Republican debate of the 2024 US presidential campaign in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
Former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in the fourth Republican debate of the 2024 US presidential campaign in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
REUTERS/Brian Snyder

51: The GOP’s fifth presidential debate is being held Wednesday night on CNN, but a key demographic isn’t tuning in. According to a new Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll, 51% of Republicans don’t plan to watch, reflecting just how strong a lead former President Donald Trump – who’s expected to skip the event (again!) – has in the race toward the nomination. Apart from Trump, only Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have qualified to take part.

50: Houston, we have a problem … The US launched its first lunar lander in over 50 years on Monday, but it may not reach its destination. The Peregrine spacecraft, a robotic lander built by the Pittsburgh-based aerospace company Astrobotic, successfully took off from Cape Canaveral, but the company says that issues likely caused by the propulsion system are threatening “the ability of the spacecraft to soft land on the moon.”

11: India’s Supreme Court on Monday restored life prison sentences for 11 men convicted of raping a pregnant woman in 2002 during Hindu-Muslim religious violence in the state of Gujarat. The men, who were released from prison in 2022, must now surrender to authorities within two weeks. PM Narendra Modi was the top elected official in Gujarat back then, and he has faced criticism over his actions during the 2002 sectarian riots, which saw over 1,000 people, mostly Muslim, killed.

40: Kim Jong Un turned 40 on Monday. The nuke-obsessed Supreme Leader is believed to have been born on Jan. 8, 1984, though North Korea has not officially confirmed this. While his father and grandfather often held lavish parties for themselves, Kim opted not to throw a birthday bash.

78: Franz Beckenbauer, perhaps the most famous German soccer player of all time, died Sunday at the age of 78. Beckenbauer, a defender, was one of just three men in history to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager – he’s joined only by Brazil's Mario Zagallo, who passed away on Friday at 92, and Didier Deschamps, 55, of France.

5 billion: Argentina has until Jan. 10 to scrounge up $5 billion in collateral for the $16 billion it owes the private shareholders of state energy company YFP. Argentina is expected to miss the deadline – despite President Javier Milei pledging to break the country’s defaulting habit – at which point the shareholders would be forced to assert their rights by seizing Argentine assets. This could be anything: In 2012, Argentina lost a tall-masted naval ship to a hedge fund that seized it as an asset when it was docked in Ghana.

More from GZERO Media

A man rides a scooter past a giant screen showing news footage of Chinese President Xi Jinping attending a Chinese Communist Party politburo meeting, in Beijing, China December 9, 2024.
REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

China’s Politburo — the top leadership cabinet — said Monday it would take “more proactive” fiscal measures and loosen up its monetary policy in 2025 as it aims to boost domestic consumption.

HTS leader Ahmed Al-Shara, aka Abu Muhammad Al-Golani, overlooks Damascus, Syria, after the overthrow of Bashar Assad on Dec. 8, 2024.

Balkis Press/ABACAPRESS.COM via Reuters

The Shura Council of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, has appointed Mohammed al-Bashir as interim PM of its proposed 18-month transitional government of Syria. What will his appointment mean for Syria, how are the Kurds faring amid the chaos, and why is Israel making moves inside Syria?

While many investors took a ‘wait-and-see’ approach in the lead up to the election, as the results sets in, investors and businesses are evaluating how recent political shifts will impact market conditions and capital flows in the months ahead. With the election now behind us, will the next administration drive a transaction revival and support new investment opportunities? Analyze election impacts to markets and industries with insights from leading experts on the issues that matter most with Beyond the Ballot, brought to you by RBC Capital Markets.

Jess Frampton

In addition to multiple ongoing conflicts, a year of electoral instability, and pandemic hangovers, the return of Donald Trump as the US president injects further unpredictability into the geopolitics.

KYIV, UKRAINE - DECEMBER 9, 2024 - Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva (L to R) attend a meeting with German Chancellor candidate, leader of the Christian Democratic Union Friedrich Merz, Kyiv, capital of Ukraine.
Photo by Ukrinform/Ukrinform/Sipa USA via reuters

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to end Russia’s war with Ukraine.

- YouTube

What will President-Elect Donald Trump’s election win mean for the US economy? After years of inflation and stagnating wage growth, millions of voters elected Trump off the back of his promise to usher in a “golden age of America.” Trump has vowed to raise tariffs, slash business regulation, and deport millions of undocumented immigrants, policies he says will put Americans first. But what will that mean practically for workers and consumers? On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer is joined by Oren Cass, the founder and chief economist of the conservative think tank American Compass, who thinks Trump’s tariff plan will be a step in the right direction.

This week, in GZERO Daily, we will be rolling out our top political game changers of the year. Stay tuned, and check back here on Friday for our Top 10.

Syrian refugees in Ankara, Turkey, celebrate the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8, 2024.

Diego Cupolo/NurPhoto via Reuters

The toppling of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria could significantly impact the future of Syrian refugees, in both neighboring states and beyond.

French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with US President-elect Donald Trump as he arrives for a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris as part of ceremonies to mark the reopening of the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, in Paris, on Dec. 7, 2024.
REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

Forget the Eras Tour: From Paris to New York City, US President-elect Donald Trump had a whirlwind weekend.