Hard Numbers: Venice bus tragedy, Armenia joins ICC, NYC mayor challenges “right to shelter” law, Biden's border U-turn

The site of the tragedy where a bus fell from the Mestre overpass outside of Venice, Italy.
The site of the tragedy where a bus fell from the Mestre overpass outside of Venice, Italy.
Reuters

21: Italian authorities are using DNA samples to identify some of the still-unknown victims of a devastating bus accident outside Venice that left 21 people dead. It remains unclear what caused the electric vehicle to crash.

60: Armenia’s parliament has voted – 60 to 22 – to join the International Criminal Court. Russia said it was disappointed with Yerevan, an ally, considering that the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin. But Armenian officials sought to reassure the Kremlin, saying the move was motivated by its ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan.

122,700: Mayor Eric Adams has asked a judge to suspend a long-term edict mandating that New York City provide shelter to those who seek it. Adams says the Big Apple can’t cope with the 122,700 migrants who have arrived since spring 2022, and he is traveling to Latin America this week to try to deter would-be asylum-seekers from making the journey to New York. For more on the politics of New York’s migrant crisis, see our explainer here.

20: In a remarkable about-face, the Biden administration is set to build 20 miles of wall at the US southern border. The White House, and most Democrats, had long opposed and even ridiculed former President Donald Trump’s calls to “build the wall.” But faced with soaring numbers of undocumented migrants, the administration said Tuesday there is now an “acute and immediate need” for a wall.

More from GZERO Media

U.S. President Donald Trump poses with Vice President Mike Pence, first lady Melania Trump and Conan, the U.S. military dog that participated in and was injured in the U.S. raid in Syria that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, while standing with the dog's military handler on the colonnade of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 25, 2019.
REUTERS/Tom Brenner

While the second season will not officially launch until Jan. 20, 2025, the Donald Trump show has already come to town.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) nominates former President Donald Trump for Speaker of the House as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) watch inside the House Chamber on the third day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 5, 2023.
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
Ukrainian Armed Forces are deployed in the middle of the conflict with Russia on December 16, 2024. Ukraine claims that Russia has begun sending North Korean soldiers en masse to assaults in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces repel daily Russian attacks and control important areas.
Handout / Latin America News Agency via Reuters Connect

South Korean military officials said Monday that they had detected North Korean preparations to deploy more troops and weapons to Russia, and elaborated that at least 100 of Pyongyang’s soldiers had been killed and 1,000 more wounded so far, while Ukrainians claim 200 have died and nearly 3,000 had been wounded.

US Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at an event for young leaders at Prince George’s County Community College in Largo, Maryland on Tuesday, December 17, 2024.
Photo by Annabelle Gordon/Pool/Sipa USA

For the Democrats, 2024 was the year of the ostrich, or the koala, according to lapsed-Democratic voters asked to describe the party as an animal in post-election research.

Romanian far-right presidential election candidate Calin Georgescu delivers a press statement at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, December 19, 2024.
Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu secured a parliamentary vote of confidence on Monday, cementing a new coalition government amid the country’s worst political crisis in decades.