Fresh out of Barnard College with a degree in political science, Riley is learning the ropes as a writer and reporter for GZERO. When she isn’t writing about global politics, you can find her making GZERO’s crossword puzzles, conducting research on American politics, or persisting in her lifelong quest to learn French. Riley spends her time outside of work grilling, dancing, and wearing many hats (both literally and figuratively).
110: A Canadian warship passed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday in what Ottawa called a commitment to an open Indo-Pacific – and in what China called an undermining of peace. Beijing claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan and the 110-mile-wide waterway dividing the two. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.
60,000: The number of arrests by border agents of migrants who crossed the southern US border illegally in July is expected to fall under 60,000, a massive drop from a peak of 250,000 in December, after President Joe Biden imposed stricter measures for asylum-seekers in June.
30: In an attempt to alleviate the housing crisis keeping many younger Canadians from buying a home, the federal government has implemented new mortgage rules giving first-time homebuyers with insured mortgages – the type required when a down payment equals less than 20% of the purchase price – up to 30 years to pay them off. Before now, the max was 25 years, and while this move will help lower some monthly payments, there’s a catch: It only applies to newly built homes, so many doubt it will help alleviate the housing crunch.
2.76 billion: After breaking ground in 2023, a company building a plant to produce battery components for electric vehicles near Kingston, Ontario, says it’s delaying construction because of a slowdown in EV sales. The project carried a total price tag of up to CA$2.76 billion, was projected to create 600 jobs, and the federal government was slated to invest up to CA$551.3 million.
