610,577: The latest experiment with guaranteed basic income will be the world's largest so far. In India, the governing party in the small Himalayan state of Sikkim has announced a plan to provide a universal basic income for every one of its 610,577 citizens. Promoters of this idea and its skeptics around the world will be watching.
1,330: In Brazil, criminal gangs have posed a serious challenge for the state for many years, and the problem is getting worse. In the state of Ceará, gangs are reportedly paying young people in poor communities to plant bombs and start fires. The latest wave of destruction is now in its third week. It includes attacks on banks, bridges, and other infrastructure. The kids can reportedly earn 1,000 reais ($266) for torching a bus and 5,000 reais ($1,330) for igniting "a fire of great proportions."
6.6: The enrollment of new foreign students in the US fell by 6.6 percent in the 2017-18 academic year, double the previous year's rate of decline. This is the steepest drop in new enrollees since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The number of F-1 visas, those issued to foreign full-time students, fell from 644,000 in fiscal 2015 to about 394,000 in fiscal 2017.
2: Before this week's attack that killed four Americans and injured three others, only two Americans had been killed in action in Syria since the US-led military campaign began in late 2014.
