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President-elect Donald Trump attends the America First Policy Institute gala at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 14, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Trump talks tough tariffs, Opposition wins in Uruguay, DHL plane crashes in Lithuania, Israeli drone targeted journalists, Ireland asylum claims spike
25: President-elect Donald Trump took aim at Canada and Mexico via Truth Social on Monday, posting about his plan to charge the countries — currently America’s No. 1 & No. 2 trading partners, — a whopping 25% tariff on all products entering the US. The tariff would be enacted on Jan. 20, 2025, Trump said, and would “remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” He then posted that he would charge China, where the precursor chemicals to fentanyl are made, “an additional 10% tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America.”
49: Uruguay’s left-wing opposition leader Yamandú Orsiwon the small South American country’s presidential election with 49% of the vote in a neck-and-neck runoff contest on Sunday. It was yet another rebuke of an incumbent party — the theme of many global elections this year — but not to worry: Uruguay is remarkably stable, and Orsi is a moderate with no radical plans.
1: One crew member died on Monday when a DHL cargo flight crashed during its attempted landing in Vilnius, Lithuania, with surveillance video showing a huge ball of flames as the plane went down. Lithuanian officials said they could not rule out whether Russia played a role in the crash, following months of suspicions over Moscow’s possible role in other cases of sabotage against the German shipping giant. Germany, meanwhile, is sending investigators to Vilnius to aid with the probe.
3: Human Rights Watch has determined that an Israeli drone strike that killed three journalists in Lebanon last month was most likely a deliberate attack on civilians, which is a war crime. More than 3,500 people in Lebanon have died amid Israel’s invasion, and more than 1 million have been displaced from their homes in the 5.3-million-strong country.
300: Asylum applications in Ireland have spiked 300% so far this year – with a fourfold increase from Nigeria – compared to last. The rise has been driven by tougher immigration stances in the UK, including a quixotic plan to house asylum-seekers in Rwanda. The uptick is becoming a political issue in Ireland, with voters increasingly concerned by the impact of increased migration on scarce housing.Protesters, including supporters of Georgia's opposition parties, hold a rally to dispute the Georgian Dream's declared victory in the weekend's parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 28, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Georgians protest, VW closes plants, China closes kindergartens, Uruguay preps for presidential runoff
1,000s: “They stole your vote and tried to steal your future,” Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili told pro-EU supporters on Monday, urging fellow citizens to take to the streets following the ruling pro-Russian Georgian Dream party’s declared victory in Sunday’s election. Exit polls had offered conflicting trajectories on who would win. By late Monday, tens of thousands of protesters were pouring out onto the streets of Tbilisi to fight for Georgia’s democracy and future.
3: German auto giant Volkswagen, struggling amid weak sales and a slower-than-expected EV expansion, is hitting the brakes on three factories within Germany — the first time in its 87-year history the company has shuttered a plant in Deutschland. The move coincides with plans for layoffs and pay cuts of up to 18% with a two-year pay freeze.
5%: The number of Chinese kindergartens dropped by more than 5% in China last year – pupil enrollment dropped by 11% – owing to the country’s negative population growth. While there were 289,200 kindergartens in 2022, by last year that number had fallen to 274,400, according to China’s Ministry of Education. Some of the facilities were converted into senior care centers to help serve the country’s aging population.
1.06 million: Uruguay is heading for a presidential election runoff next month after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first round on Sunday. Yamandú Orsi, a center-left candidate who’s a two-time mayor and former history teacher, came away with 1.06 million votes. Meanwhile, Álvaro Delgado, the center-right ruling party’s candidate, received 644,147 votes – ahead of the third-place candidate, Andrés Ojeda, who received 385,685 votes. The South American country stands apart from its neighbors, and much of the world, in avoiding highly divisive politics and conducting an election typified by civility.