New York City is on track to have fewer than 500 homicides this year—the lowest total since the police began keeping track back in 1963. Just 35 of the killings thus far were committed by strangers, during the course of such crimes as robbery and sexual assault, and police say that’s about as low as the homicide rate could possibly go in a city of 8.2 million.
The New York Times
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For the first time in the history of a 100-year-old program, the U.S. Postal Service is requiring volunteers who answer children’s letters to Santa Claus to sign a waiver releasing the agency from all liability for lawsuits or other legal claims. A Postal Service spokeswoman said the waiver was necessary because the faux Santas are given the kids’ home addresses.
USA Today
A new Japanese law allows the country’s long-suffering corporate wives to claim half their husbands’ pensions if they are divorced. Since the law went into effect, Japan’s divorce rate has jumped 6.1 percent.
The Washington Post
The annual inflation rate in Zimbabwe is currently 15,000 percent, the highest in the world. The note with the largest denomination, the Z$200,000 bill, is worth about $6.67.
London Daily Telegraph