Noted

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

Out of 2.12 million recreational parachute jumps in the U.S. last year, 21 ended in death, according to the United States Parachute Association. That’s a slight safety improvement over 2005, when there were 27 fatalities.

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The Wall Street Journal

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