Hard Numbers: Belarusian opposition leader jailed, Nicaragua gets Chinese jabs, EU rules on children from same-sex parents, Logic saves lives

Hard Numbers: Belarusian opposition leader jailed, Nicaragua gets Chinese jabs, EU rules on children from same-sex parents, Logic saves lives
Blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky wearing a protective face mask amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak speaks during a rally of opposition politicians' supporters, who collect signatures for the nomination of their candidates in the upcoming presidential election, in Minsk, Belarus May 24, 2020.
REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

18: Belarusian opposition leader Siarhei Tsikhanouski was sentenced on Tuesday to 18 years in prison, charged with organizing street protests against the 2020 sham re-election of strongman President Alexander Lukashenko. (Earlier this year, Tsikhanouski's wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told GZERO World about the fight for democracy in Europe's last dictatorship.)

1 million: Nicaragua has received one million doses of COVID vaccines from China just days after severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan in order to recognize the People's Republic. China has long been luring Latin American countries to ditch Taipei, offering cash and other incentives.

27: The EU's top court has ruled that same-sex parents and their children must be recognized as a family in all 27 member states to guarantee the child’s right to free movement. The verdict is a response to Bulgaria refusing to issue a birth certificate to a Spanish-born child because she was registered as having two mothers.

245: US rapper Logic may have helped save the lives of 245 Americans contemplating suicide since his album "Everybody" was released in 2017. According to a new study, surges of online engagement with the track “1-800-273-8255” coincided with more calls than usual to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, whose phone number the title of the song refers to.

More from GZERO Media

The ChatGPT logo, a keyboard, and robot hands are seen in this illustration.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

On Tuesday, OpenAI announced ChatGPT Gov, a version of its popular chatbot specifically built for US government agencies. It’s similar to the enterprise version of the software but claims to have enhanced security features that can handle “non-public, sensitive information.”

Antioch High School is obscured by trees, but emergency personnel were still onsite after a student shot and killed a girl, injured a boy and later fatally shot himself in the school's cafeteria in Antioch, Tenn., on Jan. 22, 2025.

USA Today Network via Reuters

Artificial intelligence software used in Nashville’s Antioch High School did not detect a shooter’s gun on Wednesday.

Actor Adrien Brody, star of "The Brutalist," during a pre-recorded interview with BBC in London on Jan. 19, 2025.
Jeff Overs/BBC/Handout via REUTERS

“The Brutalist” and “Emilia Pérez” have faced criticism for using artificial intelligence at a time when Hollywood — and its unions — have been grappling with the appropriate role of the technology in filmmaking.

This illustration photo shows the DeepSeek AI application logo on a black background displayed on a cell phone with a kaleidoscope-effect China flag in the background.
Photo Illustration by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Reuters

A Chinese startup might have achieved what many thought was impossible: matching America’s best artificial intelligence systems at a fraction of the cost.

Midjourney

In his first week back in office, Donald Trump gathered tech leaders to announce a half-trillion-dollar project called Stargate. The flashy price tag caught plenty of attention, but Stargate also has spurred controversies about Trump’s relationship with Silicon Valley and raised questions about the value of energy-guzzling data centers in the age of AI.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One before arriving at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Jan. 27, 2025.

REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

The White House budget office, via a two-page memo on Monday, ordered all grants, loans, and federal assistance to be paused –raising alarm bells about the consequences for the programs that depend on them.

Are you a film buff? Or a geography nerd? How about both? This puzzle will test your knowledge of the best films of this year, and major landmarks around the world. Because ... Why not?

Tens of thousands of Palestinians are returning to northern Gaza for the first time since the early weeks of Israel’s 15-month war with Hamas.
REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Tens of thousands of Palestinians are returning to northern Gaza for the first time since the early weeks of Israel’s 15-month war with Hamas – but they are coming home to a wasteland.

Guatemalan migrants walk after arriving at La Aurora Air Force Base on a deportation flight from the U.S., in Guatemala City, Guatemala, December 27, 2024.
REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin

Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s challenge to Donald Trump over deportation flights lasted less than a day.