Hard Numbers: Google bets on India, US states sue Trump over students, Singapore opposition gains, New York City (finally) gets to zero

10 billion: Google will invest $10 billion in India. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google's parent company Alphabet, explained that the money will go toward helping Indian businesses go digital and use technology "for social good," in line with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India initiative to overhaul the country's digital infrastructure.

17: As of Monday afternoon, 17 US states and the District of Columbia have sued the Trump administration over a new immigration rule that would revoke the visas of tens of thousands of foreign students if their US universities hold only online classes next year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The move has sparked an outcry by both students and colleges, many of which rely heavily on foreign students' tuition fees.

10: Singapore's opposition achieved its best-ever result in Friday's election, securing 10 out of the 93 seats up for grabs in parliament. The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) won — as it always has since independence in 1965 — but its share of the popular vote plunged to less than two-thirds, a record-low support amid popular mistrust of how the government has handled the COVID-19 crisis.

0: New York City on Sunday registered zero COVID-19 deaths for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. After emerging as an early global epicenter, the Big Apple has since dramatically flattened the curve of infections — while other major US cities, especially in Florida and Texas, are now seeing cases and deaths spike.

More from GZERO Media

President Emmanual Macron addresses the French nation on Wednesday.
Frederic Petry / Hans Lucas via Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron has issued one of his strongest warnings yet about growing security threats in Europe, declaring, “Ukraine has become a global conflict.” In a national speech on Wednesday, he urged France and the European Union to accelerate efforts to strengthen military capabilities, even hinting at extending France’s nuclear deterrent to the rest of the EU.

US President Donald Trump gave America’s Big Three automakers a one-month tariff reprieve but expects them to use the time to shift production from Canada and Mexico to the United States. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the temporary exemption Wednesday after Trump held a call with the CEOs of Stellantis, Ford, and GM, at their request. Levitt also made it clear that, as of April 2, reciprocal tariffs will go into effect worldwide.

- YouTube

Is the transatlantic relationship permanently damaged by what we have seen during the last 10 days or so? Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, shares his perspective on European politics from Stockholm, Sweden.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, left, and Riek Machar, shake hands after a meeting in which they reached a deal to form a long-delayed unity government in Juba, South Sudan back in December 2019. How times have changed.

REUTERS/Jok Solomun

South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, could soon devolve into renewed civil war. On Wednesday, soldiers surrounded Vice President Riek Machar’s home in Juba, the capital, following the arrest of key allies, including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol and his bodyguards and family.

A Ukrainian serviceman searches for a target with a US Stinger air defense missile launcher on the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Andriy Andriyenko/SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

The US has cut off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine. The move, which follows an announcement from President Donald Trump that halts US weapons provision to Ukraine’s military, will cripple Ukraine’s ability to monitor Russian troop movements and defend against missile and drone strikes on its cities. Unlike the weapons cutoff, the loss of US intelligence will have immediate battlefield effects.