Hard Numbers: Kenya's vaccine goal, (some) American hostages released in Haiti, Sri Lanka's Easter bombing trial, US democracy slides

Nandoiye Ole Yiele, 74, receives her first dose of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the Bissil Health Centre within Iibissil settlement, Matapato North of Kajiado county, Kenya August 23, 2021

10 million: The Kenyan government hopes to vaccinate 10 million people over the next month. A vaccination mandate will go into effect in the country on December 21, when unvaccinated people will be banned from accessing public facilities including transport.

2: Two American hostages kidnapped by a Haitian gang over a month ago have been released. Sixteen Americans and one Canadian belonging to Christian missionary groups were kidnapped for ransom outside Port-au-Prince by gangs who have taken over large swaths of the city since the July assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

855: Sri Lanka's former police chief Pujith Jayasundera has been hit with 855 charges for failing to act on intelligence in the lead up to the deadly Easter Sunday attacks in 2019 that killed 270 people. The prosecution says Jayasundera received – and ignored – information that could have helped prevent a series of ISIS attacks on churches and hotels.

1: The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, a European think tank, has added the United States to a list of backsliding democracies for the first time. The report cites former President Trump's questioning of the 2020 election results as "a historic turning point."

More from GZERO Media

Marine Le Pen, French member of parliament and parliamentary leader of the far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party and Jordan Bardella, president of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party and member of the European Parliament, gesture during an RN political rally in Bordeaux, France, September 14, 2025.
REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Army Chief Asim Munir holds a microphone during his visit at the Tilla Field Firing Ranges (TFFR) to witness the Exercise Hammer Strike, a high-intensity field training exercise conducted by the Pakistan Army's Mangla Strike Corps, in Mangla, Pakistan, on May 1, 2025.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR)/Handout via REUTERS

Field Marshal Asim Munir, the country’s de facto leader, consolidated his power after the National Assembly rammed through a controversial constitutional amendment this month that grants him lifelong immunity from any legal prosecution.

In this episode of Tools and Weapons, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith sits down with Ed Policy, President and CEO of the Green Bay Packers, to discuss how purpose-driven leadership and innovation are shaping the future of one of the world’s most iconic sports franchises. Ed shares how technology and community-focused initiatives, from Titletown Tech to health and safety innovations on the field, are transforming not just the game of football, but the economy and culture of Green Bay itself. He explains how combining strategic vision with investment in local startups is keeping talent in the Midwest and creating opportunities that extend far beyond Lambeau Field.

Subscribe and find new episodes monthly, wherever you listen to podcasts.

People walk past a damaged building during the funeral of Hezbollah's top military official, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, and of other people who were killed by an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, despite a U.S.-brokered truce a year ago, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon November 24, 2025.
REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The Israeli military assassinated a senior Hezbollah commander in an airstrike on the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Sunday. The attack killed at least five people overall.

Servicemen of the 148th Separate Artillery Zhytomyr Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fire a Caesar self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops at a position on the front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine November 23, 2025.
REUTERS/Anatolii Stepanov

After facing backlash that the US’s first 28-point peace deal was too friendly towards Russia, American and Ukrainian negotiators drafted a new 19-point plan on Monday.