Hard Numbers: Pakistan indicts Imran Khan (again), RFK wants polio vaccine revoked, India eyes one election, Australia charges big tech, Zuckerberg and Bezos make YUGE donations

December 12, 2024

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan pauses as he speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan in March 2023.

REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo

200: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were indicted on Thursday on charges of unlawfully selling state gifts, including jewelry, at undervalued prices. They pleaded not guilty the same day, calling the charges politically motivated amid nearly 200 cases Khan has faced since his 2022 ouster. Khan and Bibi received 14-year sentences before this year’s election, but those terms were suspended on appeal following a prior three-year sentence in a related case.

14: A lawyer for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump's pick to helm the Department of Health and Human Services, has filed a petition to pause the distribution of 14 vaccines – including polo, hepatitis A, and other deadly diseases. The petition also asks the agency to revoke its polio vaccine approval and end COVID-19 vaccine mandates around the country.

1: India’s cabinet has approved legislation for simultaneous national and state elections, the first step in advancing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “One Nation One Election” plan. Supporters say it would put a stop to India’s state of “perpetual elections,” but critics argue it would favor the national ruling party, Modi’s BJP, in local races.

160,000,000: In its latest crackdown on Big Tech, Australia will charge social media giants like Meta and Google millions if they don’t pay local media for news content. All platforms with revenue over AU$160 million will be obliged to pay up, but charges will be offset by any commercial agreements voluntarily struck between the platforms and news media businesses.

1,000,000: Nothing says sorry quite like cold hard cash. Meta announced on Wednesday that it's donating $1 million to the inaugural fund of President-elect Donald Trump, and Amazon.com, not to be outdone, plans to do the same. The moves appear to be fence-mending gestures – or, as critics call them, attempts to curry favor. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg's relationship with the president-elect soured after Facebook and Instagram suspended Trump’s accounts in 2021 for his praise of the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, and Trump has been critical of Jeff Bezos for owning the Washington Post -- and the newspaper's political coverage.

Where does Trump’s immigration crackdown stand, nearly 100 days in?

Salvadoran police officers escort an alleged member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, in this handout image obtained March 16, 2025.

Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via REUTERS

President Donald Trump’s actions against migrants have generated among the most controversy of any of his policies during the first few months of his presidency.

Dispatch from DC: Bessent defends tariffs, urges IMF and World Bank reform

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivers remarks at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) Global Outlook Forum on sidelines of the IMF and World Bank’s 2025 annual Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.,U.S., April 23, 2025.

REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addressed international financiers at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, on Wednesday morning, saying that “America First does not mean America alone” but “fairness in the international economic system.”

EXCLUSIVE: Democratic astronaut explores Texas Senate launch

International Space Station (ISS) crew member Terry Virts of the U.S. speaks by satellite phone shortly after landing near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on June 11, 2015.

REUTERS/Ivan Sekretarev/Pool

In the latest sign that Democrats are turning a new leaf after their dismal 2024 defeat, astronaut and political neophyte Terry Virts is planning to launch a run for the US Senate in Texas, GZERO Media has learned following recent conversations with those familiar with the race. He plans to challenge incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican.

Another setback for Russia-Ukraine peace talks

Delegations from France, Germany, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the USA meet at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on April 17, 2025.

Eric Tschaen/Pool/ABACAPRESS.COM

It’s all Big Smoke and no fire in London, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pulled out of Russia-Ukraine peace talks that were scheduled to take place in British capital on Wednesday, right as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuffed the Americans’ peace plan that involved formally recognizing Crimea as Russian territory.

Is the age of energy transition over?

Enbridge

The concept of energy transition - the idea that one is conscious about the quantity of CO2 in the atmosphere and looking for ways to replace conventional sources of energy with lower emissions renewables - picked up steam after COVID-19. While concerns about emissions haven't gone away, priorities appear to be shifting, says Arjun Murti, partner at Veriten and founder of the energy transition newsletter Super-Spiked, on the latest episode of the podcast series "Energized: The Future of Energy" from GZERO Media's Blue Circle Studios and Enbridge. “I see no evidence that people don't always care about having reliable energy. All anyone cares about is: when I turn on my light, does it come on? If I want to go somewhere, can the car move forward?” explains Murti to host JJ Ramberg and Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel as they discuss the age of energy transition. Listen to this episode at gzeromedia.com/energized, or on Apple, Spotify, Goodpods, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hard Numbers: Pakistan indicts Imran Khan (again), RFK wants polio vaccine revoked, India eyes one election, Australia charges big tech, Zuckerberg and Bezos make YUGE donations

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Is America turning into a kleptocracy or a dictatorship under President Trump, or just stuck somewhere in between? On Quick Take, Ian Bremmer breaks down why US politics is more pay-to-play than ever, but why there’s still plenty standing in the way of any would-be strongman.

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Hard Numbers: Pakistan indicts Imran Khan (again), RFK wants polio vaccine revoked, India eyes one election, Australia charges big tech, Zuckerberg and Bezos make YUGE donations

GZEROMEDIA

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More from GZERO Media

President Donald Trump’s actions against migrants have generated among the most controversy of any of his policies during the first few months of his presidency.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addressed international financiers at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, on Wednesday morning, saying that “America First does not mean America alone” but “fairness in the international economic system.”

The vote promises to be the most contested since independence, as the ruling People’s Action Party sweats a strong challenge amid weak economic forecasts.

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

Advocates of the BRICS have long made the case that the group could step in to lead the international system of security and investment – and the return of Donald Trump as US president with the rollout of his trade war on US friends and foes alike has given them new momentum. But are they right?

Is America turning into a kleptocracy or a dictatorship under President Trump, or just stuck somewhere in between? On Quick Take, Ian Bremmer breaks down why US politics is more pay-to-play than ever, but why there’s still plenty standing in the way of any would-be strongman.