Hard Numbers: Poland restricts abortion, US arms Taiwan, OECD migration drops, Guinea post-election violence

Women protest against imposing further restrictions on abortion law in Poland in Szczecin. Reuters

2: Accepting a legal challenge by the ruling conservative Law and Justice party, Poland's top court has ruled that having an abortion due to fetal defects is unconstitutional. The verdict means that abortion in the overwhelmingly Catholic country will now only be legal in two instances: after a pregnancy caused by rape or incest, and when the mother's health is at risk.

1.8 billion: The Trump administration has notified the US Congress it intends to sell $1.8 billion worth of new missiles and related military hardware to Taiwan. China, which regards the island as part of its territory, will as usual make a stink, but the US regularly sells arms to Taiwan despite the "One China" policy.

46: The pandemic has caused (legal) migration to 37 of the world's most developed countries to plummet by 46 percent in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2019 — the sharpest six-month decline ever. The OECD warns that weaker labor demand, travel restrictions, and widespread remote work may prevent such migration flows from returning to pre-pandemic levels "for some time."

10: At least 10 people have died in post-election violence in Guinea. President Alpha Condé is currently leading the count after the October 18 vote, but challenger Cellou Dalein Diallo has claimed victory for himself and insists Condé should not have been allowed to run due to (recently overturned) constitutional term limits.

More from GZERO Media

Photogrammetry, AI, and digital preservation combine to create a digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica with over 400,000 images, allowing visitors to explore it in detail from anywhere in the world. La Basilica di San Pietro — a collaboration between the Vatican, Iconem, and Microsoft — gives everyone full access to Vatican City’s most iconic church via AI-enabled immersive exhibits and an interactive website. Learn more about the project and explore the digital twin here.

Proud Source Water became a Walmart supplier in 2021. Today, their team has grown 50%, and they're the largest employer in Mackay, ID. When local suppliers work with Walmart, their business can grow. In fact, two-thirds of Walmart's product spend is on products made, grown, or assembled in America. By working with Walmart, local businesses like Proud Source Water can reach more customers, hire more people, and help their communities thrive. Explore the positive impact of Walmart's $350 billion investment in US manufacturing.

A general view of the German lower house of parliament, in Berlin, Germany.
REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Under a plan agreed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the opposition, Europe’s largest economy is now headed toward early elections in February.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend a state reception in Pyongyang, North Korea, in June, 2024.

Sputnik/Vladimir Smirnov/Pool via REUTERS

North Korea's state-controlled news agency KCNA announced on Tuesday that the country has ratified a strategic partnership agreement that allows Russia to use North Korean troops to help push Ukrainians from Russia’s Kursk region.

Midjourney

Artificial intelligence was not a primary focus of the US presidential campaign for either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, and AI-generated disinformation did not disrupt election proceedings like many experts feared. Still, with Republicans looking set for a clean sweep of the White House and both chambers of Congress, the election results have major implications for the future of AI.

AI-generated cyber threats have C-suite leaders on edge.
Fortune via Reuters

The Biden administration is planning to support a controversial United Nations treaty on cybercrime, which will be the first legally binding agreement on cybersecurity.

An illustration of the ChatGPT logo on a phone screen, along with the US flag and court gavel.
Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters

A federal judge in Manhattan last Thursday threw out a lawsuit filed by the news outlets Raw Story and AlterNet against OpenAI, alleging that the artificial intelligence startup behind ChatGPT used its articles improperly to train large language models.

Flags of Taiwan and the US.
Tyrone Siu/Reuters

The US Department of Commerce ordered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to stop shipping advanced chips to Chinese customers starting yesterday, Monday, Nov. 11. The government sent a letter to TSMC specifying that this restriction applies to all chips that are seven nanometers or smaller, which can be used to power artificial intelligence models.

- YouTube

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: With Donald Trump heading back to the Oval Office, loyalty among personnel is expected to play a major role in shaping policy, affecting everything from trade tensions with China and US-Middle East relations. In his latest Quick Take, Ian Bremmer explains the potential impacts on global politics.