65,000: A new study estimates that since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, nearly 65,000 women who became pregnant through rape were unable to get abortions in 14 US states that have imposed nearly complete bans on the procedure. The authors of the study in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal noted that “persons who have been raped and become pregnant cannot access legal abortions in their home state, even in states with rape exceptions.”
4: The European Central Bank on Thursday kept its key interest rate unchanged at a record-high of 4%. With inflation at 2.9% in Europe still riding above the ECB target of 2%, bank President Christine Lagarde said talk of a cut was still “premature,” but investors are reportedly calling it a wrong move that could force a more jarring U-turn in interest rate policy this spring.
3.3: The US economy grew an unexpectedly high 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023, despite high interest rates and increasing prices. Core inflation – a measure of change in cost prices of goods and services, except for food and energy sectors – also rose 2% during the same period. For all of 2023, the US economy expanded 3.1%.
60: The army of Burkina Faso has killed more than 60 civilians in three separate drone strikes targeting Islamist fighters since August 2023, according to Human Rights Watch. The watchdog group called on the government to investigate the apparent “war crimes.” Captain Ibrahim Traore, after becoming the head of state in a 2022 coup, has amped up security forces to reclaim territories controlled by armed groups affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State Group.
2: Since the start of the year, two prominent South Korean politicians have now been physically assaulted in public. Bae Hyunjin, a People Power Party lawmaker, was struck in the head on Thursday with a “rocket-like” object. She was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. On Jan. 2, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition party, was stabbed in the neck. The attacks come as the country heads towards national legislative elections in April.
22:Kenneth Smith, 58, was executed using nitrogen gas in Alabama on Thursday. This came after an attempt to execute Smith by lethal injection failed. The execution took 22 minutes. It was the first time nitrogen has been used to carry out an execution anywhere in the world, making the US -- one of the few developed countries that still has the death penalty -- a trailblazer in the realm of capital punishment.
As AI creates new opportunities, the people who understand a community best play an important role in determining how those opportunities take shape. Across the US, Microsoft is supporting AI literacy classes as part of a new program developed in collaboration with the Public Library Association, working through trusted local institutions to help people build practical AI skills. By pairing new technology with local knowledge, the initiative is helping communities explore how AI can support their needs and open new possibilities, while putting local leaders and organizations at the center of that work. Read the full story here.
Russia is testing NATO’s red lines with escalating drone attacks and airspace violations. Can Europe defend Ukraine and itself without help from the US? Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski joins Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
Who among us has not gotten stiffed by a superpower. #PUPPETREGIME
Is Putin's war machine starting to crack? Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski discusses Ukraine's battlefield gains and mounting economic pressure on Russia.