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The Graphic Truth: The great global (interest rate) hike

Interest rates and inflation figures in select economies.
Interest rates and inflation figures in select economies.
GZERO Media

Inflation isn’t a sexy dinner party topic, but its impacts reach far and wide. This week, central banks in the US and the UK again raised interest rates to decade highs in a bid to cool their respective economies. The impacts of inflation – and government efforts to quash it – are reverberating throughout emerging market economies, where prices of food staples are soaring, as well as wealthy economies, where mortgage repayments are now unsustainable for many homeowners. We take a look at monetary policy in select economies over the past year.

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Members of the Green Bangla Garment Workers Federation hold a protest rally demanding the immediate reconstitution of the wage board for garment workers and the announcement of a minimum wage of Tk 30,000 in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on October 9, 2026.
Mamunur Rashid/NurPhoto

Garment workers in Bangladesh have taken to the streets over the past week, demanding higher wages and forcing more than 600 factories to shut down nationwide.

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.