![Laid-off U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) probationary employee Juliane Alfen reacts after USAID workers cleared out their desks and collected personal belongings, during a sendoff in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 27, 2025.]](https://www.gzeromedia.com/media-library/laid-off-u-s-agency-for-international-development-usaid-probationary-employee-juliane-alfen-reacts-after-usaid-workers-cleare.jpg?id=57183642&width=1200&quality=85)
Fresh out of Barnard College with a degree in political science, Riley is learning the ropes as a writer and reporter for GZERO. When she isn’t writing about global politics, you can find her making GZERO’s crossword puzzles, conducting research on American politics, or persisting in her lifelong quest to learn French. Riley spends her time outside of work grilling, dancing, and wearing many hats (both literally and figuratively).
6: A federal judge on Thursday ordered six federal agencies to rehire thousands of workers with probationary status who had been fired from the Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy and Interior Departments as part of DOGE’s efforts to downsize the government. Probationary employees have worked at their agencies for less than 1-2 years and have fewer workplace protections. However, the judge said the Office of Personnel Management overstepped because only the agencies themselves have hiring and firing powers.
900 million: Experts say that by 2030, nearly 900 million Chinese, about two-thirds of the country, will be overweight or obese. For now, Western pharmaceutical companies are profiting from this trend, but Chinese drugmakers are scrambling to catch up.
85: Criminal gangs now control some 85% of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, according to a UN human rights expert. Violence in the city’s Carrefour Feuilles neighborhood this week saw homes pillaged and set alight. Since 2020, gang wars in Haiti have driven more than 1 million people from their homes.
908,000: On Wednesday, authorities in Poland charged a Belarusian with espionage and sabotage on behalf of Russia for an arson attack on a large retail store in Warsaw last year. The vandalism, which caused damage estimated at 3.5 million zlotys ($908,000), is one of several arson attacks in Poland and other nearby countries that have been linked to Russia.
