Hard Numbers

2.4: Turkey fell into an official recession after data showed the economy shrank by 2.4 percent during the last 3 months of 2018 – the second successive quarter of falling output. That's bad news for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party ahead of local elections on March 31.

225: The US military launched 24 airstrikes in Somalia in January and February, killing 225 people. Washington has intensified its fight against Al Shabab militants in the East African country—in all of 2018, the US carried out 47 airstrikes in Somalia, killing 326 people.

22: At least 22 United Nations staff were among the 157 people killed when an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa on its way to Kenya this weekend. The UN's World Food Program, the International Telecommunications Union, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the UN offices in Nairobi all lost people.

29,000: Around 29,000 people showed up for the latest round of gilets jaunes protests across France this weekend, according to the interior ministry. That's the lowest figure since the protests began last November.

More from GZERO Media

Vice President JD Vance participates in a Q&A with Munich Security Conference Foundation Council President Wolfgang Ischinger at the Munich Leaders' Meeting in Washington, DC, on May 7, 2025.
Munich Security Conference.

GZERO's Emilie Macfie reflects on a week of discussions between top European and American leaders at the Munich Security Conference's Washington, DC installment.

Customizing AI strategies for every region, culture, and language is critical | Global Stage

As artificial intelligence races ahead, there’s growing concern that it could deepen the digital divide—unless global inclusion becomes a priority. Lucia Velasco, AI Policy Lead at the United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies, warns that without infrastructure, local context, and inclusive design, AI risks benefiting only the most connected parts of the world.

AI can only help people who can access electricity and internet | Global Stage

Hundreds of millions of people now use artificial intelligence each week—but that impressive number masks a deeper issue. According to Dr. Juan Lavista Ferres, Microsoft’s Chief Data Scientist, Corporate Vice President, and Lab Director for the AI for Good Lab, access to AI remains out of reach for nearly half the world’s population.

A cargo ship is loading and unloading foreign trade containers at Qingdao Port in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China on May 7, 2025.
Photo by CFOTO/Sipa USA

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Geneva on Saturday in a bid to ease escalating trade tensions that have led to punishing tariffs of up to 145%. Ahead of the meetings, Trump said that he expects tariffs to come down.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks on the phone to US President Donald Trump at a car factory in the West Midlands, United Kingdom, on May 8, 2025.
Alberto Pezzali/Pool via REUTERS

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer achieved what his Conservative predecessors couldn’t.

The newly elected Pope Leo XIV (r), US-American Robert Prevost, appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after the conclave.

On Thursday, Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV and becoming the first American pontiff — defying widespread assumptions that a US candidate was a long shot.