15 million: A royal headache is unfolding in South Africa this week after a court decision overturned the president’s official recognition of the new Zulu king, due to objections by royal family members. This has significant implications in South Africa, given the Zulu nation of roughly 15 million is the country’s largest single ethnolinguistic group.
23: A suicide bombing at a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday killed at least 23 officers and wounded dozens more. Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, a recently formed militant group that’s said to be an offshoot of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (the Taliban in Pakistan), claimed responsibility for the attack.
3.1%: US consumer prices were up 3.1% on-the-year in November, per the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, rising just 0.1% from October. The bad news is inflation still hasn’t hit the Fed’s target of 2%. The good news is that the CPI is far lower than when it climbed to 9.1% in June 2022 and dropped from a 3.2% year-over-year increase in October. This means the Fed is unlikely to raise interest rates again when it meets on Wednesday.
64 million: Goodbye 9-to-5, hello freelancing! Roughly 64 million Americans – or over one-third of the US workforce – performed freelance work in the past year, according to a recent survey from Upwork Inc. This marked an increase of four million from the year prior, and indicates that a growing number of American workers find the flexible nature of freelance work more appealing than traditional jobs.
America’s new National Security Strategy confirms what Europeans have feared for months: Washington now sees a strong, unified European Union as a problem to be solved, not an ally to be supported.
In this episode of Tools and Weapons, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith sits down with Ed Policy, President and CEO of the Green Bay Packers, to discuss how purpose-driven leadership and innovation are shaping the future of one of the world’s most iconic sports franchises. Ed shares how technology and community-focused initiatives, from Titletown Tech to health and safety innovations on the field, are transforming not just the game of football, but the economy and culture of Green Bay itself. He explains how combining strategic vision with investment in local startups is keeping talent in the Midwest and creating opportunities that extend far beyond Lambeau Field.
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More than a week after Hondurans cast their ballots in a presidential election, the country is still stuck in a potentially-dangerous post-election fog.