135 million: The number of viewers of Bad Bunny’sperformance at the Super Bowl halftime show in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday. Early estimates suggest it was the most-watched halftime show of all time. The Puerto Rican superstar infused politics into the performance, delivering a roll call of every country in the Americas and emblazoning “The only thing more powerful than hate is love” on the stadium megatrons.
20: The years that media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to prison on national security charges in Hong Kong on Monday. Lai advocated for democracy in the once-autonomous city before China passed a national security law in 2020 that critics say stamped out dissent and individual freedom. It’s the harshest sentence imposed under this law.
3.9%: The amount Japan’s Nikkei stock average jumped on Monday following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s success in Sunday’s lower house election. The index hit a new record high. However, bond yields also jumped, reflecting concerns about Takaichi’s expansionary fiscal approach now that her Liberal Democratic Party has enough votes to override opposition in the upper house.
33.7: The margin of victory in percentage points that Socialist candidate António José Seguro achieved over his nationalist opponent, André Ventura, in Portugal’s presidential election on Sunday. Seguro won 66.8% of the vote, and will now act a counterweight to the rising tide of right-leaning populists in Europe.
In this Quick Take, Ian Bremmer weighs in on the politicization of the Olympics after comments by Team USA freestyle skier Hunter Hess sparked backlash about patriotism and national representation.
Brazilian skiers, American ICE agents, Israeli bobsledders – this is just a smattering of the fascinating characters that will be present at this year’s Winter Olympics. Yet the focus will be a different country, one that isn’t formally competing: Russia.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), appeals for a candidate during a street speech of the House of Representatives Election Campaign in Shintomi Town, Miyazaki Prefecture on February 6, 2026. The Lower House election will feature voting and counting on February 8th.
Japanese voters head to the polls on Sunday in a snap election for the national legislature’s lower house, called just three months into Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s tenure.
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