News
Hard Numbers: Colombia's grim record, Ukraine reconstruction planning, Chinese beach tourists, India's strong arm
Colombian President Gustavo Petro
GZERO Media
215: At least 215 community leaders and human rights activists were assassinated in Colombia last year, the highest level ever recorded, according to the government’s human rights ombudsman. Following the historic peace deal with FARC rebels in 2016, activists have been caught in the crossfire of power struggles over land vacated by the rebels. Leftist President Gustavo Petro took office last August pledging to quell the violence.
300 billion: Where should the money come from for Ukraine’s reconstruction? From the people who started the war, says European Council President Charles Michel. He wants to discuss a proposal to use $300 billion in assets seized from the Russian central bank for the purpose. Critics fear it would set a risky precedent and diminish the safety of central bank assets around the globe.
3: For the first time in three years, Chinese tourists are back on the beaches of Thailand to celebrate the new year, after President Xi Jinping recently dropped his zero-COVID travel restrictions. Before the pandemic, visitors from China normally accounted for a third of all visitors to tourism-dependent Thailand.
50: India has successfully forced Twitter to remove as many as 50 tweets referring to a new BBC documentary that blames PM Narendra Modi for his role in the deadly communal violence that wracked Gujarat when he led the Western Indian state in 2002. Delhi has also strongarmed YouTube into removing posts about the program. Free speech activists are crying “censorship,” while close watchers of Twitter CEO Elon Musk — who pledged to make the platform a bastion of free speech — ask “bro, really?”Did the AI boom counteract the economic fallout of Trump's tariffs? And how long can that last?
Last week, Microsoft shared a five‑point set of commitments to guide its Community‑First approach to building AI and cloud infrastructure in Canada. As the company moves from investment to implementation, these commitments reflect what communities across the country say matters most: affordable and reliable energy systems, sustainable water use, good jobs, strong public services, and access to the skills needed to succeed in an AI‑driven economy. The Community‑First framework establishes a model for responsible infrastructure development—one that prioritizes affordability and sustainability while supporting long‑term economic opportunity. As demand for AI infrastructure accelerates, these commitments underscore a core principle: meaningful technological progress depends on growing in true partnership with the communities where this infrastructure is built. Read the full blog here.
One day after US President Donald Trump announced that he had started a blockade of ships coming in and out of Iranian ports via the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is already testing those US commitments.