Hard Numbers: Imran Khan faces new sentence, Russia gets economic upgrade, Philippines and Vietnam join hands in South China Sea, Germany makes big Bitcoin seizure

January 30, 2024

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks to Reuters during an interview in Lahore, Pakistan, in March 2023.

REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

10: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and former Foreign Minister ShahMahmood Qureshi were sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets. While Khan is already serving a three-year term on corruption charges, this is Qureshi’s first conviction. The new ruling comes just a week before general elections on Feb. 8. Khan’s political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, called it “a sham case” and plans to challenge the decision in a higher court.

2.6: Is President Vladimir Putin’s military spending spree paying off? Russia’s GDP is expected to grow 2.6% in 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund, which is 1.5 percentage points higher than its October forecast. For 2025, the IMF sees GDP growth for Russia easing to just 1.1%.

2: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed two memorandums of understanding with Vietnam on Tuesday to boost cooperation on maritime security in the South China Sea. Vietnam also agreed to a five-year trade deal to supply up to two million tons of white rice to Manila. China, which is less than thrilled by such agreements between its neighbors, launched military drills in the disputed waters earlier this month as the US and Philippines initiated their exercises in the region.

50,000: German authorities on Tuesday seized 50,000 Bitcoins worth nearly $2.17 billion in Saxony. While no charges have been filed yet, police suspect that two men who purchased the cryptocurrency did so with profits from a piracy website. Police are investigating unauthorized commercial exploitation of copyrighted works and money laundering.

What We’re Watching: Another US tariff announcement, El Salvador leader can now rule indefinitely, Indonesian president pardons opponents

A demonstrator burns mock dollar bills with the face of US President Donald Trump during a protest against the US tariffs imposed on Brazilian products, in front of the United States Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil, on August 1, 2025.

REUTERS/Mateus Bonomi

US President Donald Trump slapped new tariffs on 92 countries, including key allies. Canada, the US’s number two trade partner, was hit with a 35% rate.

The hottest US midterm race is in North Carolina

Outgoing and term-limited North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speaks alongside his wife, Kristin Cooper, thanking North Carolinians for his two terms in office as Governor on Nov. 5, 2024.

Joseph A. Navin/Sipa USA

Next year’s race for North Carolina’s open Senate seat is predicted to be the most expensive in US election history. Winning it might not be enough for Democrats to flip the upper chamber, but it would put them in a much stronger position going into 2028.

Hard Numbers: Imran Khan faces new sentence, Russia gets economic upgrade, Philippines and Vietnam join hands in South China Sea, Germany makes big Bitcoin seizure

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Hard Numbers: Imran Khan faces new sentence, Russia gets economic upgrade, Philippines and Vietnam join hands in South China Sea, Germany makes big Bitcoin seizure

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More from GZERO Media

Amid high tariffs, a flurry of new trade agreements, and a right-wing populist surge, America is rewriting the rules of the global economy and retreating from its role as champion of free trade. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria discusses the future of globalization on GZERO World.

As the Trump administration imposes record tariffs and renegotiates trade agreements, is America abandoning its role as global trade leader? CNN’s Fareed Zakaria joins the GZERO World Podcast.

US tariffs are creating economic chaos and driving uncertainty all over the world. On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer breaks down how the global trade map is already starting to shift as allies go around the US to negotiate trade alliances of their own.

Fifty years ago, leaders from 35 countries – including rivals from both sides of the Iron Curtain – gathered in the Finnish capital of Helsinki to attend the first Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE).

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

US President Donald Trump slapped new tariffs on 92 countries, including key allies. Canada, the US’s number two trade partner, was hit with a 35% rate.

Think you know what's going on around the world? Here's your chance to prove it.

Next year’s race for North Carolina’s open Senate seat is predicted to be the most expensive in US election history. Winning it might not be enough for Democrats to flip the upper chamber, but it would put them in a much stronger position going into 2028.