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.
As AI creates new opportunities, the people who understand a community best play an important role in determining how those opportunities take shape. Across the US, Microsoft is supporting AI literacy classes as part of a new program developed in collaboration with the Public Library Association, working through trusted local institutions to help people build practical AI skills. By pairing new technology with local knowledge, the initiative is helping communities explore how AI can support their needs and open new possibilities, while putting local leaders and organizations at the center of that work. Read the full story here.
Russia is testing NATO’s red lines with escalating drone attacks and airspace violations. Can Europe defend Ukraine and itself without help from the US? Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski joins Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
Who among us has not gotten stiffed by a superpower. #PUPPETREGIME
Is Putin's war machine starting to crack? Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski discusses Ukraine's battlefield gains and mounting economic pressure on Russia.