1.5 million: The number of Armenians killed by Ottoman Turkss during World War I, per one estimate, in what historians consider to be a genocide. Why mention this now? US Vice President JD Vance visited a memorial to the mass killing in Yerevan on Tuesday. His office then posted about it on social media, before deleting it. The reversal may have something to do with the US’s security partnership with Turkey – Ankara opposes describing the killings as a “genocide.”
9: The number of people killed during a mass shooting – part of which took place at a school – in the remote Canadian town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on Tuesday, in what was the deadliest school-related shooting in the country in decades. The only suspect, who was a woman, was found dead at the school from “self-inflicted wounds.”
5: The number of consecutive months in which Argentina’s month-on-month inflation rate has risen, following the release of statistics yesterday. Prices rose 2.9% last month compared with December. President Javier Milei’s record in cutting Argentina’s notoriously high inflation had been one of his strengths, but the recent uptick could undermine this.
10 million: The proposed population cap that Swiss voters will vote on in June, the government announced on Wednesday, after the right-wing People’s Party put forward the policy idea. The proposal would cap immigration once the country surpasses that number – the current population is 9.1 million. A December poll found that 48% of voters support the measure.
Microsoft unveiled a new set of commitments guiding its community‑first approach to AI infrastructure development. The strategy focuses on energy affordability, water efficiency, job creation, local investment, and AI‑driven skilling. As demand for digital infrastructure accelerates, the company is pushing a new model for responsible datacenter growth — one built on sustainability, economic mobility, and long‑term partnership with the communities that host it. The move signals how AI infrastructure is reshaping local economies and what people expect from the tech shaping their future. Read the full blog here.
The Israeli government unilaterally passed measures that allow Jewish settlers to purchase land in the West Bank, overriding past laws that effectively banned the sale of property there to anyone other than Palestinian residents.