Hard Numbers: "Orwell" deployed in Russian schools, Facebook to register voters, expats flee Saudi Arabia, inflation soars in Zimbabwe

43,000: Under a new government plan, all 43,000 schools in Russia will be equipped with facial recognition cameras and systems. And in an almost surreal twist, the name of the monitoring platform is "Orwell." The company that won the contract is owned by...a close friend of President Vladimir Putin.

4 million: Facebook will help register up to 4 million Americans to vote in the 2020 election. With this move, the tech giant hopes to take attention away from fears it will again be used to spread political misinformation like during the 2016 campaign. Facebook also said its US users will now be able to opt out of political ads – but the company will still not fact-check them.

1.2 million: As the Saudi economy suffers the double-whammy of pandemic and low oil prices, some 1.2 million foreign workers — a tenth of the total labor force — could leave the kingdom this year. The upside? Riyadh has long been trying to get more Saudis into white collar and services jobs anyway.

785: Zimbabwe is currently struggling with an inflation rate of 785 percent, and while that's a lot better than the bad old days when annual price growth reached 231 million percent (yes, you read that right), it's still a headache for the government. In response to a recent nurse's strike, authorities have bumped government employee salaries by 50%.

More from GZERO Media

Vice President JD Vance participates in a Q&A with Munich Security Conference Foundation Council President Wolfgang Ischinger at the Munich Leaders' Meeting in Washington, DC, on May 7, 2025.
Munich Security Conference.

GZERO's Emilie Macfie reflects on a week of discussions between top European and American leaders at the Munich Security Conference's Washington, DC installment.

Customizing AI strategies for every region, culture, and language is critical | Global Stage

As artificial intelligence races ahead, there’s growing concern that it could deepen the digital divide—unless global inclusion becomes a priority. Lucia Velasco, AI Policy Lead at the United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies, warns that without infrastructure, local context, and inclusive design, AI risks benefiting only the most connected parts of the world.

AI can only help people who can access electricity and internet | Global Stage

Hundreds of millions of people now use artificial intelligence each week—but that impressive number masks a deeper issue. According to Dr. Juan Lavista Ferres, Microsoft’s Chief Data Scientist, Corporate Vice President, and Lab Director for the AI for Good Lab, access to AI remains out of reach for nearly half the world’s population.

A cargo ship is loading and unloading foreign trade containers at Qingdao Port in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China on May 7, 2025.
Photo by CFOTO/Sipa USA

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Geneva on Saturday in a bid to ease escalating trade tensions that have led to punishing tariffs of up to 145%. Ahead of the meetings, Trump said that he expects tariffs to come down.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks on the phone to US President Donald Trump at a car factory in the West Midlands, United Kingdom, on May 8, 2025.
Alberto Pezzali/Pool via REUTERS

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer achieved what his Conservative predecessors couldn’t.

The newly elected Pope Leo XIV (r), US-American Robert Prevost, appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after the conclave.

On Thursday, Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV and becoming the first American pontiff — defying widespread assumptions that a US candidate was a long shot.