345,000: As of Wednesday afternoon ET, Tonga's Olympic flag-bearer has raised more than $345,000 online to help the victims of Saturday's volcanic eruption and tsunami. Pita Taufatofua, a taekwondo fighter and cross-country skier, has not yet heard from his father, governor of the main Tongan island of Haapai.
500,000: The EU will dock Poland 500,000 euros ($567,000) per day from its regular payments from Brussels until it complies with an EU court order to close an open-pit coal mine near the Czech border. The Czechs say the mine is polluting the groundwater on their side of the border, but the Poles insist Brussels has no authority to shut it down.
20: Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt will run again for the top job in the May election. The centrist Betancourt — kidnapped 20 years ago by FARC rebels who held her for more than six years — will face frontrunner Gustavo Petro, the leftist former mayor of Bogotá and ex-member of M-19, another left-wing rebel group.
5 billion: Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to a $5 billion currency swap in order to prop up the ailing Turkish lira. It's the latest sign of détente between the Turks and Emiratis, who have long been on opposite sides of conflicts such as the Libyan civil war and the Qatar blockade.
America’s new National Security Strategy confirms what Europeans have feared for months: Washington now sees a strong, unified European Union as a problem to be solved, not an ally to be supported.
In this episode of Tools and Weapons, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith sits down with Ed Policy, President and CEO of the Green Bay Packers, to discuss how purpose-driven leadership and innovation are shaping the future of one of the world’s most iconic sports franchises. Ed shares how technology and community-focused initiatives, from Titletown Tech to health and safety innovations on the field, are transforming not just the game of football, but the economy and culture of Green Bay itself. He explains how combining strategic vision with investment in local startups is keeping talent in the Midwest and creating opportunities that extend far beyond Lambeau Field.
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More than a week after Hondurans cast their ballots in a presidential election, the country is still stuck in a potentially-dangerous post-election fog.