5,000: New Argentine President Javier Milei announced he would fire around 5,000 government employees – who began work in 2023 – as part of a massive package of cuts. Milei has pledged to rein in government spending as inflation approaches 200%, foreign reserves are exhausted, and the Argentine peso faces a 50% devaluation.
120: Zimbabweans are lining up by the hundreds to secure passports at the current fee of $120 ,with the price set to rise in the new year. Many Zimbabweans earning less than $10 a day have been saving for months to afford travel documents that could help them build better futures abroad, and are eager to obtain them before the price hike puts their dreams further out of reach.
13: At least 13 protestors were wounded in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as police cracked down on banned protests from the supporters of opposition presidential candidates – who say last week’s election was botched. Official vote counts currently show incumbent Félix Tshisekedi well ahead, and his administration has dismissed opposition calls for a rerun.
5: Scientists announced the discovery of five new species of soft-haired hedgehog (their hair is furry rather than pokey and prickly), all of which live in Southeast Asia. One of the critters with particularly impressive fangs has been given the scientific name H. macarong, after the Vietnamese word for vampire, “Ma cà rồng”.
Two months into the Iran war, the shooting has stopped … for now. In Quick Take, Ian Bremmer explains that the fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran is holding, with both sides avoiding direct confrontation while continuing to apply pressure in other ways. The US blockade remains in place, and Iran is still disrupting key shipping routes, underscoring just how tenuous the situation really is.
The Iran war just proved Kim Jong Un right. His grandfather wanted the bomb, his father built it, and now the world has stopped pretending it can take it away. Ian Bremmer explains how North Korea got here, and what comes next.
At the 2026 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, CFA Institute former President and CEO Margaret Franklin joined GZERO’s Tony Maciulis to discuss how investors are adapting to a world where disruption has become the baseline.