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The Graphic Truth: Developing countries' deadly debt trap

The head of the IMF has already warned that the state of the global economy is "worse than our already pessimistic projections." But while the pandemic is taking a huge economic toll on every country in the world, many emerging-market economies, which currently owe a collective $8.4 trillion in foreign debt, face a particularly grim tradeoff between paying their bondholders or funding their hospitals. Even before the coronavirus crisis, 64 countries spent more money annually servicing their external debt payments than they did on healthcare. Now, the global health emergency is taxing their underfunded healthcare systems, complicating attempts to contain the virus. Many countries have already pleaded for emergency debt relief. Here's a look at the countries that spend more on annual debt servicing than on healthcare.

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How widely is AI actually being used, and where is adoption falling behind? Speaking at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, outlined how AI adoption can be measured through what he calls a “diffusion index.”

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AI adoption is accelerating worldwide, but “diffusion” isn’t just about who has the best models. It’s about who has the basics: affordable power, reliable connectivity, and the skills to actually use AI. In a new GZERO Media Global Stage livestream from the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, CNN’s Richard Quest moderates a clear-eyed discussion on what it will take to broaden AI access, and what happens if the gap widens.