Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

Hard Number: US holds up cash for Iraq

Hard Number: US holds up cash for Iraq
Iraq is caught in an ever-tightening vise. The US Treasury recently blocked the delivery of nearly half a billion dollars in US banknotes to Iraq’s central bank, proceeds from Iraqi oil sales that are held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The US said it wants Iraq to dismantle Iranian proxies in the country, who claimed responsibility for attacks on a US air base and a US embassy in Baghdad last month. Yet as GZERO’s Zac Weisz reported last week, Iraq still retains a diplomatic and economic relationship with Iran, and desperately wants to remain neutral in this war.

More For You

The dictionary gets a “glow-up”
We often talk about how transformational artificial intelligence will be for the world. As it turns out, it’s also changing the way we speak. Merriam-Webster added words and phrases around AI, including “AGI” (artificial general intelligence), “vibe coding” (using AI to create computer code), and “uncanny valley” (the eerie feeling that something [...]
Kosovo’s most famous politicians jailed for war crimes
Natalie Johnson
In the late 1990s, Thaçi, a former philosophy student, served as a senior commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, a rebel group that fought for independence from Serbia. Under the name “Commander Snake,” he oversaw dozens of murders and instances of torture in a brutal conflict that saw war crimes by both sides, including a campaign of ethnic [...]
Brazilian Supreme Court scandal spills into presidential race
Natalie Johnson
Lula’s lead over Bolsonaro has narrowed in recent days following a Brazilian Supreme Court scandal. Earlier this month, a police report disclosed alleged links between Justice Alexandre de Moraes and Daniel Vorcaro, the suspected ringleader of a multibillion-dollar bank fraud. Though he hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing in the case, the crisis [...]
America’s long arm of counterterrorism
Natalie Johnson
In the 25 years since 9/11, the US has pursued counterterrorism operations in dozens of countries around the world. Brown University’s Cost of War Project tracked operations in nearly 80 countries between 2021 and 2023, or roughly 40% of countries worldwide. In most countries where the US conducted operations, it trained or assisted local security [...]