Skip to content
Search
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Mother Nature batters South and Southeast Asia, Netanyahu asks for a pardon, Aussies get in kayaks to protest coal, Trump commutes sentence of fraudster, Leo makes first foreign trip as pope

​People stay at a school, which is functioned as the temporary shelter at flooded area, on November 30, 2025 in Sumatra, Sumatra. The authorities in Indonesia were searching on Sunday for hundreds of people they said were missing after days of unusually heavy rains across Southeast Asia that have killed hundreds and displaced millions.

People stay at a school, which is functioned as the temporary shelter at flooded area, on November 30, 2025 in Sumatra, Sumatra. The authorities in Indonesia were searching on Sunday for hundreds of people they said were missing after days of unusually heavy rains across Southeast Asia that have killed hundreds and displaced millions.

Photo by Li Zhiquan/China News Service/VCG
By Zac Weisz,
Zac Weisz
Zac reports on global affairs, covering everything from battles between judicial branches and political leaders, to conflicts in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. With the Trump administration keen to alter the world order, though, there’s a heavy emphasis right now on US politics – an area with which he is intimately familiar. Prior to joining GZERO, Zac was a senior national politics correspondent at National Journal, where he covered the 2024 presidential election from its inception to the dramatic finish, as well as major congressional actions during the Biden administration. Prior to journalism, Zac worked as an economic analyst for Oxford Economics, calculating the impact of various tax policies, and of Britain’s exit from the European Union. Born in London, he currently resides in New York City, where you can find him playing football (the original version) or watching it on television while attempting to cook up a storm.
See Full Bio
Riley Callanan
Riley Callanan

Riley is a writer and reporter for GZERO. When she isn’t writing about global politics, you can find her making GZERO’s crossword puzzles, conducting research on American politics, or persisting in her lifelong quest to learn French. Riley spends her time outside of work grilling, dancing, and wearing many hats (both literally and figuratively).

See Full Bio
December 01, 2025

800: The death toll from the tropical storm that battered parts of Southeast Asia is now close to 800. Indonesia has been hit especially hard – at least 600 people have died there as the heavy rains caused floods and landslides. Meanwhile, a cyclone across the Bay of Bengal has left at least 350 people dead in Sri Lanka, prompting Colombo to declare a state of emergency.

10: In a one-page letter, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested President Isaac Herzog end his corruption trial. It comes two weeks after US President Donald Trump sent Herzog a letter urging him to pardon Netanyahu. If convicted, Netanyahu could face up to 10 years in prison.

81,000: Government efforts to address climate change may be stalling, but the protests remain – at least on waters off the Australian coast. Hundreds of protestors took to their kayaks in Newcastle harbor to disrupt inbound shipping at the world’s largest coal export port on Sunday. Two protestors even managed to scale an 81,000-ton coal ship and unfurl a banner on the side of it.

13: Trump didn’t just pardon turkeys this Thanksgiving holiday: he also commuted the sentence of a private equity executive just 13 days into a seven-year sentence for securities and wire fraud. David Gentile, the executive, defrauded thousands of people in a scheme that raised $1.6 billion.

1: Pope Leo XIV made his first foreign trip over the weekend, visiting Turkey for three days before heading to the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Sunday. While in Turkey, he encouraged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to help negotiate a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian territories.

donald trumpisraeli prime ministerpope leo xivrecep tayyip erdogansoutheast asiasri lanka

Latest Videos

Almost everyone in Iran “just waiting for Ayatollah Khamenei to die”play icon
GZERO World Clips

Almost everyone in Iran “just waiting for Ayatollah Khamenei to die”

The US and Israel launch war on Iran
Quick Take

The US and Israel launch war on Iran

Is the US on the brink of war with Iran?
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Is the US on the brink of war with Iran?

Trump and Khamenei hold last ditch Iran nuclear talks
Puppet Regime

Trump and Khamenei hold last ditch Iran nuclear talks

Trump’s State of the Union address
Quick Take

Trump’s State of the Union address

Putin & Xi on Trump's Iran threats
Puppet Regime

Putin & Xi on Trump's Iran threats

More For You

Hard Numbers: Kenya restarts railroad project without China, South Africans return from Ukraine war, the rapper who wants to run Nepal, Russians say things are going well

Hard Numbers: Kenya restarts railroad project without China, South Africans return from Ukraine war, the rapper who wants to run Nepal, Russians say things are going well
$4 billion: The amount Kenya wants to raise in order to complete a partially built railway line that was abandoned in 2019. The project, which will link Nairobi with South Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya, came to a halt after initial funding from China dried up. This time around, Kenya wants to finance the project itself, through new import tariffs, [...]

Hard Numbers: Gunfight on Cuba’s shores, Thousands die taking perilous migration routes, Hong Kong democracy activist wins one appeal, Greenland spat boosts Danish incumbents

​People approach the entrance of the Provincial Clinical-Surgical Hospital "Arnaldo Milian Castro" in Santa Clara, Cuba, on February 25, 2026.

People approach the entrance of the Provincial Clinical-Surgical Hospital "Arnaldo Milian Castro," where, according to local information, injured people were being treated after an armed incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat and a Cuban patrol, at a time of heightened tensions with the United States, in Santa Clara, Cuba, on February 25, 2026.

REUTERS/Norlys Perez
10: The number of Cubans who took a Florida-registered speedboat to Cuba’s coast on Wednesday before engaging in a gunfight with border troops from the communist-run island. Four of them died in the shootout. All 10 reportedly resided in the United States. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the incident was not part of a US government operation. [...]

Hard Numbers: China’s mass military purge, Louvre director quits, South Korea’s fertility rate inches up, Trump’s record SOTU speech

​He Weidong, Zhang Youxia, and Li Shangfu swear oaths as they are selected as China's Central Military Commission members during the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on March 11, 2023.

He Weidong, Zhang Youxia, and Li Shangfu swear oaths as they are selected as China's Central Military Commission members during the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on March 11, 2023.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
100: The estimated number of senior officials who’ve been sidelined or have disappeared from China’s military since 2022, according to a study released on Tuesday. According to analysts, those swept up in President Xi Jinping’s purge of his armed forces make up roughly half of the top military leadership. [...]

Hard Numbers: Mexican cartel uprisings leave dozens dead, Another prominent UK leader arrested over Epstein investigations, Trump leaves door open to tariff negotiations, South Sudan’s leader fires another finance minister

​Members of the Mexican army stand guard at a roundabout on a main avenue in Guadalajara, Mexico, on February 23, 2026.

Members of the Mexican army stand guard at a roundabout on a main avenue, following a military operation in which Mexican officials said cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera, "El Mencho," was killed in Jalisco state, in Guadalajara, Mexico, on February 23, 2026.

REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
62: The number of people killed – including 25 Mexican National Guard members and 34 suspected gang members – in the nationwide chaos that erupted following a military operation that killed one of Mexico’s most powerful cartel leaders, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, on Sunday. President Claudia Sheinbaum deployed 2,000 troops to Jalisco state, [...]