Skip to content
Search
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers:, Friday January 19

Willis Sparks
By Willis SparksJanuary 19, 2018
Willis Sparks
Willis Sparks is a senior editor for GZERO Daily. He is also a Director in the Global Macro practice at Eurasia Group, where he has worked since 2005. He has made speeches on international politics on every continent except Antarctica. Willis holds degrees from Brown University, the Juilliard School, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He also holds an honorary degree from the Moscow Art Theatre School. A native of Macon, Georgia, Willis has worked as a stuntman at New York's Metropolitan Opera. As a child, he declined an opportunity to spend an afternoon riding the Great American Scream Machine, a rollercoaster, with Ronald McDonald, for money. He has never regretted that decision.
See Full Bio
Make us preferred on Google

186,000: The number of asylum seekers in Germany fell to186,000 in 2017, down from a high of 890,000 in 2015.

550: North Korea will send a delegation of at least 550 people to next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea, including 230 cheerleaders and a 30-member taekwondo demonstration team. #TaekwonDiplomacy

12: President Trump has had 12 federal appellate judges confirmed in his first year, more than any president before him. He has also added a Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch. Given that two of the Supreme Court’s liberal justices and its one wildcard member (Anthony Kennedy) are all aged 79 or older, Trump’s lasting impact on the judiciary looks likely to grow.

12: In 2017, the quality of democracy around the world fell for the twelfth year in a row, with 71 countries seeing a decline in political rights and civil liberties.

6: Moscow got 6 minutes of sunlight in December. Seriously. #StillBeatsYakutsk

Latest Videos

Why Europe isn’t falling apart despite political turmoilplay icon
ask ian

Why Europe isn’t falling apart despite political turmoil

Josh Shapiro on how Democrats can learn to love AI
GZERO World Clips

Josh Shapiro on how Democrats can learn to love AI

Trump’s ineffective pressure campaign on Iran and China
Quick Take

Trump’s ineffective pressure campaign on Iran and China

What Josh Shapiro wants the Democrats to learn from Pennsylvania
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

What Josh Shapiro wants the Democrats to learn from Pennsylvania

The false Thucydides trap?
GZERO Live

The false Thucydides trap?

A frozen labor market in the US?
GZERO Reports

A frozen labor market in the US?

More For You

Countries and smugglers go for gold, Denmark’s center-left leader backs EU deportation centers, Humans assist AI for its soccer goals

​Egyptian pounds, a gold bar and a necklace are seen during an interview with Mohamed Abdeen, an Egyptian jeweller, in Cairo, Egypt, on February 5, 2026.

Egyptian pounds, a gold bar and a necklace are seen during an interview with Mohamed Abdeen, an Egyptian jeweller, as demand for gold bars and coins rises in Egypt, with buyers seeking a safer store of value amid volatile markets and economic uncertainty, traders and industry officials said, in Cairo, Egypt, on February 5, 2026.

REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Gold bust along the Egypt-Sudan border Egypt said on Monday it arrested more than 200 people along its southern border – most of them foreigners – as part of a crackdown on illegal gold mining and smuggling in the area. The border region is rich in mines: if you know the regional name “Nubia” you’re actually saying the ancient Egyptian word for [...]

After a decade of turmoil, can Burnham break the UK’s curse?

​Newly-elected Makerfield MP Andy Burnham arrives at Derby Gate by the Houses of Parliament, in London, United Kingdom, on June 22, 2026.

Newly-elected Makerfield MP Andy Burnham arrives at Derby Gate by the Houses of Parliament, following UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's announcement of the timeline for his resignation, in London, United Kingdom, on June 22, 2026.

REUTERS/Jack Taylor
Ten years ago today, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.The helter-skelter in Westminster, where the Houses of Parliament are located, has been unceasing ever since. Just yesterday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced he will resign. His successor – likely Andy Burnham – will be the seventh PM in the last decade. For context: [...]

Ebola cases top 1,000

Ebola cases top 1,000
Natalie Johnson
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak has now recorded more cases in its first month than any previous Ebola outbreak in Africa, according to a senior World Health Organization official today. Its rapid spread across eastern Congo has African health officials warning that the epidemic could surpass the 2014 to 2016 outbreak, which [...]

UK’s Burnham waits in the wings as Starmer resigns, Colombia’s “El Tigre” set to win, US-Iran talks continue

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stands with his wife Victoria Starmer after announcing the timeline for his resignation, outside 10 Downing Street, in London, United Kingdom, on June 22, 2026.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stands with his wife Victoria Starmer after announcing the timeline for his resignation, following Andy Burnham's decisive victory last week in the Makerfield by-election, outside 10 Downing Street, in London, United Kingdom, on June 22, 2026.

REUTERS/Jack Taylor
Starmer resigns, and the UK prepares to turn leftAfter less than two years in office, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday morning that he would resign as Labour Party leader. “I have spoken to His Majesty the King this morning to inform him of my decision,” said a tearful Starmer outside Downing Street, who will exit office by [...]