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Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga addresses delegates after President William Ruto signed the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Amendment Bill 2024, backed by the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO), at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 9, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Kenya’s long-time opposition leader dies, World Bank doubles down on agriculture, US revokes visas of Charlie Kirk critics, & more
80: Kenya’s long-time opposition leader Raila Odinga, who unsuccessfully ran for president five times but served as prime minister from 2008 to 2013, died of a heart attack in the Indian city of Kochi on Wednesday, at the age of 80. Though Odinga was generally out of power, his populist ideals and combative style gave him an outsized influence on the East African country.
$9 billion: At the World Bank/IMF annual meetings this week, the Bank pledged to double its annual investment in agriculture and farming to $9 billion. The program, called AgriConnect, will help fund the 500 million smallholder farmers globally who produce 80% of the food consumed, aiming to create more jobs and financing opportunities for the sector.
250,000: El Fasher, Sudan, has been declared “uninhabitable” after 549 days under siege by RSF forces. Ninety percent of homes are destroyed, food and water are nearly gone, and acute malnutrition affects children and mothers. Constant bombardment, hospital attacks, and communication blackouts have left 250,000 civilians trapped and barely surviving inside the paramilitary force’s blockade of the city.
6: The US has revoked the visas of at least six foreigners who “celebrated” the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on “far-left radicals.” The move follows expanded social media vetting by immigration officials and mass visa cancellations. Trump also posthumously awarded Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday.
3.5 million: In a desperate bid to end France’s short-term political chaos, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said he will delay President Emmanuel Macron’s signature pension reform, a move he says will benefit 3.5 million people. Lecornu hopes that the move will bring Socialist Party deputies onside, ensuring that he lives to fight another day.
Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol along a road in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 29, 2025.
India and Pakistan inch toward a major clash
Nerves are fraught throughout Pakistan after authorities said Wednesday they have “credible intelligence” that India plans to launch military strikes on its soil by Friday, fueling fears of an outright clash between the two nuclear-armed archrivals. Troops from both sides have been exchanging fire in the disputed territory of Kashmir since a terrorist attack in the Indian-controlled section killed 26 civilians last Tuesday. Both China and the US are calling for restraint.
Tensions are spiraling rapidly. India closed its airspace to Pakistan on Wednesday and ordered nearly all Pakistani citizens to leave the country last week. Pakistan – while denying any involvement in the attacks – also canceled visas last week for most Indian citizens in retaliation. The scenes of rapid flight evoked painful memories of the 1947 Partition when Hindus in Pakistan and Muslims in India fled bloody ethnic massacres in the newly formed nations.
How bad could it get? The two countries have had two major wars, in 1965 and 1971, both of which India won, in the latter case quite decisively. In the ensuing decades, however, India has utterly outstripped Pakistan economically, militarily, and diplomatically, which means that Islamabad’s chances of prevailing in a conventional confrontation are very slim.
The balance of power shifted nonetheless when Pakistan began developing nuclear weapons in 1972 to match the India program begun in 1967. This has prevented a full-scale attack ever since. When the two sides went to war in 1999, hostilities lasted just over two months and were geographically limited to the Himalayas. If New Delhi should be foolish enough to existentially threaten its neighbor, it raises the grim – albeit unlikely – prospect of a nuclear exchange.
We’re watching for a limited engagement, but we’re far from sanguine about the risks.
President-elect Donald Trump greets Elon Musk before attending a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., on Nov. 19, 2024.
Is Musk Trump’s muse – or his manipulator?
Is Elon Musk a 21st-century Svengali? Two weeks after being accused of acting like the president – instead of a presidential advisor – when he attempted to sway Congress to torpedo a spending bill, the tech magnate is wielding political influence once again – and enraging some supporters of President-elect Donald Trump.
At issue: the H-1B Visa program, which Musk says is crucial to attracting foreign tech talent, but which many Republicans claim takes jobs away from Americans. Last Friday, Musk and fellow Department of Government Efficiency head Vivek Ramaswamy feuded publicly with GOP firebrand Laura Loomer, who posted to X Thursday, “Donald Trump promised to remove the H1B visa program and I support his policy.”
On Friday, Musk posted that “hateful unrepentant racists” – a swipe at MAGA anti-immigrant Republicans – must be removed from the Republican Party “root and stem.” The next day, Trump seemed to toe Musk’s line: Despite having previously criticized the H-1B program as “very bad” and “unfair” for US workers, Trump told the New York Post, “I’ve always liked the visas. I have always been in favor of the visas.” Hmm.
But it’s not clear just whose team Musk is playing for. While telling racists to leave the GOP and praising the contribution of foreign workers in the US, Musk declared his support for Germany’s far-right anti-immigrant party, Alternative for Germany, aka AfD, ahead of Deutchland’s February elections. Three state chapters of the AfD in the former communist East are classified as extremist – and are under surveillance by Germany’s domestic intelligence service.
But the contradictions don’t seem to bother Trump. “Where are you?” Trump posted on his Truth Social account Friday morning, entreating Musk to visit him and Bill Gates at Mar-a-Lago, aka “the center of the universe.”
For more on MAGA, the American dream, and immigration, check out Ian Bremmer’s latest Quick Take here.
Captain Christine Sinclair plays her final international game as she retires from Canada's national women's soccer team after a friendly match against Australia in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Dec. 5, 2023.
Hard Numbers: Soccer legend retires, First Nations vote, Trains chug toward zero, Brazil beckons
48,112: Canadian women’s soccer legend Christine Sinclair closed out her career in style this week, leading the national team to victory over Australia before 48,112 adoring fans in Vancouver. Sinclair’s 190 goals scored in international matches are the highest total notched by any woman or man who has ever played the game.
6: It took six rounds of voting, but the Assembly of First Nations has selected a new chief, putting Cindy Woodhouse, the Assembly’s regional director in Manitoba, in charge of the nationwide advocacy group. She takes over after a period of turmoil at the top — the last elected head was ousted in June over allegations that she harassed employees. Key issues for the Assembly include the housing crisis, drinking water access, and a controversial bill that would grant local governance rights to Métis — a distinct community of Canadians of mixed indigenous and European heritage. Many First Nations say the bill would enable Métis to encroach on First Nations’ rights and lands.
0: All aboard! This train is going to zero. The US and Canada have pledged to work together to develop zero-emissions locomotives as part of a broader plan to make the US-Canada rail sector net-zero (i.e., it will reduce at least as much carbon as it produces) by 2050. The focus will be on hydrogen-powered and battery-powered motors.
80.90: With winter blowing in, what better time to consider a sunny getaway to Brazil. Not only is it about to be summertime there now, but the Brazilian government has just launched a new e-Visa program for US and Canadian citizens. It costs $80.90, and the entire application and approval process is handled online. Boa viagem!