A 300-page UN Development Programme and UNCTAD assessment warns that without urgent coordinated global regulation and massive investment in digital infrastructure and skills, AI could trigger the “next great divergence” by 2030–2040. It would concentrate an estimated $15–20 trillion in cumulative economic gains in just ten leading nations while low- and middle-income countries suffer permanent losses in productivity, wages, job creation, and tax revenue. The report projects that up to 400 million workers globally could be displaced by AI-driven automation, with the majority in developing economies that lack the capital, electricity grids, or education systems to retrain workers or build sovereign AI industries. Given the current state of global disarray, it is difficult to imagine such a coordinated effort ever occurring, which suggests the future will feature even starker inequality than today’s already wide disparities.

In Jawzjan province’s main football stadium, a 13-year-old boy (whose father, brother, and two uncles were stabbed to death in 2023) was handed an assault rifle by Taliban officials and ordered to fire multiple bursts into the convicted killer in front of approximately 80,000 spectators, including the Taliban deputy supreme leader and provincial governor. Video of the execution circulated widely despite government restrictions. It is the first confirmed case under the current regime of a juvenile being forced to conduct a retaliatory public killing, reviving memories of the Taliban’s 1996–2001 era when such spectacles were routine. This event is a stark reminder that some political regimes still regard this type of public execution as legitimate justice rather than retribution or barbarism.

After intense last-minute negotiations, all 27 EU countries committed to a legally binding phase-out of every remaining Russian pipeline and LNG contract by December 31, 2027. This ends an energy dependence that still supplies roughly 8 % of the bloc’s gas and has cost Europe €120 billion since 2022, while fast-tracking alternative supplies from the U.S., Qatar, Norway, and North Africa. Simultaneously, the European Commission finalized a mechanism to seize €3–5 billion in annual interest generated by €165 billion of frozen Russian central-bank assets held at Euroclear in Belgium, channeling the funds into a new €50 billion loan for Ukraine in 2026 and potentially direct grants later, despite Kremlin threats of 50-year lawsuits and asymmetric retaliation. It is increasingly clear that Europe, not Russia, is the party escalating tensions and risking a spiral that could drag the world toward a broader conflict.

The USDA sent certified letters to governors of 21 states (19 Democratic-led plus New Hampshire and Vermont) stating that refusal to upload full SNAP recipient files containing names, addresses, citizenship status, immigration records, and household composition by January 31 will trigger automatic withholding of 100 % of federal food-assistance funds. This penalty would strip benefits from over 20 million low-income Americans and collapse state programs overnight. Affected governors immediately announced plans for emergency litigation, labeling the demand unconstitutional coercion tied to the administration’s mass-deportation agenda. We continue to argue that federalism requires cooperation: these states should either comply with lawful federal requests or forgo federal funding for their food-assistance programs.

The family of 28-year-old fisherman Alejandro Medina filed a formal criminal homicide complaint with Colombia’s Attorney General, alleging a U.S. Navy or Coast Guard vessel intentionally rammed and sank his small fishing boat 60 miles off Cartagena during expanded “boat-strike” operations. The attack killed Medina and two crew members who survivors insist were only fishing for snapper and had no migrants aboard. Supported by satellite imagery, survivor testimony, and photos of U.S. military markings on debris, the case is the first direct legal challenge to the administration’s new rules of engagement authorizing lethal force in international waters against vessels that fail to stop. This tragic litigation may finally force an end to the indiscriminate use of violence the U.S. is employing to send messages to leaders across South America.

The Justice Department amended its federal complaint in Washington, D.C. to add Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Oregon, and Hawaii, bringing the total to 19 states sued for allegedly violating the National Voter Registration Act by refusing to transmit complete voter rolls. These include full dates of birth, last four SSN digits, driver’s license numbers, and citizenship documentation demanded for a nationwide audit officials say is necessary to remove millions of non-citizens before 2026 elections and upcoming deportations. Once again, preserving our constitutional arrangement and keeping the union functional requires states to cooperate with legitimate federal requests of this kind.

Over 700 Louisiana National Guard troops, 400 Border Patrol agents, and ICE tactical teams began “Operation Swamp Sweep” with dawn workplace raids, highway checkpoints, and residential arrests across Jefferson, Orleans, and St. Bernard parishes. The operation detained more than 600 people in the first three days and caused dozens of Latino-owned restaurants and construction firms to shutter temporarily while families kept children home from school. Governor Jeff Landry requested and received direct federal support, declaring the New Orleans metro an “invasion zone” despite being 600 miles from the nearest border crossing.

House and Senate committees advanced two joint resolutions that would amend the state constitution to permanently eliminate all ad valorem property taxes on primary homesteads by 2030. This tax cut is worth $3,000–$12,000 annually for most homeowners but projected to blow a $54–60 billion hole in county budgets and public school funding with no identified replacement revenue beyond vague promises of future spending cuts or new consumption taxes. Many thought leaders on the political right are pushing a broader shift toward flat consumption taxes and away from taxes on income and property. We offer qualified support for such an arrangement because it would give average Americans far greater choice over their effective tax burden.

A bipartisan legislative panel confirmed the Department of Transportation faces a $41 billion funding gap through 2045 under current revenue, leaving 41 % of state roads rated poor or failing and nearly 1,000 bridges structurally deficient. All ten-year paving and resurfacing plans have been suspended indefinitely because gas-tax revenue has fallen 30 % in real terms since the last increase in 1987. South Carolina is in a serious bind, and it remains unclear how the state can begin to address this mess. This may be one of those rare cases where federal intervention becomes necessary.

Uber and Avride rolled out the first fleet of fully driverless Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxis in a 40-square-mile geofenced area covering downtown Dallas, Uptown, Deep Ellum, and parts of Oak Lawn. The service is initially available only to riders invited through the Uber app, with no human safety driver or steering wheel accessible. This marks Texas’s first commercial autonomous ride-hail service open to the general public and the first U.S. city where Uber operates driverless vehicles without a chase car following. The future has arrived; we are now beginning to interact with the commercial technologies that will fundamentally reshape basic activities like moving around a city.