By Lauren Kent, CNN

(CNN) — It’s been one year since the Trump administration dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID), with aid cuts leading to the closure of HIV clinics in South Africa, the termination of medical programs in Afghanistan, and the end of numerous programs tackling malnutrition and preventable diseases around the world.

The slashing of US foreign assistance was followed by cuts by the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and other developed nations, which are set to take effect this year and next year, compounding the impact.

Now, a new study published in The Lancet medical journal aims to quantify the human toll of those budget decisions – projecting that global aid cuts could lead to at least 9.4 million additional deaths by 2030, if the current funding trend continues. About 2.5 million of those deaths are projected to be children under the age of 5.

The peer-reviewed study, conducted by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) with funding from the Spanish government and the Rockefeller Foundation, modeled the outcome if aid cuts continue in line with recent averages and compared those figures to the deaths that would have occurred if aid had been maintained at 2023 levels. It drew on data from 93 low-income and middle-income countries that receive overseas development aid.

Researchers also modeled what could happen if funding cuts deepen further through the end of the decade, projecting that the number of additional deaths could reach 22.6 million.

“Our analyses show that development assistance is among the most effective global health interventions available. Over the past two decades, it has saved an extraordinary number of lives and strengthened fragile welfare states and healthcare systems,” said the study’s coordinator Davide Rasella, a research professor at ISGlobal and the Brazilian Institute of Collective Health.

“Withdrawing this support now would not only reverse hard-won progress but would translate directly into millions of preventable adult and child deaths in the coming years,” Rasella said in a statement.

The study also highlighted some of the achievements attributed to overseas development aid over the last two decades. Over the period from 2002 to 2021, global aid helped reduce child mortality by 39% for kids under 5. It also contributed to massive mortality declines for several major communicable diseases – including drops of 70% for HIV/AIDS and 56% for malaria – while deaths from nutritional deficiencies were reduced by 56%, researchers found.

The new research comes roughly one year after the Trump administration began its dismantling of USAID and ended funding for large numbers of aid programs around the world – including those that had been engaged in lifesaving work.

The US funded around 47% of the global humanitarian appeal in 2024, according to UN officials, making it the largest provider of humanitarian assistance globally (a position it still holds). Foreign aid has historically accounted for Read more

By Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — Elon Musk believes the best way to solve the difficulties of building AI data centers on earth is to move them into outer space. His merger this week of his rocket company SpaceX with his artificial intelligence company xAI could help get them there.

And he isn’t the only one thinking that way.

“The only logical solution…is to transport these resource-intensive efforts to a location with vast power and space. I mean space is called ‘space’ for a reason,’” Musk wrote Monday when announcing the merger.

Musk has successfully launched ambitious projects before, like developing mass market electric vehicles and creating reusable rocket engines to carry people and cargo into space. This time, Google, OpenAI and others are also looking to create data centers in space

AI data centers’ huge demand for both power and water means growing AI technology will require alternatives.

“We are tending to exceed the ability to generate the power (needed),” said David Bader, distinguished professor of data science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. “I think it is a necessity for looking not on terrestrial ground but looking to space to provide some of these solutions.”

Space offers better access to solar energy, and the environment also keeps the tech cool and bypasses the need for land.

“There are clearly technical challenges to making this a viable endeavor, but these seem to be engineering constraints as opposed to physics,” said a Deutsche Bank Research analyst note on orbital AI data centers last month, noting that many companies were exploring ways to make it work.

Google announced plans in November to test orbital AI data centers by launching two test satellites as early as next year.

“In the right orbit, a solar panel can be up to eight times more productive than on earth, and produce power nearly continuously,” Google said in a statement at the time. “In the future, space may be the best place to scale AI compute.”

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, last summer considered buying rocket company Stoke Space to put data centers in orbit, according to the Wall Street Journal.

And in November, Washington-based AI start-up Starcloud launched a test satellite with an AI server aboard a SpaceX rocket.

“In space, you get almost unlimited, low-cost renewable energy,” said Philip Johnston, cofounder and CEO of Starcloud.

Johnston predicted that, within 10 years, all new AI data centers will be in orbit, which could also solve the growing backlash to AI data center construction.

The cost of providing data centers with the electricity needed is likely driving up electric bills for consumers. A Bloomberg News analysis found that areas near data centers saw an increase in electricity costs of as much as 267% compared to five years ago.

Bader said a hard number for the increased electrical cost to consumers is tough to determine due to the lack of public information on data center usage, but it is clear that consumers are paying more because of AI energy demands.

“As the demand goes up with the limited supply, the cost to consumers in those markets also tends to increase,” he said.

By Kati Chitrakorn, CNN

(CNN) — Back in 2019, Gab Waller would never have expected that her first client as a personal shopper would be the English model and actor Rosie Huntington-Whitely. Based in Australia and working for the local government at the time, Waller couldn’t have been further away from the world of high fashion that she wanted to break into.

The turning point came when Huntington-Whiteley posted on Instagram that she was looking for a particular Celine coat. “I had spoken to a boutique in Denmark a week prior who had the coat. I messaged them straight away asking if they still had it, and they said yes, but I wondered how I could possibly get in touch with Rosie,” said Waller, noting it was unlikely the celebrity would see, let alone respond, to her message.

But that didn’t stop her, and a few days later Waller was able to make contact with Huntington-Whiteley through another fashion influencer on Instagram – and the designer coat was successfully acquired. “She paid full price,” said Waller. “And she did a 10-part Instagram Story telling her followers that I had found it. It was truly like an overnight explosion – the immediate influx of requests and demands and everything in-between. Not only did she put my name in the spotlight, but also the role of fashion sourcing. People were like ‘oh wow, there is a girl that can find you things that are sold out.’”

For the rich and famous, getting dressed is a high-stakes business. A single look can elevate one’s social and professional status, or put them on the path of viral meme infamy. Then there’s the growing public fascination with how the ultra-wealthy are spending their money (remember the frenzy around the $50 million Bezos wedding?) – and social media’s “rich people who rich right” sub-genre.

The job of dedicated luxury shoppers like Waller is two-fold: make specific product recommendations, and source those impossible-to-get-your-hands on items (for example, a rare piece of vintage or a very limited edition luxury bag). Today, Waller is based in Los Angeles and works as a personal shopper for clients including Hailey Bieber, Lori Harvey, Sofia Richie Grainge, Sabrina Elba, and the Kardashians. And she isn’t operating alone in this space.

Catherine Bloom is a personal shopper so well known among Hollywood stars and top-level executives that they often just refer to her by first name. She’s also been dubbed the “Michael Jordan of personal styling” at Nordstrom, the upscale American department store she joined in 2025 as the first-ever director of luxury styling, after a decades-long tenure at fellow luxury retailer Neiman Marcus.

Elsewhere, Marci Hirshleifer-Penn is the personal shopping director of her family’s Long Island luxury boutique, Hirshleifers, which has been in business for over a century, carrying designer labels like Chanel, Kith and Saint Laurent. On her personal Instagram and TikTok accounts, Hirshleifer-Penn often shares her own designer outfits and must-have items, a Celine calfskin midi skirt with a gourmette chain fastening one day, a military-green Saint Laurent jacket with a stand collar the next. With a knack for securing the most covetable pieces, she’s also a fashion whisperer of sorts who sources rare Chanel, Hermès and Alaia pieces for the 1%.

More than ever, these personal shoppers’ purchases – on behalf of their ultra-wealthy clients – are crucial to brands. While the middle class is stalling, to put it mildly, the irredeemably rich appear to be getting even richer. In late 2025, the top wealthiest 1% of Americans controlled almost 32% of the nation’s wealth – to the tune of $55 trillion – the highest since World War II, according to Federal Reserve data.

And while the global luxury sector contracted in 2025, it was predominantly due to a pullback from a

Por Larry Madowo y Katharina Krebs, CNN

Anne Ndarua lucha contra las lágrimas cuando habla de su único hijo. Hace seis meses, Francis Ndung’u Ndarua fue a Rusia con la promesa de un trabajo como ingeniero eléctrico. No ha podido contactarlo desde octubre y ya no está segura de si está vivo.

En diciembre, alguien le envió a Anne un video de su hijo advirtiendo a otros africanos que no viajaran a Rusia por ninguna oferta de trabajo. “Acabarás en el ejército, aunque nunca hayas servido, y te llevarán al frente de batalla. Y hay verdaderas matanzas”, afirma en el video, enviado desde un número desconocido de Kenya. “Muchos amigos han muerto por dinero”.

Aproximadamente una semana después, un video perturbador de Francis se viralizó en redes sociales. Uniformado, con una mina terrestre sujeta al pecho, parece asustado mientras un rusoparlante, con insultos racistas, afirma que lo usarán como “abrelatas” para irrumpir en las posiciones del ejército ucraniano.

“Es tan traumatizante”, declaró Anne a CNN, afirmando que no lo había visto después de que su hija le describiera el video. Consternada por su situación, solo aceptó ser entrevistada como último recurso para intentar que los gobiernos de Kenya y Rusia actuaran.

“Hago un llamamiento a los gobiernos de Kenya y Rusia para que colaboren y traigan a esos niños a casa”, pidió. “Les mintieron sobre trabajos reales y ahora están en guerra y sus vidas corren peligro”.

Francis, de 35 años, estaba desempleado y vivía con su madre en una pequeña comunidad a las afueras de la capital keniana antes de partir, tras haber pagado unos 620 dólares a un agente para facilitarle la oportunidad.

Anne se sorprendió cuando Francis informó a la familia que lo obligaban a realizar entrenamiento militar al llegar a Rusia. Fue enviado a Ucrania tras solo tres semanas de entrenamiento básico, cuenta.

Francis es uno de los cada vez más numerosos africanos que luchan por Rusia en Ucrania, aunque no se conocen las cifras exactas.

Una investigación de CNN ha revelado nuevos detalles sobre las tácticas de reclutamiento de los agentes rusos en el continente, exponiendo las promesas optimistas hechas a los africanos que buscan empleo y la realidad del servicio militar forzado y los sangrientos combates en primera línea que muchos encuentran.

CNN revisó cientos de chats en aplicaciones de mensajería, contratos militares, visas, vuelos y reservas de hotel, además de recopilar testimonios de primera mano de combatientes africanos en Ucrania, para comprender cómo Rusia atrae a los hombres jóvenes para que se unan a sus filas.

Varios Gobiernos africanos, incluidos Botsuana, Uganda, Sudáfrica y Kenya, han reconocido la magnitud del problema.

Los medios locales han detallado cómo los ciudadanos fueron engañados para convertirse en mercenarios de Rusia en Ucrania y los funcionarios han advertido a otros que no sigan su ejemplo

Los Ministerios de Defensa y Asuntos Exteriores de Rusia no han respondido a la solicitud de CNN para que comentaran sobre las acusaciones de que algunos reclutas fueron engañados o coaccionados.

CNN también contactó a la embajada rusa en Nairobi para obtener comentarios.

CNN habló con 12 combatientes africanos que aún se encuentran en Ucrania —de Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya y Uganda—, quienes afirmaron que les ofrecieron empleos civiles, como conductores o guardias de seguridad.

La mayoría afirmó que les prometieron una prima de contratación de US$ 13.000, salarios mensuales de hasta US$ 3.500 y la ciudadanía rusa al finalizar su servicio.

Pero al llegar a Rusia, afirman que los obligaron a alistarse en el ejército y recibieron poca capacitación antes de ser desplegados en el frente. Los obligaron a firmar contratos de servicio militar en ruso sin abogados ni traducción, según dijeron. A algunos les confiscaron los pasaportes, lo que prácticamente l

Por John Liu, CNN

Melinda French Gates dijo que se sintió llena de una “tristeza increíble” cuando la semana pasada se publicaron más documentos que detallan los vínculos de su exesposo y cofundador de Microsoft, Bill Gates, con el difunto delincuente sexual convicto Jeffrey Epstein.

La filántropa, que se divorció de Gates en 2021, habló sobre su reacción ante la controversia, diciendo que estaba “feliz de estar lejos de todo ese lío”, en un video de adelanto de su participación en el podcast “Wild Card” de NPR.

“Cualesquiera que sean las preguntas que queden sobre eso —ni siquiera puedo empezar a saberlo todo— esas preguntas son para esas personas e incluso para mi exesposo. Ellos deben responder a esas cosas, no yo”, dijo. NPR informó que la entrevista completa se publicará este jueves.

La larga relación entre Bill Gates y Epstein está bien documentada, pero surgieron nuevas preguntas sobre sus tratos cuando el Departamento de Justicia publicó el viernes pasado más de 3 millones de páginas de archivos relacionados con la investigación sobre Epstein.

No está claro quién escribió lo que parecen ser borradores de mensajes de 2013 guardados en la cuenta de correo electrónico de Epstein. Pero parecen documentar, en un estilo de flujo de conciencia, sentimientos de traición dirigidos al cofundador de Microsoft. Los borradores mencionan discordias matrimoniales entre Gates y su entonces esposa Melinda. También se discuten acuerdos comerciales, la idea de que Gates tenía preocupaciones sobre una enfermedad de transmisión sexual y negocios fallidos.

Bill Gates no ha sido acusado de ningún delito relacionado con Epstein.

Un portavoz del magnate del software dijo a NPR que las afirmaciones son “absolutamente absurdas y completamente falsas. Lo único que demuestran estos documentos es la frustración de Epstein por no tener una relación continua con Gates y hasta dónde llegaría para atraparlo y difamarlo”.

French Gates dijo que leer los nuevos detalles le trajo recuerdos de “momentos muy, muy dolorosos en mi matrimonio”.

Le dijo al podcast que la situación en la que Epstein puso a las chicas es “más que desgarradora” e “inimaginable”.

“Puedo tomar mi propia tristeza y mirar a esas jóvenes y decir: Dios mío, ¿cómo les pudo pasar eso a esas chicas?”, dijo. “Al menos para mí, he podido seguir adelante con mi vida, y espero que haya algo de justicia para esas mujeres ahora adultas”.

En los últimos años, Gates ha expresado repetidamente su arrepentimiento por haber decidido pasar tiempo con Epstein. CNN se ha puesto en contacto con la Fundación Gates para obtener comentarios.

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Con información de Zachary B. Wolf, Michael Williams y Austin Culpepper, de CNN.

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