The 10 most important things in the world right now
Good morning! Here's what you know on Thursday.
1. Apple CEO Tim Cook compared helping the FBI hack an iPhone used by a terrorist to "the software equivalent of cancer" and said it would be "bad for America" during an interview with ABC News that aired on Wednesday evening.
2. The number of billionaires in the world grew by 99 to a record high of 2,188 last year, with the majority of new entries coming from Greater China, according to the new Hurun Global Rich List.
3. The United States and China have agreed on a draft resolution that would expand UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea over its latest nuclear test and hope to put it to a vote in the coming days, council diplomats said on Wednesday.
4. Asian shares slipped on Thursday as a fragile recovery in volatile crude oil unraveled, reviving anxiety about the health of the global economy, and Chinese shares skidded.
5. Companies from 20 countries are involved in the supply chain of components that end up in Islamic State explosives, a study found on Thursday. It indicates that governments and firms need to do more to track the flow of cables, chemicals and other equipment.
6. A hostage situation in London's Leicester Square ended when police detained a man who was holding a woman at knifepoint on Wednesday night. Parts of Leicester Square were on lockdown as the situation unfolded in an Italian restaurant.
7. Embattled electronics giant Sharp has accepted a multi-billion-dollar bailout from the parent company of Taiwan's Foxconn, local media reported Thursday, in what would be a rare foreign takeover of a Japanese firm.
8. The German government expects a total influx of 3.6 million refugees by 2020, with an average of half a million people arriving each year. The country took in a record 1.1 million migrants last year.
10. Fintech, or financial technology, startups and businesses raised almost $1 billion in funding last year, according to industry body Innovate Finance. The UK attracted the second highest number of fintech funding deals in 2015 after the US.
And finally ... This is the most depressing chart in the world.