Hard Numbers: GOP ousts Liz Cheney, Amazon vs EU, US inflation rises, Japanese reject Olympics

Hard Numbers: Liz Cheney ousted from GOP leadership, Amazon vs EU, US inflation rises, Japanese reject Olympics
US Rep. Liz Cheney addresses the media during in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
REUTERS/Mark Makela

92.9: The GOP voted on Wednesday to replace US Rep. Liz Cheney with Rep. Elise Stefanik as the head of the House Republican Caucus over Cheney's refusal to accept Trump's lie that the 2020 election was rigged. This is despite the fact that during the Trump administration, Cheney voted with Trump 92.9 percent of the time, compared to 77.7 percent for Stefanik.

300: An EU judge has struck down a 250 million euro ($300 million) fine levied by the European Commission on Amazon for cutting a deal with Luxembourg that is set to slash the US tech giant's tax burden across the bloc. Luxembourg, Ireland and the Netherlands use such arrangements to attract big business, and thus oppose US plans for a global minimum corporate tax backed by fellow EU member states France and Germany.

4.2: The US consumer price index — which measures inflation — surged 4.2 percent in April compared with the same month in 2020, its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis. Deficit hawks blame recent rising inflation on big spending by the Biden administration, but some economists believe it's more likely caused by short-term bottlenecks in supply chains.

60: Less than three months before the Olympics kick off in Tokyo, nearly 60 percent of Japanese people want the games to be cancelled. With Tokyo having just extended its state of emergency to contain a surge in COVID infections, many question the wisdom of holding the event in the middle of the pandemic, which is what caused the Olympics to get postponed in the first place.

More from GZERO Media

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office on April 7, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt
REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt

On Monday, President Donald Trump said that the US has been engaged in “direct” talks with Iran over its nuclear program and said that a meeting with “very high-level” officials is set for this Saturday. That would be a sharp break from previous US-Iran talks, which have occurred mostly through intermediaries.

An infographic of the changes to the US voting system under Trump's executive order
Paige Fusco

Officials from the Democratic Party in 19 states have filed a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s efforts to alter the national voting process via an executive order entitled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” which they argue infringes upon states’ constitutional rights to manage their elections.

People protest Ljubljana's Mayor Zoran Jankovic's support of Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic near the Serbian embassy in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on March 5, 2025.
REUTERS/Borut Zivulovic

After months of historic protests, Serbia’s embattled president, Aleksandar Vučić, is now up against something particularly formidable: the clock.

A general view outside Exchange Square in Hong Kong's financial district. Asian stock markets have plummeted amid growing fears of a global trade war, as Donald Trump described his tariffs as ''medicine'' and showed no indication of backing down.
ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect

In the latest twist of the United States’ trade war with China and the world, US President Donald Trump declared Monday that he would impose an additional 50% levy on Chinese imports on April 9 if Beijing refuses to drop its retaliatory tariff.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attends a press briefing in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2025.
Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS

In response to warnings from US officials of looming air attacks by US forces, the leaders of four of the largest Iran-backed militia groups operating in Iraq told Reuters on Monday that they were prepared to surrender their weapons to Iraqi government authorities.