Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Sinking Sunak, Mellon's millions for Trump, Israelis bearish on two-state solution, Thousands displaced in Haiti, Chinese carmakers take aim at EU

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak leaves Millbank Studios after a media interview in London, Britain, May 27, 2022.
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak leaves Millbank Studios after a media interview in London, Britain, May 27, 2022.
REUTERS/John Sibley

516: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak might be on the verge of making history … and not in a good way. He could be the first sitting prime minister to lose their seat in a general election, according to a new poll, which predicts Labour could win a whopping 516 seats in Parliament. Meanwhile, the poll suggests that Sunak’s Conservative Party will win just 53 seats.

50 million: Conservative billionaire Timothy Mellon reportedly sent $50 million to Donald Trump's presidential campaign the day after the former president was convicted on 34 felony counts in his hush-money trial last month. Donations disclosed to the Federal Election Commission show that the Trump campaign raked in $68 million from donors in May. Oddly, Mellon has also been the biggest donor to independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr.’s campaign, having donated at least $20 million to his super pac in the past.

26: Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, just 26% of Israelis think a way can be found for Israel and an independent Palestinian state to coexist peacefully, according to new polling. This is a drop from 35% who said the same last year.

580,000: Nearly 580,000 people have been displaced by gang violence in Haiti, according to the UN, which amounts to roughly 5% of the country’s population. It’s estimated that gangs control more than 80% of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital. The country is now awaiting the arrival of a Kenya-led international police force to battle the gangs and lend support to a governing council overseen by a prime minister who was appointed in April.

25: It’s a trade war summer!Chinese carmakers are calling for a 25% tax on large European cars over the EU’s plans to impose tariffs of up to 38% on electric vehicles made in China beginning on July 4. The US also recently moved to hit Chinese electric vehicles with higher tariffs — all the way up to a staggering 100%.

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office, as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum look on, on the day he signs an executive order, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 23, 2025.
REUTERS/Kent Nishimura

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The number of Asian countries that have lined up to participate in the first edition of Eurovision, the world’s longest-running international music competition, on the continent.
Natalie Johnson

The number of Asian countries that have lined up to participate in the first edition of Eurovision, the world’s longest-running international music competition, on the continent.