Hard Numbers: Another South American leftist on the ropes?

21 million: China has pledged $21 million to Nepal over the next three years as part of its latest attempt to pull that country away from India's sphere of influence. This follows China's earlier promise to build a railway connecting Nepal and China.

6: The Greens Party made historic gains in Switzerland's national elections on Sunday, getting a six-point boost since 2015, taking 13.2 percent of the vote. While the anti-immigration Swiss People's Party remains the leader despite a slip in support, the Greens' rise reflects voters' concerns over climate change, which emerged as the dominant electoral issue.

9: India and Pakistan blamed each other for an exchange of fire in disputed Kashmir that killed nine people on both sides. This was one of the deadliest episodes since renewed fighting between the hostile neighbors began in August after India stripped the region of its semi-autonomy.

45: Bolivia's President Evo Morales fell short of outright victory in Sunday's presidential elections, taking 45 percent of the vote with most ballots counted. Many have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest the leftist firebrand's increasingly authoritarian instincts. Bolivia's weak opposition will now get a chance to beat the 15-year incumbent in December's runoff elections.

More from GZERO Media

U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 6, 2025.
REUTERS/Leah Millis

What does Donald Trump want most from Canada? “Friendship,” he said during his meeting Tuesday with newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney. But while their IRL encounter was civil enough, don’t expect matching friendship bracelets any time soon.

The new Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) speaks during the handover of office in the Chancellery, May 6, 2025.
Reuters

The Conservative leader lost the first vote but won the second. His prize? Taking the reins of a Germany that faces its most serious combination of economic, security, and political challenges since 1989.

UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds meets Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal for trade talks, in London, United Kingdom, on April 28, 2025.

Department for Business and Trade/Handout via REUTERS

The United Kingdom on Tuesday sealed its largest trade deal since leaving the European Union, inking a pact with India in a big political win for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Across America, Walmart is supporting communities by working with small businesses, like beyondGREEN, in San Antonio, TX. Since becoming a Walmart supplier in 2023, the Texas-based company built a new factory and hired over 100 employees. Across the country, Walmart’s $350 billion investment in products made, grown, or assembled in America supports the creation of over 750,000 US jobs. Learn how Walmart’s investment in US manufacturing helps small businesses grow.

Quantum technology offers the next frontier of innovation. As the global race for quantum technology intensifies, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith highlights the need for the United States to harness its heritage of scientific innovation and outlines three strategic actions to ensure American quantum leadership. These actions include increasing government-funded quantum research, developing a skilled quantum workforce, and securing the quantum supply chain. Learn more here.

Chancellor-designate Friedrich Merz (CDU) is standing in the Bundestag election for Chancellor. CDU leader Friedrich Merz has failed the first round of voting in the Bundestag election for Chancellor.
Kay Nietfeld/dpa via Reuters Connect

Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz did not become Germany’s chancellor as planned on Tuesday after at least 18 members of his coalition either abstained or voted against him.