Hard Numbers: Poles heart the EU, Lebanon goes dark, Bolsonaro supports period poverty, Russia's gas leverage

People hold flags and light up their mobile phones during a rally in support of Poland's membership in the European Union after the country's Constitutional Tribunal ruled on the primacy of the constitution over EU law, undermining a key tenet of European integration, in Warsaw, Poland, October 10, 2021.

100: Protesters gathered in more than 100 towns and cities across Poland to voice support for the European Union after a Polish court ruled that national legislation takes precedence over EU law in many cases. This challenge to the EU's authority comes amid a deepening rift between Poland and the European Commission over issues that include judicial independence and LGBTQ rights.

35: As Europe grapples with massive fuel shortages, Moscow has warned the EU, which gets some 35 percent of its gas from Russia, to repair diplomatic ties with the Kremlin in order to avoid further gas shortages and price hikes. Russia said it would be willing to take actions that curb skyrocketing prices if the bloc stopped treating it as an "adversary."

100 million: Crisis-ridden Lebanon was plunged into darkness this weekend when its decrepit power grid ran out of fuel. The government says it will dole out $100 million to import fuel, which Beirut has struggled to do in recent years as the national currency has shed 90 percent of its value since 2019. Most Lebanese now use private generators and buy fuel on the black market.

5.6 million: Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has blocked legislation that would have provided free sanitary pads and tampons to 5.6 million disadvantaged Brazilian women and girls. Menstrual poverty (lack of access to sanitary products and bathrooms) is a massive problem in Brazil that causes 25 percent of girls to miss school.

More from GZERO Media

U.S. President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at a NATO leaders summit in The Hague, Netherlands June 25, 2025.
REUTERS

The two-day NATO summit at the Hague wrapped on Wednesday. The top line? At an event noticeably scripted to heap flattery on Donald Trump, alliance members agreed to the US president’s demand they boost military spending to 5% of GDP over the next decade.

Members of the Basij paramilitary force hold Iranian flag, Lebanese flag, and various militia flags, during a rally commemorating International Quds Day in downtown Tehran, April 14, 2023.
Morteza Nikoubazl via Reuters Connect

As the world reacted to Israel and the US bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities last week, one group was largely silent – Iran’s network of allied militias in the Middle East.

Across North America and Europe, blackouts are becoming more common, often hitting when the demand peaks or when the weather turns extreme. The surging demand for power and new energy sources are putting pressure on the energy systems. Meeting today’s energy needs takes a flexible, pragmatic, “all-of-the-above” approach — drawing on all fuels and technologies. Learn how Enbridge is delivering reliable, affordable energy in uncertain times.