Hard Numbers: Republicans' falling optimism, ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, Somali PM ousted, Poland to drop women treaty

50: Amid recent public health and economic crises, as well as widespread protests over racial injustice, half of registered Republicans, 50 percent, now say that the country is headed in the wrong direction. While that's lower than the 68 percent of Americans who believe the country isn't doing well, there are clear signs that Republicans' confidence is slipping.

6: After six years of conflict, a ceasefire between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine came into effect Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy both appeared to back the deal, which comes after at least a dozen past attempts to broker a truce in eastern Ukraine have fallen through.

170: Somalia's Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khair has been removed from his post after a vote of no confidence was backed by 170 out of 178 MPs. President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who appointed Khair in 2017, also backed the ouster on the grounds that the PM had failed to pave the way for free and fair elections in 2021, the first democratic polls in over 50 years.

34: Poland says it will take steps to withdraw from a European treaty on violence against women and domestic violence which it ratified in 2015. Poland's ruling Law and Justice Party, and its conservative allies aligned with the Catholic Church, said the convention, which has been ratified by 34 countries, was "harmful" because of its "ideological nature."

More from GZERO Media

A combination photo shows a person of interest in the fatal shooting of U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah, U.S. shown in security footage released by the Utah Department of Public Safety on September 11, 2025.
Utah Department of Public Safety/Handout via REUTERS
A drone view shows the scene where U.S. right-wing activist, commentator, Charlie Kirk, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah, U.S. September 11, 2025.
REUTERS/Cheney Orr

The assassination of 31-year old conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a college event in Utah yesterday threatened to plunge a deeply divided America further into a cycle of rising political violence.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro stands next to members of the armed forces, on the day he says that his country would deploy military, police and civilian defenses at 284 "battlefront" locations across the country, amid heightened tensions with the U.S., in La Guaira, Venezuela, September 11, 2025.
Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS

284: Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has deployed military assets to 284 “battlefront” locations across the country, amid rising tensions with the US.

A member of Nepal army stands guard as people gather to observe rituals during the final day of Indra Jatra festival to worship Indra, Kumari and other deities and to mark the end of monsoon season.
REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

Nepal’s “Gen-Z” protest movement has looked to a different generation entirely with their pick for an interim leader. Protest leaders say they want the country’s retired chief justice, Sushila Karki, 73, to head a transitional government.