Hard Numbers: Ukraine adds fresh twist to fundraising, USDA employees reinstated, Alarming world obesity forecast, Loads of Americans want UK citizenship, China bumps up defense budget
President Donald Trump is seen here welcoming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House last Friday.
100: When life gives you lemons, why not sell lemon t-shirts? United24, a fundraising platform led by the Ukrainian government, is raffling off shirts featuring a quote from Volodymyr Zelensky’s contentious Oval Office meeting. A tee with the phrase, “I’ll wear the costume when this war is over,” will be sent to 100 lucky donors, harkening back to Donald Trump’s jabs at Zelensky’s refusal to wear a suit to the White House (he wore his usual war attire in solidarity with Ukrainian soldiers).
6,000: The independent United States Merit Systems Protection Board, a workers' rights watchdog, isreinstating nearly 6,000 recently hired US Department of Agriculture employees who were terminated en masse by the Trump administration. The board directed USDA to reinstate the employees for 45 days pending an investigation into whether the government violated civil service laws by dismissing them. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is now planning to slash 80,000 employees from the Veterans Affairs Department to bring staffing there back to 2019 levels.
3,800,000,000: According to a new study published in The Lancet, a medical journal, more than half of the global population – 3.8 billion people – is expected to be overweight or obese by 2050 if present trends continue. A global increase in diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other obesity-related ailments is expected in conjunction with obesity rates. Experts don’t expect GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy to curb the epidemic due to their high costs and inaccessibility.
40: President Donald Trump’s reelection and UK tax policy changes helped contribute to a record number of Americans trying to move across the pond last year. The UK Home Office reported a 26% increase in American applications for British citizenship in 2024, spiking 40% during the last quarter.
7.2: On Wednesday, China announced a defense budget increase of 7.2%, matching the same percentage boost as in 2024. With the second largest military expenditure in the world, any increase is significant. But the change doesn’t quite hit the double-digit increases of years past, a reflection of China’s sluggish economy.