Hard Numbers: West African group hits 50, Israeli settlers escalate, EU trust grows, Haiti becomes fit for a Prince

50: ECOWAS, a grouping of West African states, turned 50 years old on Wednesday. Regional leaders celebrated the occasion in Nigeria, where ECOWAS was founded, highlighting the pressing challenges of terrorism, climate change, poverty, and anti-democratic militancy.

7: Israeli settlers have erected tents in at least seven West Bank locations over the past 10 days in what the Palestinian Authority called “an unprecedented escalation.” Settler attacks against Palestinian villages have also increased recently. Earlier this year Israel, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967, launched its biggest operation against militants there in decades, displacing tens of thousands of people.

52: Against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s economic and security shocks, Europeans’ trust in the EU and its institutions has risen to its highest level since 2007, with 52% of respondents expressing confidence in the bloc. The mark among younger Europeans was 59%. Still, only 36% of Europeans said they trust their national governments.

150: Violence-wracked Haiti has contracted American private security contractor Erik Prince for up to 150 mercenaries. The Caribbean nation, mired in political and economic crisis since the 2021 assassination of the president, has been overrun by powerful gangs. A UN-backed multinational police mission led by Kenya, and arranged by the Biden administration, has failed to make progress due to lack of funding and firepower.