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Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Trump’s big lead,  Russian nationalists and pig heads, a bet on steel and fusion, Taiwan’s new sub, Barbie’s underground Russian adventure

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump looks on while his supporters cheer on the day he addresses auto workers as he skips the second GOP debate, in Clinton Township, Michigan, U.S., September 27, 2023.

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump looks on while his supporters cheer on the day he addresses auto workers as he skips the second GOP debate, in Clinton Township, Michigan, U.S., September 27, 2023.

REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

16: Recent polling averages show that Donald Trump leads the combined rest of the GOP presidential field by 16 percentage points.


3: Three prominent Russian military analysts, including one who recently wrote an article calling for the killing of Ukrainian civilians, have discovered severed pig heads outside their homes in recent weeks.

35 million: In an unprecedented step, Nucor, the largest US steelmaker, is working with a nuclear fusion startup on construction of a 500-megawatt fusion power plant that would be placed at one of Nucor’s steel mills by 2030. The company’s $35 million investment is an early bet that steel will eventually be made without carbon emissions.

10: To help deter a potential future Chinese invasion, Taiwan has unveiled its first domestically made submarine. Over time, the island nation’s government wants to build a fleet of 10 submarines and equip them with missiles.

0: In today’s edition, we really wanted to highlight the excitement generated in Russia by underground screenings of the movie Barbie. Unfortunately, we found zero good numbers we could use from the press coverage, some of which you can see here, here, and here.

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Afghan men stand at the site of a destroyed drug rehabilitation hospital following a Pakistani air strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 17, 2026.

REUTERS/Sayed Hassib
408: The number of people killed in the Afghan capital of Kabul, after a Pakistani strike hit a drug rehabilitation center there, according to Taliban officials. Another 250 were reported injured. Islamabad claimed the facility was being used as an ammunition depot, as the conflict between the two neighbors, which started as border clashes last [...]
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Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto
4: The number of crew members aboard a US refuelling plane – out of six total – who died after the aircraft crashed in neighboring Iraq on Thursday, US Central Command said this morning. CENTCOM said the cause of the crash is still under investigation, but noted it was neither due to friendly nor hostile fire. The plane was part of Operation Epic [...]
​Participants hold placards during a protest to condemn the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and commemorate students killed in a strike on a girls' primary school in Minab in southern Iran on February 28, in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, March 12, 2026.

Participants hold placards during a protest to condemn the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and commemorate students killed in a strike on a girls' primary school in Minab in southern Iran on February 28, in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, March 12, 2026.

REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon
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Iran player Fatemeh Pasandideh (right) reacts during the national anthem of Iran prior to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group A match between Iran and Philippines at Gold Coast Stadium on the Gold Coast, Sunday, March 8, 2026.

AAP
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