Hard Numbers: Biden’s ad buy, German nuke games, Kwoks lose big, Bolsonaro’s sick cabinet
280 million: Democratic candidate Joe Biden plans to spend $280 million on campaign ads in his battle against US President Donald Trump. Although Trump trails the former vice president by 7 points in an average of national polls, the incumbent has set aside less than half that amount for ads of his own.
500,000: About half a million people would die instantly if a large nuclear bomb were detonated in Frankfurt, Germany's most populous city, according to a new simulation from Greenpeace. It is estimated that the US — the only atomic power that stores part of its arsenal in other countries — has maintained between 15 and 20 nukes on German soil since the end of the Cold War.
8 billion: The uber-rich Kwok family, which owns Hong Kong's largest real estate empire, lost $8 billion over the past twelve months. The steep drop in the dynasty's net wealth is partly attributed to lack of investor confidence in Hong Kong as China has moved to assert fuller control over the city. It's also worth noting that the Kwoks publicly oppose the new security law that China has imposed on the former British colony.
8: Jorge Oliveira, Brazil's secretary of the presidency, is the eighth member of President Jair Bolsonaro's cabinet to have tested positive for the coronavirus. Bolsonaro — who recently survived COVID-19 himself — is part of a select group of world leaders who continue to play down the threat of the pandemic, and is often seen meeting people without social distancing or wearing a mask, even as Brazil has tallied more 2.8 million cases and close to 100,000 deaths.