Hard Numbers: China’s economy expands, US prisoners decline, Tunisian PM quits, Hindu pilgrims go to Kashmir

3.2: China's economy grew 3.2 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2020, the only major economy to expand since the COVID-19 pandemic. The rebound was better than expected, but investors are concerned that it was mainly a result of heavy public spending on infrastructure.

8: The number of inmates in US federal and state prisons declined by more than 100,000 between March and June, an 8 percent drop. Many of these prisoners are low-level offenders and inmates with compromised health systems who were released to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in US penitentiaries.

15 million: Elyes Fakhfakh, the prime minister of Tunisia, stepped down on Wednesday after an independent lawmaker revealed that Fakhfakh owned shares in companies that had won state contracts worth about $15 million. His resignation has sparked uncertainty over the future of the coalition government led by the moderate Islamists of the Ennahda (Renaissance) Party.

500: Indian-administered Kashmir will allow Hindus to visit a Himalayan cave shrine, despite health concerns over COVID-19. Hundreds of thousands of people from across India normally take part in the annual Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage, but this year the trek will be limited to only 500 per day.

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Join us via free livestream at the Energy Security Hub at BMW Pavilion Herbert Quandt at the Munich Security Conference and watch our panel on “Geopolitics of Energy Transition and Hydrogen Trade” in cooperation with the German Federal Office and H2-Diplo. The global shift to net zero is no longer just an environmental imperative – it’s reshaping international security and geo-economic dynamics. As new clean energy trade routes emerge, major economies are jockeying for clean industry leadership, navigating critical resource dependencies, supply chain resilience, and infrastructure security. Following this panel, starting at 18:30 (CET) / 12:30 (ET), don’t miss the opportunity to watch the closing keynote by William Chueh, director of Precourt Institute for Energy and associate professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, on “Energy Transition: Speed & Scale.” For these and other forward-thinking panels and discussions in the next two days, register here.