Hard Numbers: Johnson's star falls, black Americans bear COVID brunt, Spain's tourism slump, Afghan ceasefire

20: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's national approval rating has plummeted 20 points in just four days following his decision to back a top aide who violated lockdown restrictions despite showing symptoms of COVID-19. Johnson's approval dropped to -1, the lowest on record since the coronavirus pandemic began.

2.4: COVID-19 underlines racially based US inequality. Its death rate is 2.4 times higher for black Americans than for whites, and 2.2 times higher than for Asians and Latinos.

92 billion: Spain, which draws about 15 percent of its total GDP from tourism, stands to lose as much as 92 billion euros in revenue this year as a result of travel bans. The government says it will move to lift travel restrictions by July 1 in order to limit the economic fallout, but whether people will choose to vacation there this summer is a different story.

900: The Afghan government released 900 Taliban prisoners as part of a ceasefire to mark the Eid al-Fitr holiday. This is just the second halt in fighting between the foes in two decades, boosting hopes for intra-Afghan peace going forward..


More from GZERO Media

German Chancellor and chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Angela Merkel addresses a news conference in Berlin, Germany September 19, 2016.
REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

Angela Merkel was elected chancellor of Germany on November 22, 2005, becoming the first woman to hold that job. During that time Merkel was arguably the most powerful woman in the world, presiding over one of its largest economies for four terms in the Bundesregierung. Twenty years on, the anniversary is a reminder of how singular her breakthrough remains. It’s still the exception when a woman runs a country.