Hard Numbers: The shrinking Amazon, US views on #BLM, Boko Haram attack, the UK economy's bad case of COVID
10,000: Under Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro's push to develop the Amazon, more than 10,000 square kilometers of the rainforest were destroyed last year. That's an area equal to the size of Lebanon, and it's a 34 percent increase over 2018. So far this year, destruction of the Amazon is already up 55 percent. The Amazon's vast absorption of greenhouse gasses is critical for limiting global warming, scientists say.
53: Two weeks of nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd have moved a majority (53 percent) of Americans to support the Black Lives Matter movement for the first time, according to the pollster Civiqs. Before Floyd's death, the figure stood at 48 percent, the highest mark on record at the time.
11.5: The UK economy will shrink 11.5 percent this year, the worst of any major economy, says the OECD, a group of advanced countries. And that's the optimistic case, which assumes no "second wave" of coronavirus. If another wave breaks, Britain's GDP would contract 14 percent. Analysts say that the UK's economic dependence on services has made it especially vulnerable to coronavirus-related shutdowns.
81: Boko Haram jihadists are suspected in an attack on a village in Northeastern Nigeria that left at least 81 people dead on Tuesday. The terror group has killed more than 30,000 people over the past decade, in a conflict that has displaced more than 2.5 million. With governments around the world distracted by the coronavirus pandemic, the group has recently increased its attacks.