Hard Numbers

5.39 million: In 1990, some 11.75 million children around the world died before reaching their fifth birthday. In 2017, advances in the availability of medical care and the lifting of large numbers of people from poverty cut that number to just 5.39 million.

86,700: The credibility of Vladimir Putin's bid to boost long-term economic growth by raising both life expectancy and the fertility rate took a hit this week when the state statistics agency announced the Russian population fell by 86,700 people in 2018. It's the third year in a row the population has fallen.

78: Some 78 percent of US workers live paycheck to paycheck, according to a 2017 study. A survey by the Federal Reserve found that nearly half of American families couldn't cover a $400 emergency expense without borrowing or selling something to do it. #GovernmentShutdown

3: A bill introduced this week in Hong Kong's Beijing-dominated legislature would make it a crime to boo the playing of the Chinese national anthem. This offense would be punishable by up to three years in prison.