Hard Numbers

8: Eight years ago today, Syria plunged into civil war. According to the UN, nearly half the people who lived in that country in 2011 have been driven from their homes, and hundreds of thousands have been killed. President Bashar al-Assad has won the war, but fighting continues.

37: A poll conducted earlier this year found that 37 percent of Britons who prefer to remain in the European Union would be upset if a close relative married a strong leave supporter.

2 million: The number of new births in China fell by 2 million to 15.2 million in 2018. It was the second straight year of decline in the birthrate since China ended its "one child" policy in 2015. More than half of respondents who said they were delaying having children cited the high cost of raising a child.

84 million: Some 84 million Indians, equal to the population of Germany, have become eligible to vote since India's most recent national elections in 2014.