Science & Tech

Hard Numbers: Dems vs. Biden, Indian population vs. China's, Ukrainian army vs. Russia, Asian Vegas vs. COVID

Hard Numbers: Dems vs. Biden, Indian population vs. China's, Ukrainian army vs. Russia, Asian Vegas vs. COVID
US President Joe Biden takes questions from reporters in Washington, DC.
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

64: With friends like these … A new poll says 64% of US Democratic voters — and nearly all of those under the age of 30 — don't want President Joe Biden to run for re-election in 2024. Biden, who would be almost 82 at the time, says he will do so. Let’s see how this plays out as the presidential contest heats up.

1: Sometime next year India will surpass China as the no. 1 most populous nation in the world, according to a UN report released on World Population Day. China’s falling birthrate has cooled its population growth for years.

1 million: Ukraine's defense minister says his country is amassing a million-strong army equipped with NATO weapons to fight Russia. The Ukrainians are racing against time to launch a counteroffensive to take back parts of the eastern Donbas region and Black Sea ports captured by Russian troops.

1,526: Macau, China's gambling mecca, shut down all its casinos on Monday for the first time in two years after logging 1,526 COVID infections since mid-June. Although it's much smaller than Las Vegas, Macau actually brings in six times more revenue than Bugsy Siegel’s desert dreamtown — including a lot of illicit cash from the mainland.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with journalists to comment on new U.S. sanctions targeting two major Russia's oil producers, as well as other international issues, in Moscow, Russia, October 23, 2025.
Sputnik/Alexander Shcherbak/Pool via REUTERS

The US has paused Russian oil sanctions in a bid to stabilize energy markets rocked by the war with Iran. Administration officials stress that it’s a “tailored” measure, applying only to oil already loaded onto tankers, but it’s still a gift to Russia, which has already been clocking an extra $150 million daily in oil revenues since the war began.

A Boeing C-135 Stratotanker / Stratolifter military aircraft known as KC-135 of the United States Air Force USAF configured as Air Tanker Transport for aerial refueling, powered by 4x CFMI jet engines and tail number 63-8003. The military plane spotted flying over the Netherlands in the blue sky from Mainland USA to Tel Aviv TLV to support the Israel USA - Iran war known as Operation Epic Fury by the US Department of Defense. Venlo, the Netherlands on March 2, 2026
Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto

4: The number of crew members aboard a US refuelling plane – out of six total – who died after the aircraft crashed in neighboring Iraq on Thursday, US Central Command said this morning.