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Hard Numbers: A leak kills in India, Americans trust governors, criminals stash cash, and the UK nosedives

Hard Numbers: A leak kills in India, Americans trust governors, criminals stash cash, and the UK nosedives
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13: A gas leak at a chemical plant in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has left at least 13 dead and hundreds sick. The LG Polymers facility was attempting to reopen after idling for seven weeks under India's nationwide lockdown. Local police said the long period of inactivity had contributed to a chemical reaction that caused the leak.


71: All politics is local, the saying goes – especially, it seems, when it comes to pandemics. A whopping 71 percent of American voters told an FT/Peterson survey that they trust their own state governor over President Trump when it comes to deciding when to reopen the economy.

12.6 million: Lockdowns are evidently making it hard for criminals to move money around these days. Dutch money laundering investigators recently turned up 12.6 million euros in cash in a home in the city of Eindhoven, the largest find of its kind in the country's history. In case you wondered, the stash weighted more than five hundred pounds (255kg).

300: The Bank of England says the UK is set for its worst economic downturn in 300 years, as coronavirus-related lockdowns slash GDP by 30 percent in the first half of this year. For those with a macabre sense for history, 1720 was the year of Europe's last major outbreak of the Black Plague.

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