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Hard Numbers: The Saudi City of Tomorrow

Senior Writer

115: There are 115 people missing and presumed dead following a shipwreck off the coast of Libya last week. The numbers of migrants crossing the Mediterranean is down sharply from the height of the crisis four years ago, but significant numbers continue to try.

20: Tonight and tomorrow night, a total of 20 Democratic presidential candidates will take to the debate stage. Each will try to find some clever way to stand out from the crowd to win the party's nomination to take on Donald Trump next year. This is likely the last time so many will qualify to participate.


500 billion: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says half a trillion dollars will go to build an entirely new city over 10,000 square miles of rocky desert and empty coastline. As envisioned by the prince's consultants, the city, known as Neom, will include flying taxis, robot dinosaurs, high-tech security cameras, sand that glows in the dark, cutting-edge hospitals, really nice restaurants, its own artificial moon, a genetic-modification project that makes people stronger, and booze. Lots and lots of booze.

353 million: Ethiopians planted a record 353 million trees in a single day yesterday, according to a government official, as part of a state-led project to plant 4 billion trees over the course of the summer to combat deforestation in a country historically plagued by droughts. India set the previous record of 50 million in 2016.