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Hard Numbers: Turkey hearts Africa, HK election turnout dips, Spidey conquers box office, New York’s COVID surge
16: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted over the weekend a summit in Istanbul attended by 16 African heads of state. Turkey has been upping its Africa game for years, and lately Erdogan has been lobbying for the continent to have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
30.2: Only 30.2 percent of Hong Kong voters went to the polls on Sunday for the territory's legislative elections, in which only China-vetted candidates were allowed to run. It's the lowest turnout since the city was returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
253 million: It wasn’t expected, but despite COVID-battered movie theaters reeling from a year of flops, at least one part of the entertainment universe — the MCU, that is — has been saved by a friendly neighborhood appearance. The new Marvel movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home” took in a staggering $253 million in its opening weekend at the North American box office, more than any other film during the pandemic, and the third-highest US debut of all time. Spidey has already thwipped his way to the number three spot of all-time global sales as well, behind “Avengers: Endgame” and “Avengers: Infinity War.”
21,900: On Friday and Saturday, New York state set a pandemic record, with more than 21,900 COVID cases reported two days in a row. While nationwide cases are up the last week, New York’s tally has surged over six times the US average.