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Hard Numbers

Global news through the lens of numbers.

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​Bangladeshi women hold placards as they take part in a rally to mark International Women's Day in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on March 8, 2021. (Photo by Mamunur Rashid/NurPhoto)
Hard Numbers

Hard numbers, in honor of International Women’s Day on March 8

27.5%: The share of parliamentary seats women hold worldwide, as of Jan. 1, 2026, per a report by the Inter-Parliamentary Union. It’s a modest gain – 0.3 points – from a year prior, but marks an overall slowdown since 2017.

​Military personnel operate during the BAMEX'25 Defense Expo, in Bamako, Mali, November 11, 2025.
Hard Numbers

Foreign nationals become a growing target in the Sahel, Bulgaria’s ex-president to run again, Israel shuts Gaza border again, Shooting in Texas bar

30: The number of foreign nationals who were kidnapped in Mali and Niger in the first 11 months of 2025, according to a new analysis from the BBC, up from seven in the preceding three years combined.

​He Weidong, Zhang Youxia, and Li Shangfu swear oaths as they are selected as China's Central Military Commission members during the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on March 11, 2023.
Hard Numbers

China’s mass military purge, Louvre director quits, South Korea’s fertility rate inches up, Trump’s record SOTU speech

100: The estimated number of senior officials who’ve been sidelined or have disappeared from China’s military since 2022, according to a study released on Tuesday.

​A French navy boat intercepts and redirects a suspected Russian oil tanker in the Gulf of Fos-sur-Mer, near Martigues, France, on January 25, 2026.
Hard Numbers

Russia reportedly smuggles its oil in droves, Tunisia slips further away from democracy, Argentina’s labor reform bill clears another hurdle, Rough day for diamond giant

$90 billion: The amount of revenue that Russia has reportedly made from smuggled crude oil exports, after 48 companies worked together to help disguise the origin of the oil and circumvent sanctions that have been imposed since the full-scale war on Ukraine began.