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

​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.

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.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Zac Weisz
By Zac WeiszFebruary 25, 2026
Zac Weisz
Zac reports on global affairs, covering everything from battles between judicial branches and political leaders, to conflicts in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. With the Trump administration keen to alter the world order, though, there’s a heavy emphasis right now on US politics – an area with which he is intimately familiar. Prior to joining GZERO, Zac was a senior national politics correspondent at National Journal, where he covered the 2024 presidential election from its inception to the dramatic finish, as well as major congressional actions during the Biden administration. Prior to journalism, Zac worked as an economic analyst for Oxford Economics, calculating the impact of various tax policies, and of Britain’s exit from the European Union. Born in London, he currently resides in New York City, where you can find him playing football (the original version) or watching it on television while attempting to cook up a storm.
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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. According to analysts, those swept up in President Xi Jinping’s purge of his armed forces make up roughly half of the top military leadership.

5: The number of months it took for Louvre director Laurence des Cars to resign from her post following the infamous jewel heist at the world-renowned Paris museum in October. President Emmanuel Macron accepted her resignation on Tuesday. The jewels, valued at $102 million, remain missing. Strikes from Louvre workers over pay and working conditions have exacerbated the crisis.

0.8: South Korea’s fertility rate – the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime – in 2025, up from 0.75 in 2024 and 0.72 the year prior. The figure exceeded the government’s expectations and marks a sustained comeback for the country, which has the world’s lowest fertility rate. The rate remains far below the 2.1 threshold required to sustain population numbers.

108: The number of minutes US President Donald Trump spoke during last night’s State of the Union address, breaking a previous record he set in 2025. Congratulations to the two GZERO Community members who correctly guessed about how long his speech would be!

chinalouvresouth koreachina's military purge

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