Hard Numbers: Peru braces for a blast from the past, Americans worry about more violence, Bangladeshi students protest job quotas, China’s GDP growth underwhelms

Former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori attends a trial as a witness at the navy base in Callao, Peru, in 2018.

Former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori attends a trial as a witness at the navy base in Callao, Peru, in 2018.

REUTERS/Mariana Bazo

3: Well, name recognition won’t be an issue … Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, an authoritarian rightist who held power in the 1990s, plans to run for president again in 2026. Last year, the ailing 85-year-old politician was released early from a 25-year jail sentence for human rights abuses committed by his regime. His daughter, Keiko, has unsuccessfully run for president three times. If he does enter the race, it will be a test for Peruvian law, which bars any candidates convicted of corruption: The elder Fujimori has been convicted of graft not once, not twice, but three times.

67: Is more political violence likely in America? Unfortunately, most Americans seem to think so. In a poll taken after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, 67% of respondents said the current environment makes politically motivated violence “more likely.”

100: At least 100 people were injured in protests and clashes across Bangladesh on Monday as students took to the streets to oppose a quota system they see as unfair. The quota sets aside 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans of Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. The protests pose a challenge to strong(wo)man Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who in January won her fourth straight term in government. That vote, however, was boycotted by the opposition over allegations that “Asia’s Iron Lady” was trying to rig the outcome.

4.7: China’s GDP expanded at an annual rate of 4.7% in the second quarter of this year, nearly half a point below analyst expectations, as weak consumer spending offset rising exports from the world’s second-largest economy. The data come as China’s leadership prepares to gather for a special, four-day meeting on economic policy.

More from GZERO Media

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy gives a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 19, 2025.
TETIANA DZHAFAROVA/Pool via REUTERS

The war of words between US President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky has hit a new low, with Trump labeling the Ukrainian president a “dictator” who “has done a terrible job.”

German conservative CDU candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz attends a campaign event in Vechta, Germany, on Feb. 19, 2025.

REUTERS/Carmen Jaspersen

The CDU/CSU is very likely to win, making Friedrich Merz the country’s new chancellor. But he’s likely to lead a coalition government with a weak mandate, in part because he has vowed to reject any cooperation with the AfD.

A Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Harbin Z-9 helicopter sits on CNS Yulin during a display of warships ahead of an exhibition at Changi Naval Base in Singapore on May 18, 2015.

REUTERS/Edgar Su

A Chinese naval helicopter flew nearly 10 feet from a Philippine patrol plane on Tuesday over a contested reef in the South China Sea, escalating tensions with Manila and Washington in the airspace over international waterways Beijing claims as its own.