FIVE STATS This Week

The percentage of Russians who identify themselves as “non-religious” has fallen from 75 percent in April 1989 to just 19 percent in November 2013.

Latinos are the fastest-growing U.S. voting bloc. But more than 60 percent of House GOP members represent districts where Latinos make up less than 10 percent of the vote. That disparity makes the 2014 legislative agenda more predictable but the 2016 GOP presidential debates much more interesting.

Venezuela, a country with fewer than 30 million people, suffered nearly 25,000 homicides in 2013, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence, a consortium of seven universities. The Venezuelan government, which has not published crime stats since 2005, denies these figures. For more context, there were 14,827 homicides in the United States in 2012 (the latest year for which nationwide stats are available)—a country of about 314 million people.

In January, the United States’ labor-force participation rate for all ages was 63 percent—that’s within 0.2 percent of its lowest level since March 1978. Historically, the long-term unemployed have usually comprised between 10 and 20 percent of total unemployment. Today the number is 35.8 percent.

Last week, China and Taiwan held direct talks for the first time since 1949. Since his election and the easing of mainland travel restrictions in 2008, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has put his preference for closer ties with Beijing on full display. Last year a record three million Chinese traveled to Taiwan. Cross-strait trade has nearly doubled, reaching $197 billion last year. But Ma’s approval ratings have dipped as low as 9 percent; it remains to be seen if improved relations will end along with Ma’s presidential term in two years.