Hard Numbers

$143 million: If you think you had a rough Valentine's Day, things could be worse. In 2018, the US Federal Trade Commission recorded over 20,000 romance scams, whereby individuals were lured by phony online profiles and eventually exploited for their money, costing the affected $143 million dollars. That was up from $33 million in losses in 2015.

5,000:The humanitarian goods awaiting entry into Venezuela from Colombia could feed around 5,000 people for ten days and provide medical assistance to 10,000 people for 90 days, according to the American embassy in Colombia.

73: Sectarian divisions run deep in Nigeria. The Muslim and Christian populations are roughly equal, but their political views diverge. Some 73 percent of Muslims approve of the current government, against just 24 percent of Christians.

31: Turkish President Erdogan has pledged to sell cheap food dubbed "people's vegetables" to combat rising food costs that saw prices rise 31 percent in January. Erdogan says he's resolved to put an end to "food terrorism."

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German farmers protest against the cut of vehicle tax subsidies of the so-called German Ampel coalition government in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany January 8, 2024.
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REUTERS/Nadja Wohlleben

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File Photo: U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony posthumously honoring Major League Baseball player, civil rights activist and World War II veteran, Lawrence Eugene “Larry” Doby, in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2023.
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Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, in Clinton, Iowa, U.S., January 6, 2024.
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Saturday marked the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, US Capitol riots in which thousands stormed the legislature to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Smoke rises in north Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, as seen from Israel, January 2, 2024.
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