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Hard Numbers: China-Taiwan trade gets hairy, French inflation cools, FDA makes big abortion move, Tanzanian oppo ban lifted, Salesforce cuts jobs

Cooked hairy crabs served at a hotel in Guangzhou, China.
Cooked hairy crabs served at a hotel in Guangzhou, China.
Oriental Image via Reuters Connect

14,110: Taiwan sent back a 14,110-pound shipment of live Shanghai hairy crabs from mainland China over excess levels of dioxin, a harmful chemical. Taipei says it's a food safety issue unrelated to Beijing's suspension of some Taiwanese imports that came in response to then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island last August.

6.7: French annual inflation unexpectedly slowed down to 6.7% in December. This follows similar slides in Spain and Germany, raising hopes that — thanks to falling energy prices — eurozone inflation might drop into single digits for the first time in three months when the figure is released Friday.

54: The US Food and Drug Administration will for the first time allow physical pharmacies to dispense abortion pills, which account for 54% of all abortions in America. Medication abortion has become the next frontier for US abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

6: Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan lifted a six-year ban on opposition rallies imposed by her strongman predecessor, John Magufuli. Since taking over upon his death in April 2021, Hassan has made significant gestures toward easing Magufuli's authoritarian legacy in the East African country.

8,000: US software giant Salesforce will lay off some 8,000 employees — about 10% of its workforce — as it braces for an economic slowdown in 2023. It's the latest example of mass job cuts at a tech firm amid growing fears that, whatever the Biden administration says, the US economy is more likely than not headed toward a recession.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with journalists to comment on new U.S. sanctions targeting two major Russia's oil producers, as well as other international issues, in Moscow, Russia, October 23, 2025.
Sputnik/Alexander Shcherbak/Pool via REUTERS

The US has paused Russian oil sanctions in a bid to stabilize energy markets rocked by the war with Iran. Administration officials stress that it’s a “tailored” measure, applying only to oil already loaded onto tankers, but it’s still a gift to Russia, which has already been clocking an extra $150 million daily in oil revenues since the war began.

A Boeing C-135 Stratotanker / Stratolifter military aircraft known as KC-135 of the United States Air Force USAF configured as Air Tanker Transport for aerial refueling, powered by 4x CFMI jet engines and tail number 63-8003. The military plane spotted flying over the Netherlands in the blue sky from Mainland USA to Tel Aviv TLV to support the Israel USA - Iran war known as Operation Epic Fury by the US Department of Defense. Venlo, the Netherlands on March 2, 2026
Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto

4: The number of crew members aboard a US refuelling plane – out of six total – who died after the aircraft crashed in neighboring Iraq on Thursday, US Central Command said this morning.