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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.
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.