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Hard Numbers: Angry Spanish farmers, South Korea foots Iran’s UN bill, China tests Taiwanese air defense, Turkish journalist jailed

January 23, 2022
Carlos Santamaria
Hard Numbers: Angry Spanish farmers, South Korea foots Iran’s UN bill, China tests Taiwanese air defense, Turkish journalist jailed
Farmers take part in a protest to raise awareness about the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and demanding "respect and progress" for the rural sector in Madrid, January 23, 2022.
REUTERS/Nacho Doce

4.7 billion: Spanish farmers protested on Sunday in Madrid against the leftwing coalition government's agricultural and environmental policies, which they claim are depopulating rural areas. No way, says the government, which has set aside $4.7 billion to stop the rural exodus.

18 million: Iran will regain voting privileges at the UN General Assembly, after South Korea pitched in the $18 million Tehran owed in UN dues with Iranian funds frozen by Seoul due to US sanctions. For the second year in a row, Iran had argued the sanctions impeded its ability to pay its UN bill.

35,500: Turkish journalist Sedef Kabas was arrested for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by reciting a proverb that compared him to a farm animal on live TV and Twitter. More than 35,500 charges of insulting the president have been filed in Turkish courts since it became a crime in 2014.

39: Taiwan scrambled fighter jets to ward off 39 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defense identification zone on Sunday, the largest incursion since October. China's "grey zone" warfare tactics are designed to strain the self-governing island's air defenses and test their response to a hypothetical attack.

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