Hard Numbers: Indians vs. army recruiters, Nigeria freezes airline cash, China hearts Russian oil, Spanish conservatives win big

Hard Numbers: Indians vs. army recruiters, Nigeria freezes airline cash, China hearts Russian oil, Spanish conservatives win big
Students and activists protest against the government's Agnipath military recruitment plans in Delhi.
Kabir Jhangiani/Pacific Press/Si via Reuters Connect

4: Thousands of Indians have taken to the streets to protest against the army's plans to recruit new soldiers for a limited four-year term. The protesters say that ruins their hopes of getting a secure job with the military, one of India’s largest employers, while the generals argue they need to cut back on salaries and pensions that take up half of the budget.

450 million: Nigeria has frozen $450 million in revenues from foreign airlines as the country grapples with a severe dollar shortage. It's not just a Nigerian problem — across sub-Saharan Africa, everyone is scrambling for dollars these days mainly due to sky-high inflation and plummeting local currencies.

8.42 million: Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia as China's top oil supplier, thanks to steep discounts as a consequence of Western sanctions over the Kremlin's war in Ukraine. The Chinese swooped up almost 8.42 million metric tons of Russian crude last month, 55% more than a year ago.

58: On Sunday, Spain's center-right People’s Party won for the first time an outright majority of 58 seats in the Andalucía regional election. Big victory for the conservatives in Spain's largest region, a bellwether and longtime bailiwick of the ruling center-left

PSOE party, which has been lagging in the polls since the PP picked a new moderate leader in May.

More from GZERO Media

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 17, 2025.

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

A federal judge set up a showdown with the Trump administration on Wednesday with a ruling that threatens to find the government in contempt if it fails to comply with a judicial order to provide due process to Venezuelans deported to a prison in El Salvador.

Gavin Newsom speaks at the Vogue World: Hollywood Announcement at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, CA on March 26, 2025.
Photo by Corine Solberg/Sipa USA

California governor Gavin Newsom kicked off a campaign to promote Canadian tourism in his state, pitching its sunny beaches, lush vineyards, and world-class restaurants.

An employee checks filled capsules inside a Cadila Pharmaceutical company manufacturing unit at Dholka town on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, April 12, 2025.
REUTERS/Amit Dave

Donald Trump’s administration announced that it is opening investigations into pharmaceutical and semiconductor supply chains, which will likely result in tariffs that will hurt suppliers in Europe, India, and Canada.

Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party speaks after Democrat Josh Stein won the North Carolina governor's race, in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S., November 5, 2024.
REUTERS/Jonathan Drake

As the Democrats start plotting their fight back into power in the 2026 midterms, one issue has come up again and again.

People gather after Friday prayers during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Amman, Jordan, on April 4, 2025.
REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak

Jordanian authorities announced on Wednesday the arrest of 16 people accused of planning terrorist attacks inside Jordan. The country’s security services say the suspects had been under surveillance since 2021, and half a dozen of them were reportedly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Islamist organization.