Hard Numbers: American Airlines fined over poor treatment, Millions of Canadians exposed to radon at home, McDonald’s tied to deadly E. coli outbreak, Mexico sees fatal shootout between troops and cartel members

October 24, 2024

An American Airlines aircraft flies past the U.S. Capitol before landing at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., January 24, 2022.

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

50 million: American Airlines was fined $50 million by the US Transportation Department for allegedly mistreating passengers with disabilities. “The era of tolerating poor treatment of airline passengers with disabilities is over,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday. His department said the airline committed “numerous serious violations” of laws protecting passengers with disabilities, at times resulting in injuries.

10 million: Over 10 million Canadians live in homes with high levels of dangerous radon gas, which can cause lung cancer, according to a new study. Radon is colorless and odorless — it also happens to be radioactive. The study found that roughly 18% of Canadian homes have levels of radon gas above what Health Canada designates as safe.

10: The McDonald’s quarter pounder has been linked to a fatal E. coli outbreak that’s spread across 10 states, killing one person in Colorado and leading at least 49 to fall ill — with 10 hospitalized. Federal health investigators are looking into the matter, and the fast-food giant has pulled its famed juicy burger from the menu at a fifth of its US locations.

19: Mexican troops killed 19 suspected members of the Sinaloa cartel in a shootout this week, the Ministry of Defense said Tuesday. This comes amid rising violence in the region since the arrest of cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in the US back in July.

Can we achieve gender equality by 2030?

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It has been nearly 30 years since former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared at the UN Conference on Women, hosted in Beijing, that “Women’s rights are human rights.” While progress has been made in some key areas, like education and access to healthcare, the number of women in the global labor force has remained largely stagnant since the 1990s. Women still trail men overall in income, digital inclusion, and even access to banking. This week World Bank announced a bold initiative to bridge that divide by creating more economic opportunity, broadening female leadership, and reducing gender-based violence in the next 5 years as 2030 approaches.

Can the IMF change to help more women?

Matthew Kendrick

When a country hits rock bottom financially, the International Monetary Fund is meant to step in with funds to stabilize the economy without damaging its society — or the gender gap. But studies show that these programs often push women out of work at a disproportionate rate to men as the economy contracts. Matthew Kendrick reports from the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings on a push to build more equitable programs.

North Korean troops move into Russia’s border area with Ukraine

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend a farewell ceremony before Putin's departure at an airport in Pyongyang, North Korea June 19, 2024.

Gavriil Grigorov/Reuters

Kyiv says that roughly 12,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, a far greater number than reported by the US, though it remains unclear precisely how many have entered what Ukraine referred to as the “combat zone.”

Will Japan’s LDP lose its grip on power?

October 23, 2024, Kamagaya, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Shigeru Ishiba reacts to his supporters after he delivered a campaign speech for his party candidate Hisashi Matsumoto for the general election at Kamagaya in Chiba prefecture, suburban Tokyo on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.

(photo by Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO)

As Japan heads to the polls this Sunday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s decision to call an early election just weeks after taking office is turning out to be a high-stakes gamble.

Global economy at risk if Middle East conflict expands, says World Bank's Ayhan Kose

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While the global economy shows signs of growth and decreasing inflation, the near future involves risks, including the escalation in the Middle East impacting oil prices, strained China-US relations, and an increasingly challenging tariff and trade environment, said Ayhan Kose, World Bank Deputy Chief Economist. He discussed the geopolitical tensions influencing the global economy with GZERO's Tony Maciulis at the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, DC, in a GZERO Global Stage interview.

Hard Numbers: American Airlines fined over poor treatment, Millions of Canadians exposed to radon at home, McDonald’s tied to deadly E. coli outbreak, Mexico sees fatal shootout between troops and cartel members

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Hard Numbers: American Airlines fined over poor treatment, Millions of Canadians exposed to radon at home, McDonald’s tied to deadly E. coli outbreak, Mexico sees fatal shootout between troops and cartel members

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There are times when we need more context, and there are times when we do not. How do we tell the difference?

Kyiv says that roughly 12,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, a far greater number than reported by the US, though it remains unclear precisely how many have entered what Ukraine referred to as the “combat zone.”

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

Georgian Dream insists the country is still on track to join the EU, as critics accuse the party of pushing Georgia in an increasingly anti-Western, authoritarian direction.

In 2001, a Goldman Sachs economist coined an acronym for the four largest and most promising “emerging market” economies: Brazil, Russia, India, and China became known as the “BRIC” countries.

With the latest polls still showing Donald Trump and Kamala Harris neck and neck in the swing states, both candidates are heading to Texas, a far less competitive state, with hopes of reaching key voter groups nationwide.

As Japan heads to the polls this Sunday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s decision to call an early election just weeks after taking office is turning out to be a high-stakes gamble.