Hard Numbers: Mass shooter kills in Maine, Mexico slammed by sudden hurricane, UAW makes deal with Ford, South African miners resurface, and Meloni takes a breakup break

Police close Lincoln Street leading to Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant after deadly mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine, U.S. October 26, 2023.
Police close Lincoln Street leading to Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant after deadly mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine, U.S. October 26, 2023.
REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi

16: A man in Lewiston, Maine, killed at least 16 people and injured dozens more in two mass shootings last night at a restaurant and bowling alley. The killer remains at large, and authorities urge all residents to shelter in place.

165: Hurricane Otis barreled into southwestern Mexico on Wednesday with sustained winds of over 165 mph after a sudden intensification overnight transformed it into a Category 5 storm — and left authorities in Guerrero state with virtually no time to respond. Damage is expected to be severe, and experts at the National Hurricane Center said, “There are no hurricanes on record even close to this intensity for this part of Mexico.”

25: United Auto Workers reached a tentative four-year deal with Ford on Wednesday that would, if approved by union members, mean a 25% salary boost in addition to cost-of-living raises. UAW advised members to return to work at Ford, which will pressure the other car brands involved in the six-week strike, GM and Stellantis, to follow suit.

107: More than 100 miners locked in a tense dispute between rival labor unions in South Africa’s Gold One mine have emerged from underground, where they had been trapped since Sunday night. Those who resurfaced confirmed that more of their colleagues are being held against their will by miners associated with the other union and that over a dozen people were injured in scuffles between the groups.

1: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took a personal day this week following her sudden breakup with television presenter Andrea Giambruno. Her partner of 10 years and the father of her seven-year-old daughter, Giambruno was caught on a hot mic bragging about a workplace affair while trying to pick up a third woman. Calling into a party conference, Meloni reminded Italians that “I, too, am human.

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Join us via free livestream at the Energy Security Hub at BMW Pavilion Herbert Quandt at the Munich Security Conference and watch our panel on “Geopolitics of Energy Transition and Hydrogen Trade” in cooperation with the German Federal Office and H2-Diplo. The global shift to net zero is no longer just an environmental imperative – it’s reshaping international security and geo-economic dynamics. As new clean energy trade routes emerge, major economies are jockeying for clean industry leadership, navigating critical resource dependencies, supply chain resilience, and infrastructure security. Following this panel, starting at 18:30 (CET) / 12:30 (ET), don’t miss the opportunity to watch the closing keynote by William Chueh, director of Precourt Institute for Energy and associate professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, on “Energy Transition: Speed & Scale.” For these and other forward-thinking panels and discussions in the next two days, register here.