Hard Numbers: India’s capital struggles to breathe, Honduran villages cut off, Greece puts a dent in its debt, Tiger King begs Trump for job

​A ragpicker searches for garbage as he walks through railway tracks on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, India on November 4, 2023.

A ragpicker searches for garbage as he walks through railway tracks on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, India on November 4, 2023.

(Photo by Kabir Jhangiani/NurPhoto)
50: Particulate matter in the air over Delhi reached 50 times the safe level on Monday, causing the Indian government to close schools, halt construction, and bar certain trucks from entering the capital. The toxic smog is the result of a perfect storm of cold temperatures, smoke from farmers burning crop residue, and emissions from cars and factories.

1,700: At least 1,700 communities in Honduras have been isolated by flooding caused by Tropical Storm Sara, which dumped nearly 20 inches of water over four days in the north of the country. At least nine bridges were destroyed and 19 more damaged, complicating efforts to reach the affected communities.

5 billion: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said his government plans to pay down at least $5.3 billion dollars in debt in 2025, well ahead of schedule, thanks to strict fiscal discipline. Greece still has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the Eurozone, but has markedly improved since the country’s debt crisis a decade ago.

21:Joseph Maldonado-Passage — much better known as “Joe Exotic” from the bizarre 2020 Netflix hit documentary “Tiger King” — asked President-elect Donald Trump to pardon him from his 21-year prison sentence for attempting to arrange the murder of his tiger rival Carole Baskin. (It’s a hell of a doc). That’s not all: the feline enthusiast also wants to join Trump’s cabinet as the director of the US Fish and Wildlife service.

More from GZERO Media

- YouTube

"We are seeing adversaries act in increasingly sophisticated ways, at a speed and scale often fueled by AI in a way that I haven't seen before.” says Lisa Monaco, President of Global Affairs at Microsoft.

US President Donald Trump has been piling the pressure on Russia and Venezuela in recent weeks. He placed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil firms and bolstered the country’s military presence around Venezuela – while continuing to bomb ships coming off Venezuela’s shores. But what exactly are Trump’s goals? And can he achieve them? And how are Russia and Venezuela, two of the largest oil producers in the world, responding? GZERO reporters Zac Weisz and Riley Callanan discuss.

- YouTube

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says AI can be both a force for good and a tool for harm. “AI has either the possibility of…providing interventions and disruption, or it has the ability to also further harms, increase radicalization, and exacerbate issues of terrorism and extremism online.”

Demonstrators carry the dead body of a man killed during a protest a day after a general election marred by violent demonstrations over the exclusion of two leading opposition candidates at the Namanga One-Post Border crossing point between Kenya and Tanzania, as seen from Namanga, Kenya October 30, 2025.
REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Tanzania has been rocked by violence for three days now, following a national election earlier this week. Protestors are angry over the banning of candidates and detention of opposition leaders by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

Illegal immigrants from Ethiopia walk on a road near the town of Taojourah February 23, 2015. The area, described by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as one of the most inhospitable areas in the world, is on a transit route for thousands of immigrants every year from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia travelling via Yemen to Saudi Arabia in hope of work. Picture taken February 23.
REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

7,500: The Trump administration will cap the number of refugees that the US will admit over the next year to 7,500. The previous limit, set by former President Joe Biden, was 125,000. The new cap is a record low. White South Africans will have priority access.