Hard Numbers: Mexican women, Lebanese defaults, MH17 victims, and migrant children

1.2 billion: Lebanon, wracked by economic and political crises, will suspend payments of $1.2 billion in loans, marking its first sovereign debt default. As a result, Beirut could face legal action from lenders that could push its already flailing economy (its debt reached 170 percent of GDP) towards collapse.

298: The names of all 298 victims killed in the 2014 downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 were read out in court as the murder trial of four defendants (in absentia) got underway in Amsterdam. It's been six years since the aircraft was hit by a missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian forces amid fighting in eastern Ukraine. The defendants – three Russians and a Ukrainian – all held senior posts in pro-Moscow militias in the region.

5: Five EU countries – Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal – have agreed to take in some migrant children who are trapped in no-man's-land on the Greek islands amid ongoing tensions along the Greek-Turkish border. Around 1,500 children who are unaccompanied or deemed "very sick" will be absorbed in total, according to German media.

67: As women in Mexico hit the streets Sunday and Monday for a national strike against gender-based violence in that country, a new high of 67 percent of Mexican adults – both men and women – agreed that women in their country are "not treated with respect," according to Gallup.

More from GZERO Media

Walmart’s $350 billion commitment to American manufacturing means two-thirds of the products we buy come straight from our backyard to yours. From New Jersey hot sauce to grills made in Tennessee, Walmart is stocking the shelves with products rooted in local communities. The impact? Over 750,000 American jobs - putting more people to work and keeping communities strong. Learn more here.

People gather at a petrol station in Bamako, Mali, on November 1, 2025, amid ongoing fuel shortages caused by a blockade imposed by al Qaeda-linked insurgents.
REUTERS/Stringer

Mali is on the verge of falling to an Islamist group that has pledged to transform the country into a pre-modern caliphate. The militant group’s momentum has Mali’s neighbors worried.

Last week, Microsoft released the AI Diffusion Report 2025, offering a comprehensive look at how artificial intelligence is spreading across economies, industries, and workforces worldwide. The findings show that AI adoption has reached an inflection point: 68% of enterprises now use AI in at least one function, driving measurable productivity and economic growth. The report also highlights that diffusion is uneven, underscoring the need for greater investment in digital skills, responsible AI governance, and public-private collaboration to ensure the benefits are broadly shared. Read the full report here.

- YouTube

At the 2025 Abu Dhabi Global AI Summit, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan warns that without deliberate action, the world’s poorest countries risk exclusion from the AI revolution. “There is no way that trickle down will make the trick,” she tells GZERO Media’s Tony Maciulis. “We have to think about inclusion by design."

- YouTube

In this Global Stage panel recorded live in Abu Dhabi, Becky Anderson (CNN) leads a candid discussion on how to close that gap with Brad Smith (Vice Chair & President, Microsoft), Peng Xiao (CEO, G42), Ian Bremmer (President & Founder, Eurasia Group and GZERO Media), and Baroness Joanna Shields (Executive Chair, Responsible AI Future Foundation).

A Palestinian Hamas militant keeps guard as Red Cross personnel head towards an area within the so-called “yellow line” to which Israeli troops withdrew under the ceasefire, as Hamas says it continues to search for the bodies of deceased hostages seized during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in Gaza City, on November 2, 2025.
REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas