Hard Numbers: The World's Rivers Are Full of Drugs

40,000: The US beer industry has lost some 40,000 jobs since 2016, according to an industry study. The main driver seems to be the Trump administration's aluminum tariffs, which have raised the price of beer cans, cutting into companies' profits.

525: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz lost his job in a no-confidence vote on Monday after just 525 days, the shortest tenure of any Austrian Chancellor in modern history. (German speakers may now gleefully note that "kurz" means "short"). But after his party did well in the EU parliament elections, he'll likely return to power after a fresh ballot this fall. #DerKommBackKid

65: Traces of antibiotic drugs were discovered in 65% of rivers surveyed across 72 countries, in a recent study. That's a big problem: when antibiotics pollute waterways, bacteria that is harmful to humans has a better chance of encountering them and developing resistance. The UN says that as many as 10 million people globally could be killed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria by 2050.

5.7: Chinese tourism to the US dropped 5.7% in 2018 from the year prior, marking the first time that figure has declined year-on-year since 2003. That's real money lost—in 2017 Chinese tourists spent $18.8 billion dollars while visiting the US. No word yet on any possible government bailouts for the US tourism industry, though.

More from GZERO Media

Annie Gugliotta

If you were hankering for an extended lecture on the Varangian Guard, the Rurikid dynasty, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or other aspects of medieval and early Russian history, you were on cloud nine for the first 30 entire minutes of Tucker Carlson’s highly anticipated two-hour interview with Vladimir Putin Thursday night.

Annie Gugliotta

From time to time in this column, I want to take a look around the world closer at hand, spotting the big political stories in the small objects around us. Today we’re gonna do three quickies: a sofa, a tomato, and a shoe. Let's go

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted this picture with commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny in announcing his replacement on Thursday Feb 8, 2024.
REUTERS

After a week of confusion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pulled the trigger. He announced Thursday that he had fired Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, 10 days earlier.

Burqa-clad women arrive at a polling station to cast their vote as a police officer stands guard during general election, in Peshawar, Pakistan, February 8, 2024.
REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz

Pakistan went to the polls on Thursday in an election tainted by undemocratic practices – including a suspension of mobile phone services during voting – and violence.

A warning sign alerts visitors of the extreme heat dangers at Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 279 feet below sea level, in Death Valley National Park, California, U.S. August 17, 2020.
REUTERS/David Becker

1.5: The world experienced its first 12-month period (Feb. 2023 - Jan. 2024) in which average global temperatures were more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Activists hold up a banner following arguments in former U.S. President Donald Trump's appeal of a lower court's ruling disqualifying him from the Colorado presidential primary ballot, in Washington, U.S., February 8, 2024.
REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades

On Thursday, the Supreme Court considered a case that could determine whether Donald Trump can be barred from Colorado’s primary ballot – its most direct involvement in an election since Bush v. Gore.

U.S. media personality Tucker Carlson speaks about his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Reuters

It’s Super Bowl weekend, and while the tailgate conspiracy party over Taylor Swift’s presidential influence steams ever onward, the biggest political football continues to be support for Ukraine. Tonight, a newly confident Vladimir Putin is about to strike again tonight, when he sits down with his sycophant Tucker Carlson for a two-hour, pre-approved … what to call this? A PR stunt? An interview? A propaganda fest?