America in Brief

A Maryland Transportation Authority patrol boat makes a pass in the waters of the Patapco river near where crews were getting ready to conduct a controlled demolition of a section of the Francis Scott Key Bridge resting on the Dali container ship in Baltimore on May 13, 2024. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

$102 Million Settlement Reached in Baltimore Bridge Disaster

The U.S. government has reached a $102 million settlement with the companies behind the cargo ship that struck Baltimore’s Key Bridge in March, killing six people, in what prosecutors described as “one of the worst transportation disasters in recent memory.”

During the early hours of March 6, the Singaporean cargo ship Motor Vessel DALI was leaving ​​the Port of Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka, when it lost power striking Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse into the river.

The $102 million settlement with the ship’s owner Grace Ocean Private Limited and the operator Synergy Marine Private Limited is intended to compensate the U.S. government for its clean up efforts to ensure the waterway was back in operation by June.

The Port of Baltimore is one of America’s busiest waterways.

Number of US Voters Passes 30 Million

With less than two weeks to go before the U.S. election, the number of early voters casting their ballots has surpassed the 30 million mark, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab website.

The total number of early votes is 31,402,309 as of early Oct. 25. In person voting has reached 13,687,197 and so far, 64,140,742 mail-in ballots have been requested.

Recent polls suggest a neck-and-neck tie between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, with Trump leading some polls in battleground states and Harris leading in others.

Battleground states, also known as swing states, are states that aren’t historically tied to any political party and can swing either Democrat or Republican with each election.

The battleground states often include Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, and Florida.

McDonald’s Under Scrutiny Over E. Coli Outbreak

American fast food giant McDonald’s is being investigated by government regulators over an E. coli outbreak linked to its Quarter Pounder hamburgers which left at least one person dead and sickened 50 others across 10 states.

The chain has temporarily removed its Quarter Pounder and slivered onions from the menu in Colorado, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming as well as portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

The main area of sickness has been in Colorado with 26 cases, with one Colorado man filling a lawsuit on Oct. 23.

The source of contamination is thought to have come from one of their onion suppliers.

A McDonald's restaurant in Middletown, Delaware, on July 26, 2019. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Campaign Accuses Labour Party of ‘Election Interference’

Former President Donald Trump’s election campaign has accused the Labour Party of engaging in foreign election interference following reports of Labour Party members helping to campaign for Trump’s rival Vice President Kamala Harris in her election bid.

In a formal complaint to the United States election regulatory committee, the Federal Election Commission, the Trump campaign asked for them to investigate “illegal foreign national contributions” made by the Labour Party to the Harris for President campaign.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Mullet Arena in Tempe, Ariz., on Oct. 24, 2024. Rebecca Noble/AFP via Getty Images

With the U.S. elections being a global spectacle, volunteers from other countries helping in campaigning is not new. However, financial contributions are illegal, according to U.S. law.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that members of the Labour Party in the United States were just volunteers.

“They’re doing it in their spare time, they’re doing it as volunteers, they’re staying I think with other volunteers over there,” he said.