McDonald’s is investing $100 million to bring customers back to stores after an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning tied to onions on the fast-food giant’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers.

The investments include $65 million that will go directly to the hardest-hit franchises, the company said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that slivered onions on the Quarter Pounders were the likely source of the E. coli. Taylor Farms in California recalled onions potentially linked to the outbreak.

Colorado reported at least 30 cases; Montana reported 19; Nebraska, 13; and New Mexico, 10. The illnesses were reported between Sept. 12 and Oct. 21. At least 104 people got sick and 34 were hospitalized, according to federal health officials. One person died in Colorado and four people developed a potentially life-threatening kidney disease complication.

The Food and Drug Administration has said that “there does not appear to be a continued food safety concern related to this outbreak at McDonald’s restaurants.”

But the outbreak hurt the company’s sales.

Quarter Pounders were removed from menus in several states in the early days of the outbreak. McDonald’s identified an alternate supplier for the 900 restaurants that temporarily stopped serving the burgers with onions.

Over the past week, McDonald’s resumed selling Quarter Pounders with slivered onions nationwide.

Health officials report 1st case of new mpox

Health officials said Saturday they have confirmed the first U.S. case of a new form of mpox that was first seen in eastern Congo.

The person had traveled to eastern Africa and was treated in Northern California upon return, according to the California Department of Public Health. Symptoms are improving and the risk to the public is low.

The individual was isolating at home and health workers are reaching out to close contacts as a precaution, the state health department said.

Mpox is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that’s in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals. Milder symptoms can include fever, chills and body aches. In more serious cases, people can develop lesions on the face, hands, chest and genitals.

Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of mpox in Africa that was spread through close contact including through sex. It was widely transmitted in eastern and central Africa. But in cases that were identified in travelers outside of the continent, spread has been very limited, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bullet strikes Southwest plane at Dallas airport

A bullet struck the body of a Southwest Airlines airplane preparing for departure from a Dallas airport, forcing the cancellation of the Friday evening flight, the airline said.

No injuries were reported and law enforcement was contacted after the bullet struck the right side of the aircraft just under the flight deck. At the time, the crew of Flight 2494 was preparing the plane for departure from Dallas Love Field Airport, Southwest said in a statement.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft was “struck by gunfire near the cockpit” around 8:30 p.m. while taxiing before the flight to Indianapolis International Airport. The plane returned to the gate and the passengers exited, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

Tropical Storm Sara drenches Honduras

Tropical Storm Sara started moving slightly faster Saturday after it stalled over Honduras, drenching the northern coast of the Central American nation, swelling rivers and trapping some people at home.

Sustained rain fell overnight and continued Saturday in the city of San Pedro Sula, where the storm cut off access to an entire community when a river crossing washed away. Through the weekend, the region could see life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.

The weather system made landfall late Thursday about 105 miles west-northwest of Cabo Gracias a Dios, on the Honduras-Nicaragua border. The Hurricane Center expected the storm to keep moving Saturday and into Sunday at a “somewhat faster motion west-northwestward” into the Gulf of Honduras before making landfall in Belize.

Sara is then expected to turn northwesterly toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

Boeing issues layoff notices to 400 workers

Boeing has delivered layoff notices to more than 400 members of its professional aerospace labor union, part of thousands of cuts planned as the company struggles to recover from financial and regulatory trouble as well as an eight-week strike by its Machinists union.

The pink slips went out last week to members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or SPEEA, the Seattle Times reported. The workers will remain on the payroll through mid-January.

Boeing announced in October that it planned to cut 10% of its workforce, about 17,000 jobs, in the coming months. CEO Kelly Ortberg told employees the company must “reset its workforce levels to align with our financial reality.”

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or SPEEA, union said the cuts had affected 438 members. The union’s local chapter has 17,000 Boeing employees who are largely based in Washington, with some in Oregon, California and Utah.

Venezuela releases some of detainees

Venezuela’s government on Saturday released some of the thousands of people who were detained during and after deadly protests that followed the July presidential election. The disputed results have earned officials, including President Nicolás Maduro, international scorn.

The individuals left prison a day after the attorney general, who is loyal to the ruling party, announced the review of 225 cases linked to the aftermath of the election, which Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo González both claim to have won. Tearful reunions took place outside prisons in various cities.

The Venezuelan-based nongovernmental organizations Penal Forum and Venezuelan Prison Observatory announced the prison releases on X. The former confirmed the release of at least 70 people, while the latter said the government freed the individuals under certain conditions, which it did not explain further.

‘Diddy’ is trying to obstruct justice in jail

Sean “Diddy” Combs has tried to reach out to prospective witnesses and influence public opinion from jail in a bid to affect potential jurors for his upcoming sex trafficking trial, prosecutors claimed in a court filing urging a judge to reject his latest bail request.

The government accusations were made in a Manhattan federal court filing late Friday that opposes the music mogul’s latest $50 million bail proposal. A bail hearing is scheduled for next week.

Prosecutors wrote that a review of recorded jail calls made by Combs shows he has asked family members to reach out to potential victims and witnesses and has urged them to create “narratives” to influence the jury pool. They say he also has encouraged marketing strategies to sway public opinion.

— From news services