What to watch for today
Washington gets serious. The US government has three days until it risks running out of cash, and US lawmakers are scrambling to come up with a deal to extend the country’s borrowing limit. IMF head Christine Lagarde and the heads of three of the world’s most powerful banks warned that the fate of the global economy hangs in the balance.
Life gets pricier for the Chinese. China’s consumer inflation—a big contributor to overall inflation—is estimated to have risen by 3% in September, amid other rickety signals about the economy’s health.
Mother nature beats up Asia. Typhoon Wipha is headed to the Philippines, followed by Japan. Typhoon Nari is expected to hit Vietnam Monday after battering the Philippines. Here are radar images of Wipha, Nari and Cyclone Phailin, which landed in India Saturday.
The UK woos Chinese rainmakers. UK chancellor George Osborne will announce a plan to fast-track visas for Chinese businessmen in Beijing; they’ll be able to sail through the application process in 24 hours.
Market holidays. US bond markets close for Columbus Day. Egypt and a few other exchanges in the Middle East close for the beginning of the Eid religious holiday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange closes for the country’s national day celebrating sports and health.
While you were sleeping
India braved the worst of Cyclone Phailin. Government efforts to evacuate residents before Phailin, at one point the largest storm to ever form on the Indian Ocean, were far better than in the past. Phallin left 17 people dead, compared to a death toll of 10,000 after a cyclone in 1999.
The US stayed wedded to Afghanistan. Officials from the US and Afghanistan agreed on a preliminary deal that would leave some US troops in Afghanistan after 2014, the deadline for America’s withdrawal, but only if Afghanistan agrees that US soldiers not be subjected to Afghan law.
Iran refused to give up the goods. Iran rejected Western demands that the country ship sensitive nuclear material out of the country. Negotiations between the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, Germany and Iran over Iran’s nuclear program are set to start in Geneva on Tuesday.
The euro zone left the hot seat. Top German finance officials said the euro zone, no longer in a recession, is posing less of a risk to the global economy.
Quartz obsession interlude
Todd Woody on how the second biggest clean technology investor is an oil giant. ”The second-most active corporate dealmaker isn’t a “don’t be evil” Silicon Valley tech giant. Rather it’s a company from the Dr. No sector—oil multinational ConocoPhillips, according to a new report from research and advisory firm Cleantech Group. Between the third quarter of 2011 and the second quarter of 2013, ConocoPhillips invested in 18 deals, putting cash into startups such as Cool Planet, biofuels developer, and Skyonic, which has invented a technology to capture carbon dioxide from industrial emissions.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The G20 is losing focus. Leaders of the G20 once focused on hammering out deals on fiscal stimulus; now their agenda is confused and amorphous, ranging from climate change to food security.
Yellen isn’t the issue. The US Federal Reserve has bigger problems to confront than who’s running it; There’s waning confidence that its policy tools can fix the economy.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner is in trouble. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which just won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, is bogged down by budget and staff cuts that are jeopardizing one of the most successful nonproliferation agreements.
The US political system is the country’s latest bubble. If market participants believe that the US’s once capable system is now dysfunctional and unpredictable, a pivotal event like a default could move markets dramatically.
Surprising discoveries
If you cried in space, the tears would pool in your eyes like a blob. So says this astronaut’s fact-check of the sci-fi film Gravity.
Ninjas are au courant in Japanese fast food. Burger King is burger-ifying a national icon, the ninja, by using blackened buns and a long strip of bacon.
One giant brass puffer fish takes on China’s Communist Party. The city of Yangzhong in China’s Jiangsu Province built a 2,300-ton, 295-foot-long brass-encased sculpture of a puffer fish to lure visitors to a gardening expo that opened in September, bucking the austerity drive of Party leaders.
Soon you’ll be able to fly from New York to Scandinavia for less than $300. A Norwegian airline is betting on the growth of the long-haul, low-cost airline model; it’s buying several of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners, made with a carbon composite that makes them lighter weight.
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