What to watch for today and over the weekend
European leaders confer on Ukraine. Germany’s Angela Merkel, France’s François Hollande, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko meet in Paris to discuss the possibility of peace. A ceasefire has been mostly obeyed since Sept. 1, but the road ahead looks bumpy.
G20 energy ministers meet in Istanbul. A day after discussing energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa, officials will discuss ways to balance investment and infrastructure with severe weather risks.
Hurricane Joaquin approaches the US. The storm has been labeled a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (210 kph) as it crosses the eastern Bahamas. The eastern United States is preparing for a weekend of heavy rains, high wind, and flooding, though it is still unclear whether Joaquin will make landfall.
The US reports on jobs. Job creation took a dive in August, but analysts expect 200,000 jobs to have been created in September. The unemployment rate is likely to stay put at 5.1%.
Argentina faces a $6 billion bond payment on Saturday. The South American country is obligated to make the dollar-denominated payment, which is roughly equivalent to one-fifth of its central bank’s total foreign reserves. But Reuters reports that the country is keeping its options open, including the possibility of a last-minute debt swap.
While you were sleeping
T-Mobile US customers were exposed in a hack. Up to 15 million customers of the mobile network have had their personal information stolen by a breach of security at Experian, a credit checking agency. Hackers took customer names, addresses, and identification numbers like social security and passport numbers.
The US clamped down on smog. The Environmental Protection Agency set a new ground-level ozone limit of 70 parts per billion, from 75 parts before. The new rule is expected to cost businesses $3.9 billion, but health groups criticized the agency for not doing enough; it was considering a drop to 65 parts per billion.
Amazon declared war on Apple and Google. The e-commerce giant banned the sale of rival video-streaming devices like Apple TV and Google Chromecast, which don’t work with Amazon’s own streaming video service. Amazon said the move was made “in order to avoid customer confusion.”
Japanese consumer spending rose. Households spent 2.9% more in August than they did a year earlier, far exceeding expectations of a 0.4% gain. That’s only the second time the figure hit a positive number this year; meanwhile, the unemployment rate hovered around a two-decade low.
A shooter at a US college killed 10 people. The mass shooting at the Umpqua Community College campus in Roseburg, Oregon also left more than 20 people injured. A male suspect was reportedly killed in a shootout with police. The incident was the 294th US mass shooting this year.
Quartz obsession interlude
Madhura Karnik and Manu Balachandran on how India got hammered by Brazil’s collapsing economy. “Back in 2009, when Shree Renuka Sugars made the first of its two major Brazilian acquisitions, it marked the coming of age of a company formed just a decade before. It was also the first global purchase by an Indian sugar company. Now, it is all falling apart.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Massive drug price hikes are totally normal. That’s why the prospect of US price controls has the industry running scared.
You don’t need your phone’s home screen. Notifications, widgets, and search are now the best way to navigate.
Xi Jinping’s visit to the US was a failure. Not only was the Chinese president overshadowed by the pope, but the trip was almost completely inconsequential.
South Africans shouldn’t need to learn Zulu. Efforts to make the language compulsory in universities are a waste of time.
Good riddance to humans driving cars. Vehicles with people behind the wheel are planet-and-people-killing death machines.
Surprising discoveries
Your devices are all lying to you. After Volkswagen’s scandal, energy-efficient TVs are now under suspicion.
Residents of ancient Pompeii were in excellent health. “For sure, they ate better than we did,” said orthodontist Elisa Vanacore.
Twitter has a 136-page handbook for politicians. It is lacking in advice about the wisdom of nude selfies.
Extreme commuting is becoming more common. For some executives, transatlantic flights are just another trip to the office.
Beard transplants are the next big thing in cosmetic surgery. They can help baby-faced men who want to look a little more grizzled.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, duplicitous gadgets, and extreme commutes to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.