What to watch for today and over the weekend
Ukraine gets discussed in Paris. Germany’s Angela Merkel, France’s François Hollande, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko meet 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 $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
India announced a renewable energy pledge. At least 40% of the country’s energy will be generated by renewable sources by 2030, while its emissions intensity—the amount of CO2 emissions per unit of GDP—will fall by 35%, environment minister Prakash Javadekar said. India, the world’s third-largest polluter, is the last major economy to submit a climate-change plan to the UN before a summit in December.
Barack Obama called, again, for tighter gun laws. The US president complained that society had become “numb” to mass shootings such as the one that left nine people and the shooter dead in Oregon yesterday. Obama also vented his frustration at a government that would not back stricter gun rules. “Somehow this has become routine,” he said.
Millions of 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.
Seven nations demanded an end to Russian airstrikes in Syria. The US, UK, France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey condemned the aerial bombardment for not targeting ISIL fighters and for causing civilian casualties. A statement published in Ankara claimed that such measures would ”only fuel more extremism and radicalization.”
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.
Air France threatened ”significant” job cuts. Alexandre de Juniac, head of the airline’s parent company, blamed a failure to reach an agreement with trade unions for the need to eliminate jobs. The company would announce the final figure on Monday, but de Juniac added that he was still willing to negotiate with union bosses in the meantime.
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.
Your phone’s homescreen is useless. 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.
Cheap and delicious eats make a city great. The way to kill a complex city is to chase out poor people and their food.
Good riddance to humans driving cars. Vehicles with people behind the wheel are planet- and people-killing death machines.
Surprising discoveries
A Dutch man has fathered more than 100 babies. He offers women artificial—and sometimes natural—insemination services.
Residents of ancient Pompeii were in excellent health. “For sure, they ate better than we did,” says 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.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, nude selfie advice, and extreme commutes to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.