Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Russia begins war games designed to rattle NATO. The Kremlin will mobilize troops in Russia and Belarus, near the borders of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, pitting “the Northern ones” against “the Western ones.” NATO says the war games will use more than 100,000 troops, in contravention of its agreements with Russia.
Donald Trump visits Florida. The US president and first lady will survey the damage caused by Hurricane Irma. The storm ravaged the Caribbean and southern Florida, leaving more than 60 dead.
The Bank of England announces an interest rate decision. The central bank is expected to hold rates steady, as recent data showed that wage growth remained sluggish even as unemployment improved. But higher-than-expected inflation could increase the number of dissenters who want an earlier rate hike.
While you were sleeping
North Korea threatened to obliterate the US and Japan. “Japan is no longer needed to exist near us,” North Korea’s state news agency said. It added that the country should be “sunken into the sea by the nuclear bomb of Juche,” referring to Pyongyang’s ideology of self-reliance. It also said the US should be“beaten to death like a rabid dog” and turned into “ashes and darkness.“
Democrats struck a deal with Trump to protect DREAMers. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi said after a dinner with the president that the two sides agreed to enshrine into law safeguards for some 800,000 young illegal immigrants who were protected by president Obama’s DACA program—which Trump recently ended. The agreement also includes more funding for border security, excluding the border wall.
Samsung bet on autonomous driving. The South Korean company said it has set up an automotive strategic business unit, and a $300 million fund to invest in automotive startups and technology. The move into autonomous driving comes after Samsung bought US audio and auto parts supplier Harman for $8 billion in March, and after it was awarded a license to test self-driving vehicles in California in August.
The world’s oldest giant panda in captivity died. Basi died at age 37 in a panda facility in the southeastern Chinese city of Fuzhou—the equivalent of more than 100 years old in human years. An official called Basi “an angel of friendship both at home and abroad,” as she inspired the mascot for the first Asian Games in 1990.
Quartz obsession interlude
Thu Huong-Ha on the trolls who flooded Amazon with bad reviews of Hillary Clinton’s book. “Books get reviewed badly, and people leave reviews for books they didn’t read or products they’ve never used. These things happen. But of the book’s 1,600 or so reviews as of this morning, only 338 were from users with verified purchases of the book… A person could conceivably buy a book in a store and then hate it so much she runs home to review it on Amazon, but that’s probably not what happened here.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Warren Buffett broke American capitalism. At its heart, “Buffettism” is about avoiding competition (paywall) and limiting capital investment in the real economy.
Amazon’s takeover of Whole Foods is a fascinating experiment in class identity. Cheaper prices may temporarily increase foot traffic at Whole Foods, but they aren’t going to send lower-income customers flocking there.
The tech titan backlash is coming. Frustrations over globalization, automation, and corporate consolidation will come to a head for companies like Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon.
Surprising discoveries
A British museum wants a piece of London’s massive fatberg. The Museum of London’s director said that displaying the sewer-clogging mass of oil, fat, diapers, and baby wipes “would raise questions about how we live today.”
Two variants of infinity are actually the same size. A breakthrough in mathematics settled a longstanding question about whether one infinity can be smaller than another.
Disgruntled clowns are protesting It. A group of clowns plan to rally in New York City as they claim the newly released movie, based on a Stephen King novel, led customers to cancel their clown bookings.
The US has more female bartenders than male ones. Since 1950, occupations like optician, HR professional, and bill collector have also shifted to majority-female from majority-male.
Dogs can sniff out child pornography. “Electronic-detection forensic K9” units are taught to smell small hidden electronics in suspected predators’ homes.
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