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Starting today, we are offering an afternoon complement to the Daily Brief called the Quartz Obsession. Five days a week, the interactive email will dive into a single topic, taking you into the most fascinating corners of the global economy.
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What to watch for today
Donald Trump heads to the UN General Assembly. The US president, known for his antipathy to the organization, will host an event ahead of the General Debate starting Tuesday, with discussions focusing on reforms to the United Nations including trimming flab. Later this week, US officials will make their case for tougher sanctions on North Korea.
Mark Carney speaks at the IMF. The governor of the Bank of England will deliver a lecture in Washington, in a big week for central-bank news which includes the start of the US Fed meeting on Tuesday and a policy statement from the Bank of Japan later in the week.
Hurricane season continues to nail the Caribbean. Maria was upgraded to hurricane status Sunday by the US National Hurricane Center. The storm’s path will likely collide with many western Caribbean islands previously devastated by Hurricane Irma, which could disrupt ongoing recovery efforts.
Over the weekend
Donald Trump did an about-face on the Paris Accord… or did he? A European Union official claimed on Saturday that Trump was considering not pulling out of the agreement (paywall). The White House denied changing its stance, as did national security adviser H.R. McMaster (paywall). Secretary of state Rex Tillerson, however, said that the US might stay “under the right conditions.”
Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale won big at the Emmys. The show, based on a Margaret Atwood novel, took home eight awards, including best drama series. The streaming service becomes the first to win the most prestigious prize in television, despite having a smaller budget than Netflix and Amazon. Big Little Lies and Saturday Night Live were also big winners—and former White House spokesman Sean Spicer made a controversial appearance.
Suspects were arrested in connection with the London Tube bombing. The UK lowered its terror threat level from “critical” to “severe” following the arrests of an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old on Saturday. A home in Surrey connected to the 21-year-old was searched, and ISIL has claimed responsibility for the attack that injured 30.
A stampede near a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh killed three people. A woman and two children died as displaced migrants scrambled for supplies dropped off by relief trucks. The crisis in neighboring Myanmar, whose army has been accused of waging a brutal campaign against the minority Rohingya Muslims, has sent an estimated 409,000 refugees across the border.
Two Equifax executives step down. Both chief information officer David Webb and chief security officer Susan Mauldin are leaving following a massive security breach that compromised the sensitive data of 143 million people—but CEO Richard Smith remains in his post despite calls for him to step down.
Quartz obsession interlude
Max de Haldevang on how Nikki Haley defied Trump and won the UN’s heart. “Eight months into the job, however, and the skepticism has largely turned into praise for someone who, albeit starting from an exceptionally low bar, has proven herself a canny political operator while most of Trump’s cabinet flails… Indeed, watching Haley’s press conference at the White House on Sept. 15, previewing the General Assembly alongside national security advisor H.R. McMaster, it was hard not to feel she was making her unofficial debut as secretary of state.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Trump needs to face the music at the UN. He loves bashing the body as inefficient and anti-American, but the North Korea crisis is forcing him to take the UN seriously.
Experiencing natural disasters doesn’t really change your opinion on climate change. Political beliefs and party affiliation are still more important in influencing attitudes toward climate policies.
Equifax and the whole credit bureau industry in the US behave just like pirates. With few checks and balances in the political system, the bad guys will go on plundering and holding everyone hostage.
Surprising discoveries
“Octlantis” is a just-discovered underwater city engineered by octopuses. Researchers spotted 15 octopuses off Australia’s east coast congregating, communicating, dwelling together, and even evicting each other from dens.
A location scout for Narcos was shot dead in Mexico. The body of Carlos Muñoz Portal was found with (paywall) multiple gunshot wounds near Mexico City.
Two British science museums held a two-day fight on Twitter. The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum threw down over who had better exhibits.
HBO should be insecure about its Emmy crown. Netflix is on track to surpass the network in total nominations over the next several years.
Cash is clogging up toilets in Geneva. Four separate incidents of shredded 500-euro notes jamming up toilets have been reported in the Swiss city.
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