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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 for the organization, will host an event ahead of the General Debate starting Tuesday, with discussions focusing on reforms to the United Nations. Later this week, US officials will make their case for tougher sanctions on North Korea.
Mark Carney speaks at the IMF. The Bank of England governor will deliver a lecture in Washington, in a big week for central bank news. It includes the start of the US Fed meeting on Tuesday and a policy statement from the Bank of Japan later in the week.
The EU competition chief visits the US. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who recently hit Google with a record €2.4 billion ($2.8 billion) fine, can expect a warm welcome, as the US lawmakers turn against dominant tech titans—Donald Trump recently accused Amazon of being a “monopoly.”
Hurricanes continue to hammer the Caribbean. Maria was upgraded to hurricane status Sunday by the US National Hurricane Center. The storm will likely hit many western Caribbean islands previously devastated by Hurricane Irma, which could disrupt ongoing recovery efforts.
Over the weekend
Donald Trump did a U-turn 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 is 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.
Rolling Stone was put up for sale. The New York Times reported Sunday that the iconic 50-year-old music magazine was being put on the market by its owner, Wenner Media. The decline in print advertising has hit the magazine hard in recent years, causing Wenner to sell off a 48% stake to Singapore’s BandLab Technologies last year.
Portugal is no longer junk. After S&P restored the country’s investment grade on Friday, Portugal’s 10-year bond rallied in Monday morning trading (paywall), driving the yield down to its lowest level since August 2016. It’s still on the speculative-grade rating at Moody’s and Fitch.
Two 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. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack that injured 30.
A stampede at a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh killed three. A woman and two children died as displaced migrants scrambled for supplies dropped off by relief trucks. The Myanmar military has been accused of waging a brutal campaign against the minority Rohingya Muslims, forcing an estimated 409,000 refugees to flee across the border.
Equifax executives stepped down. 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 Americans. 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
Natural disasters doesn’t change people’s opinion on global warming. Political beliefs are still more important in influencing attitudes toward climate policies.
HBO should worry about its Emmy crown. Netflix is on track to surpass the network in total nominations over the next several years.
Equifax and the whole US credit-bureau industry behave 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 living together, communicating, 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 multiple gunshot wounds near Mexico City.
Two British science museums had a Twitter fight. The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum battled over who had better exhibits.
Salmon have a lousy problem. Parasitic sea lice are killing the fish, and have cost the global aquaculture industry about $1 billion last year.
Cash is clogging up toilets in Geneva. Four incidents of shredded 500-euro notes jamming up toilets have been reported in the Swiss city.
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