Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The Fed gives a major policy statement. The US central bank is expected to announce plans to start offloading its $4.5 trillion debt portfolio, accumulated in the wake of the financial crisis. The Bank of Japan will also kick off a two-day monetary policy meeting.
World leaders discuss Iran’s nuclear accord. Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the US will revisit the disarmament deal (paywall) negotiated with Tehran in 2015. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has said the US will pay a “high cost” if US president Donald Trump follows through with his threats to scrap the pact.
Hurricane Maria heads for Puerto Rico. The category 5 storm, which lashed the US Virgin Islands, is set to hit Puerto Rico midday Wednesday local time with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph. “You have to evacuate, otherwise, you are going to die,” the island’s commissioner of public safety said. Maria earlier caused “mind boggling” damage to Dominica.
While you were sleeping
Another powerful earthquake hit Mexico. The 7.1 quake, whose epicenter was only 100 miles south of Mexico City, killed at least 149 people—including 21 children in a collapsed school—and caused serious structural damage in and around the capital. The quake hit just hours after people practiced evacuation drills to mark the anniversary of an earthquake that destroyed Mexico City in 1985.
Australia confirmed that refugees on Manus and Nauru will be resettled in the US. Canberra said that a group of about 50 refugees will be the first to be accepted by the US under a deal struck with the Obama administration, which said the US would take up to 1,250 people from Australia. There are almost 2,000 refugees being held in poorly run offshore “processing centers” on the Pacific islands.
Toshiba picked a buyer for its memory chip unit. The Japanese company’s board chose a consortium led by US private-equity firm Bain Capital to buy the unit, Reuters reported. Toshiba is expected to make an official announcement on the sale later today.
A third suspect was arrested in connection with the Parsons Green subway attack in London. A 25-year-old man was arrested in Newport, Wales, and a home is being searched there according to police. Following last week’s attack, a 21-year-old man was arrested in west London as well as an 18-year-old in Dover.
Quartz obsession interlude
Annalisa Merelli on Trump’s rating of countries. “Trump’s first address at the UN general assembly was a 41-minute-long declaration of US power and military prowess, a celebration of sovereignty over international collaboration, and a threatening condemnation of America’s enemies… Trump took the opportunity to share his view of an international community broadly divided into very bad, bad, sad, and good countries. (Plus one that is the greatest of them all.)” Read more here.
Markets haiku
No fear to be found / Quietest market in years / What could go wrong now?
Matters of debate
We have the wrong ideas about political violence. Non-violent political resistance is not as tactically successful as history books suggest.
Team-building exercises create toxic companies. They create in-groups and out-groups that can lead to an exclusive workplace culture.
US teens are delaying sex and booze. For adolescents, 18 is the new 15 due to smaller families and more parental attention.
Surprising discoveries
Beyoncé fans got a punk-rock surprise on the vinyl version of Lemonade. A printing error resulted in one side being filled with songs from the Canadian punk band Zex.
China’s police force shut down a sex-doll rental service. The dolls on offer were marketed as Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Wonder Woman.
Morgan Freeman says the US is “at war” with Russia. The actor with the “voice of god” has been enlisted by the newly formed Committee to Investigate Russia to promote its message.
Some dinosaurs laid blue eggs. Most birds, lizards, and mammals have all-white eggs; colored eggs suggest the dino nests were exposed.
Indian feminists organize monthly Wikipedia Edit-a-Thons. The activity is meant to address the gender imbalance in Wikipedia editing, which is particularly stark in India—only 3% of the site’s editors in the country are women.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, Edit-a-Thon invitations, and Beyoncé-Zex mash-ups to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android.