Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Donald Trump, Moon Jae-in, and Shinzo Abe meet. The US, South Korean, and Japanese leaders will convene on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly to discuss North Korea’s nuclear program (paywall). The trilateral meeting comes on the heels of Trump’s bombastic remarks yesterday; Abe has adopted a similar tone, while Moon has ruled out military action.
The Bank of Japan makes its policy decision. Japan’s central bank is to expected leave policy unchanged, as inflation remains below its 2% target even as the economy shows continuing signs of growth. Japan’s economy has expanded for six consecutive quarters, the longest streak since 2006.
The South African Reserve Bank could cut rates again. Analysts expect South Africa’s central bank to slash interest rates for the second time this year to stimulate the economy, which, in addition to just exiting a recession in the second-quarter, is suffering from plummeting foreign investment and political turmoil.
While you were sleeping
Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. The entire Caribbean island lost power after the category 4 storm made landfall with sustained winds of 155 mph (250 kph). It is the strongest hurricane to hit the US territory since 1928. Maria is now tracking towards the Turks & Caicos and the Bahamas.
HTC and Google struck a deal. The Alphabet unit said that it would pay $1.1 billion to acquire the people who worked on HTC’s flagship Pixel smartphone and enter a non-exclusive licensing agreement for HTC’s intellectual property. The agreement allows the Taiwanese company, whose smartphone sales have long fallen by the wayside, to focus on its VR business, while acquiring hardware can help Google push its software offerings.
The US and Iran held tense talks at the UN. US secretary of state Rex Tillerson and Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif met with member nations of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The EU said it is committed to upholding the deal, but Tillerson said that Iran still poses a “serious threat” to the region, and that Trump hasn’t shared his decision on the Iran deal yet with anyone.
Nicaragua agreed to join the Paris climate agreement. With the decision, the US and Syria are the only countries left in the world that haven’t signed up to the pact. Nicaragua president Daniel Ortega rejected the deal before because he didn’t think that it went far enough.
Quartz obsession interlude
Lila MacLellan on the science behind the 15 common smart drugs. “Not all drug users are searching for a chemical escape hatch. A newer and increasingly normalized drug culture is all about heightening one’s current relationship to reality—whether at work or school—by boosting the brain’s ability to think under stress, stay alert and productive for long hours, and keep track of large amounts of information.” Read more here.
Markets haiku
One mundane sentence / Spells the end of an era / Buh-bye bond stockpile
Matters of debate
India lacks the guts to face its economic crisis. The government has a history of denying the numbers until it’s too late.
Toymakers will ensure that Toys ‘R’ Us survives. Mattel and Hasbro desperately need the company and its 1,600 stores as a counterweight to Amazon.
Companies should get involved in politics. “People should have values,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook, and “companies are nothing more than a collection of people.”
Surprising discoveries
A baggage handler in Singapore swapped hundreds of baggage tags. Tay Boon Keh has been charged with 286 counts of mischief for the infuriating prank.
North Korea owes New York City $156,000 in parking tickets. The country’s diplomatic mission to the United Nations has been racking up those fines since 1990s, but a North Korean diplomat denied it.
The most popular boys’ name in England is Muhammad. If you include various spelling variants, it far surpasses the country’s 6,623 Olivers.
Bill Gates regrets Ctrl+Alt+Delete. The Microsoft founder wishes it took just one button to reboot a Windows PC.
You can buy furniture made of fungus. The designers grow chairs and lamps by blending wood chips with mycelium.
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