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What to watch for today
The UN General Assembly begins in New York. The UN’s 71st session will include a special meeting on antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko is expected to meet with US president Barack Obama on the sidelines of the session. Russia’s Vladimir Putin will not attend.
Barack Obama campaigns for Hillary Clinton in Philadelphia. The president will appear without Clinton, however, as she’s taking a few days off to recover from pneumonia. She was forced to admit the diagnosis on Sunday, having told only her friends and family. After criticism, her campaign team has admitted they “could have done better” (paywall).
India imposes a curfew on Kashmir during Eid. For the first time since unrest broke out in 1990, India is imposing a curfew during the Muslim festival in an effort to quell violence in the disputed territory. Drones and helicopters will conduct air surveillance, and internet and cellphone service will be suspended.
While you were sleeping
German police arrested three suspected ISIL members. Security forces in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany, arrested three Syrian men between the ages of 17 and 26, who entered the country in November 2015. They are reported to be seeking asylum (link in German). Police have seized “extensive material” suggesting they were sent by the so-called Islamic State to launch attacks.
Ikea reported lively growth. The Swedish giant, which is preparing to launch in India and Serbia, reported a 7% rise in sales and revenue of $38.4 billion in the year ending August. China is Ikea’s fastest-growing market; Germany and the US are its largest ones.
Luxembourg’s foreign minister said Hungary should be expelled from the EU. Jean Asselborn said the country’s human rights violations and press restrictions were at odds with EU values. He accused Hungarian president Viktor Orbán of treating refugees “like wild animals.”
Brazil booted its former speaker out of Congress. Eduardo Cunha, who led the impeachment proceedings against Dilma Rousseff, was voted out of the lower house after he was discovered to have $5 million in secret Swiss bank accounts. Cunha was suspended from politics for eight years. He has threatened to bring others down with him.
The Syrian ceasefire got off to a shaky start. Shortly after the ceasefire began in the war-torn country on Monday, reports emerged of a few attacks by government forces and rebel soldiers. If hostilities stop for seven days, the US and Russia have agreed to carry out coordinated strikes on militant groups.
A Chinese bank prepared to file the biggest IPO of the year. Postal Savings Bank of China is seeking to raise up to $8.1 billion, with cornerstone investors already committed to 76% of the shares on offer. The deal is expected to be priced on Sept. 20 and trading will start on Sept. 28 in Hong Kong.
Quartz obsession interlude
Nicole Smith Dahmen on Facebook’s dangerous censoring powers. “It is true that Facebook is a private company with a legal right to censor content. But as a global giant that claims in its mission statement ‘to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected,’ Facebook has an ethical responsibility to facilitate the free flow of information and ideas, especially news. Instead, Facebook is giving users a dangerously manipulated view of that world and contributing to the age of truthiness.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The internet is changing fiction. The return of omniscient narration (paywall) reflects our sense that technology has given us an all-seeing eye.
Cat cafes are not good for cats. ”They need a stable environment—more so than dogs.”
Wearable drones could help stop rape in India. An eye in the sky might be able to reduce sexual assault.
Surprising discoveries
Paralympic runners in Rio ran faster than their Olympic counterparts. In the 1500-meter race for the visually impaired, the four best runners beat the time set by the Olympic gold medalist.
The five-second rule doesn’t work. Bacteria can contaminate food that falls on the floor instantaneously.
Oslo’s newest town councilor is a black metal legend. Fenriz, real name Gylve Fenris Nagell, shared photos of himself with his cat and asked people not to vote for him.
The world’s oldest winery is in a cave in Armenia. The 6,100-year-old cave, currently under excavation, was discovered in 2007.
Roald Dahl’s made-up words are now real ones. “Scrumdiddlyumptious” and “Oompa Loompa” are among the six Dahl-isms added to the dictionary to mark the centenary of the author’s birth.
The Bank of England issued new polymer £5 notes. The smaller, more durable plastic money the image of Winston Churchill, should last two-and-a-half times longer.
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