Flagship

US Fed makes aggressive rate cut

The US Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by half a percentage point Wednesday, in its first cut since 2020. The aggressive cut signaled that the central bank, having largely won the battle against inflation, wanted to act boldly to keep the labor market from slowing too much following weaker-than-expected August jobs data: The Fed typically wields “a sledgehammer, not a scalpel,” CNN wrote. A majority of Fed officials penciled in a further one or two cuts by the end of the year. The central bank’s move also sounds “the all-clear” to banks in India and South Korea, which did not want to lower rates before the Fed over worries it would weaken their national currencies, The Wall Street Journal wrote.

More device explosions in Lebanon

Hezbollah members’ walkie-talkies exploded across Lebanon in another deadly attack Wednesday, a day after thousands of pagers detonated at the same time. Israel is believed to have targeted Hezbollah in the attacks, which have killed at least 26 people and injured thousands, putting the two sides on the “brink of all-out war,” Haaretz wrote. Without commenting on the explosions, Israel’s defense minister acknowledged a “new phase in the war,” with the country’s military efforts moving to the north. But while Israel’s technical prowess may have humiliated Hezbollah, so far, the attacks haven’t “altered the military balance along the Israeli-Lebanese border,” The New York Times wrote, and have frustrated the US by threatening to derail Gaza ceasefire negotiations.

UN backs Israeli withdrawal from Gaza

The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution Wednesday demanding Israel withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank within a year, reflecting growing international pressure for a ceasefire. The US — which is exploring a range of ideas to push Israel and Hamas toward an agreement, including allowing the militant group’s leader to safely escape Gaza — opposed the measure, but its passage signals Washington’s “weakening clout” at the UN, The Economist wrote. Saudi Arabia also dealt a blow to American diplomatic efforts after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Wednesday he would not recognize Israel without a Palestinian state, further delaying US-based plans for the normalization of Saudi-Israel relations.

US union refuses to endorse Trump, Harris

One of the most powerful unions in the US refused to endorse a presidential candidate Wednesday for the first time since 1996. The 1.3 million member-strong International Brotherhood of Teamsters said that neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump made “serious commitments” to ensuring its interests. An internal poll released ahead of the decision showed 60% of Teamsters members favored Trump over Harris, a sign of eroding Democratic support among blue-collar Americans — many of whom live in critical swing states like Pennsylvania. The union’s decision to stay neutral is a “blow” to Harris, The New York Times wrote, considering the group backed President Joe Biden in 2020, and other major unions have already endorsed her.

Amazon names a new India head

Amazon chose Samir Kumar, a 25-year company veteran, to head its India operations as the e-commerce giant rapidly expands in the country. Amazon plans to invest $26 billion in India by 2030, but it is facing intense regulatory scrutiny: The country’s antitrust body last week accused the company of hurting competitors by preferring select sellers and significantly discounting products, Reuters reported. Amazon’s India marketplace division is actually losing money after slashing prices, reporting nearly $580 million in net losses in 2023, prompting government criticism over its “predatory pricing.” But that is driving massive sales, reflecting Amazon’s strategy “to capture market share, even if it means taking a financial hit in the short term,” wrote Finshots, an Indian financial news site.

China is buying fewer mooncakes

Declining sales of mooncakes — the traditional pastry eaten during China’s Mid-Autumn Festival that fell on Tuesday — reflect the country’s ongoing struggles with weak consumer demand. Sales revenue so far in 2024 has fallen 9% year-on-year, according to data from a baker trade group, marking the second year the “mooncake market has gone cold” even as average prices for the pastry have fallen, the South China Morning Post wrote. Mooncakes are considered a symbol of luxury in China, and consumers — particularly young people — have become “more pragmatic” in their spending habits amid lackluster economic prospects, a marketing executive told Singapore’s CNA. “If I brought home another [mooncake] box, would my family really need it?” one shopper said.

Amazon rivers see severe drought

Rivers in the vulnerable Amazon basin are at historic lows following the worst drought on record, killing wildlife and threatening communities. Two years of high temperatures and low rainfall have led to plummeting water levels in a main tributary of the Amazon River in Brazil, Reuters reported, and have dried up a lake that is home to the endangered freshwater dolphin. The drought threatens the rich biodiversity of the rainforest region, which is critical to the planet’s water and carbon cycles, as well as its 30 million inhabitants. “Climate change is no longer something to worry about in the future, 10 or 20 years from now. It’s here and it’s here with much more force than we expected,” Greenpeace said.

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Men still favored for top C-suite roles

The share of women in top US jobs has increased, but they still lag behind men in early promotions, slowing their progress to positions of power, new analysis suggested. A major 10-year study found that while the number of C-suite roles held by women went up more than two-thirds in a decade, change was far slower in entry-level management roles. The Wall Street Journal reported that most executive-level promotions for women put them in “positions, like human resources and marketing, that don’t lead to the CEO job.” The percentage of employers naming gender diversity as a high priority fell from 87% in 2019 to 78% this year, suggesting that progress may be hard to maintain.

Titanic builder is insolvent

The shipyard that built the Titanic announced its insolvency. In its heyday, the 160-year-old firm Harland & Wolff built the White Star Line trio of the Olympic, Britannic, and Titanic ships, as well as several Royal Navy aircraft carriers and battleships during the wars. Before World War I, British yards accounted for 60% of the world’s shipping construction. But competition, especially from China, has hit it hard, and Harland & Wolff has run at a loss for years, despite largely pivoting to building offshore wind farms: It went bankrupt in 2019 before being bought out. It will be placed under the control of an administrator, who may sell off its assets, including its four shipyards across the UK.

Earth’s possible Saturn-like ring

Earth may once have had rings like Saturn’s. Scientists identified a group of large 466 million-year-old craters created by falling meteorites, which at that time would have been close to the equator, where planetary rings usually form. The researchers said that this many impacts in such a short period would be very unlikely unless they were part of a ring, which they think formed when an eight-mile-wide asteroid passed close enough to the Earth to be pulled apart by its gravity. Another researcher told New Scientist that the idea could explain some observations, but needed more data to be confirmed. The rings may have been in place for millions of years and created a shadow which cooled the Earth enough to cause an ice age.

September 19:

• A UN committee presents findings on Israel’s treatment of children in the war with Hamas.
• US President Joe Biden delivers remarks at Washington DC’s Economic Club.
• Will Ferrell premiers his road trip documentary Will & Harper.

A classically trained artist’s oil paintings of junk food have gone viral, with a moody portrait of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich fetching almost $5,000 in a recent online auction. As a student of fine arts, Noah Verrier was introduced to still lifes of flowers and fruit baskets by French painters such as Édouard Manet, but found himself drawn to more modern culinary inventions, The New York Times wrote. He now deploys Impressionist techniques to depict chicken nuggets, cheesesteaks, and a TikTok favorite, the purple McDonald’s Grimace Shake. “I always try to eat something before I paint it, just to have that connection with it,” Verrier told The Times.

• Trump’s growing tax cut promises will give GOP a huge headache.
• Political infighting is holding back Ukraine’s energy reconstruction.
• Senators in both parties open to treaty vote on US-Saudi defense pact.