Flagship

Milton threatens Florida

Hurricane Milton reached Category 5 status in just 18 hours, the second-fastest storm to do so. The southeastern United States is already reeling from the impact of Hurricane Helene last week, which killed at least 230 people and left huge areas without power: Milton will “likely become historic for the damage, death, and destruction in its wake,” Ars Technica reported, especially since it will hit Tampa, which has not seen a major hurricane since 1921. An atmospheric scientist wrote in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that Helene “isn’t an outlier. It’s a harbinger of the future,” as warming seas boost storms’ energy and warm air allows them to carry more rain.

Brazil’s river rescue plan

Brazilian authorities plan to dredge parts of the Amazon River in response to water levels reaching a record low. They say a deeper river basin will allow trade — including vital food and medicine for remote communities — to keep flowing. But environmentalists argue the move will devastate the local ecosystem. “The decision to dredge meets a need for communities, for mankind,” an expert told The New York Times. “But, from an environmental point of view, it is very reckless.” Other countries may soon have to consider similarly radical responses to droughts: According to the World Meteorological Organization, climate change has pushed 50% of the world’s rivers below normal levels.

Year Two of Middle East’s conflict

As the Middle East conflict enters its second year, there are few signs of respite in the region’s multifront war. Israel is “preparing to be at war for years,” The Wall Street Journal reported, pointing to the country’s targeting of Houthi militants in Yemen and attacks on regional enemy Iran even as it carries out street battles in Gaza and bombards Lebanon. The US is no longer pushing for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, CNN said, and truce talks with Hamas in Gaza are at an impasse. Two former Israeli and Palestinian leaders set out a peace plan in the Financial Times, but acknowledged it was “outside of consensus,” and came during a period of “frightening darkness.”

The tight battle for Michigan

The key swing state of Michigan — which has historically favored Democrats — is finely balanced, less than a month before the US presidential election. A recent Detroit News poll put Vice President Kamala Harris 2.6 percentage points ahead of ex-President Donald Trump, the widest such lead this year. But she is vulnerable among Arab Americans, who are furious over the White House’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon, The New York Times reported: In some neighborhoods, support for her candidacy “has all but vanished.” The Times report comes after Semafor’s David Weigel last month noted the significance of a Muslim mayor in Michigan backing Donald Trump, “a f***-you endorsement for the Democrats.”

Google forced to open up Play store

A US judge ordered Google to open up its Android app store to rivals. Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, argued in a lawsuit that the Google Play store restricted competition by controlling the distribution of apps on Android devices. The court agreed, saying Google must also allow rival app stores to use Google-made apps to make up for damage caused. It’s one of several antitrust cases against Google: In August the company was found to have operated an illegal monopoly in online search, and last month a judge finished hearing similar allegations over Google’s domination of the advertising technology market. It’s not alone, with the European Union this year requiring Apple to open up its own App Store.

Chinese stimulus disappoints

Chinese authorities insisted the country would meet its economic growth targets, but disappointed traders by stopping short of introducing broader fiscal stimulus. Stocks had surged in recent weeks after officials outlined plans for major injections of cash to bolster the beleaguered economy, but banks and investors have more recently voiced skepticism that Beijing would back up its rhetoric with action. “Hopes were raised,” one currencies analyst told Reuters, “but the delivery was disappointing.” Still, there are signs that China’s economy — weighed down by a struggling property sector, huge debt, and high levels of youth unemployment — is gathering momentum: Casino spending, which the Financial Times said was among “the more trustable Chinese real-time economic indicators,” is up 30% year-on-year.

SAfrica seeks private investment

South Africa’s government signaled willingness to seek outside investment for its public utilities, with its deputy president saying privatization is not a “swear word.” Paul Mashatile told the Financial Times that the state “doesn’t have the money” to provide much-needed infrastructure improvements, so “we need the private sector.” The new coalition government is much more business-friendly than the long-dominant African National Congress, and investor sentiment has improved since its formation: After 15 years of economic stagnation, the rand has risen 12% against the dollar this year and the Johannesburg stock market is up 21%. The country’s inefficient state monopolies have held back its economy, the FT said, and moves to split them up could boost investment.

Myanmar democracy leader dies

A Myanmar pro-democracy leader who spent decades in prison died. Zaw Myint Maung, a close confidant of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, symbolized Myanmar’s roller-coaster fight for democracy: He was first arrested after taking part in 1988 anti-government protests, and was only freed when the country began a decade-long democratic experiment in 2011, at one point becoming chief minister of the Mandalay region. But a February 2021 coup sent him back to prison. He was recently released into a hospital and pardoned hours before he died — a move condemned as “not a gesture of genuine clemency.” His death comes with Myanmar’s junta rulers having suffered a humiliating set of defeats in a years-long civil war.

Hinton shares Physics Nobel

The Nobel Prize for Physics went to pioneers of artificial intelligence for breakthroughs in machine learning. The University of Toronto’s Geoffrey Hinton, one of the so-called “Godfathers of AI,” and Princeton’s John Hopfield used tools from physics to create the underpinnings of modern machine learning. “Machines can now mimic functions such as memory and learning,” the prize committee said. “This year’s laureates in physics have helped make this possible.” Hinton and Hopfield’s work, which builds on ideas from the human brain as well as fundamental physics, are behind all the recent advances in AI, which is itself improving scientific discovery in things like Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold.

Germans appalled by English orthography

The official German language watchdog permitted the use of English-style possessive apostrophes, angering grammar sticklers. The possessive in German is a simple “s” — Toms Mitteilungsblatt for “Tom’s newsletter,” for instance. But the influence of English-language media has led to signs like “Rosi’s Bar,” The Guardian reported, which German speakers call the Deppenapostroph or “idiot’s apostrophe,” not unlike English disdain for the “grocer’s apostrophe” in uses like “a pound of potato’s.” The new Council for German Orthography’s style guide permits the Deppenapostroph, to the horror of grammarians. Global media is flattening language in other ways: US speakers are increasingly using Britishisms, a new book claims, as “media and technology have drastically sped up linguistic cross-pollination.”

• Croatia hosts a Balkans leaders’ summit on Ukraine, set to be attended by Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy.
• The four-day St Petersburg International Gas Forum begins.
• Sculptor Mire Lee’s new work goes on display in the Turbine Hall at London’s Tate Modern.

The number of days since the airing of Inauguration: Over There, The West Wing episode that Argentine President Javier Milei is said to have plagiarized. According to Pagina 12, he copied entire sections of a speech given by Josiah Bartlet — played by Martin Sheen — during his presentation at the United Nations last week. It’s not the first time Milei is accused of plagiarism: Earlier this year, Noticias claimed the self-described “anarcho-capitalist” copied extensively from various texts throughout his latest book.

The Position of Spoons: And Other Intimacies by Deborah Levy. The collection of essays is “not quite an autobiography or cultural critique,” but instead “considers the various people, ideas, places — in short, the stuff of the world — that made Levy, well, Levy,” Grace Linden gushed in the Los Angeles Review of Books, adding that Levy’s writing “is dreamy but diamond-sharp, prismatic, droll.” Buy it from your local bookstore.

• US Supreme Court begins new term with its credibility in the spotlight.
• Construction resumes on world’s tallest skyscraper after nearly seven-year hiatus.
• Why Tanzania is doubling down on elephant hunting.