| |  | Residents of Port Salerno, Florida, hang plywood over a window Sunday as they prepare for Hurricane Dorian. Source: Getty |
| | IMPORTANT | | 01 | With peak sustained winds of 185 mph, the Category 5 “monster” — tied with three others for the second-strongest Atlantic storm ever — made landfall on the islands of Great Abaco and Grand Bahama Sunday night. Early reports documented roofs pried open, power outages and smashed cars. “This will put us to a test that we’ve never confronted before,” said Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis. With storm surges up to 23 feet, Dorian is expected to batter the region through Monday. What’s next? While it’s still unclear how hard Florida will be hit, more than 20 million Americans are expected to feel some effects from the massive storm in the coming days. | |
| | 02 | Following Saturday’s shootings that left eight dead, including the gunman, across Odessa and Midland, Texas, authorities remain uncertain about what provoked the 36-year-old assailant. Most of the victims have yet to be named but ranged in age from 15 to 57 years old, police said. Another 22 were injured in the attacks, which began after a routine traffic stop. Are Texas gun laws changing? Perhaps not in the way you’d expect: A new rule loosening gun restrictions in places like schools and houses of worship went into effect Sept. 1, drawing anger from gun control advocates. Read OZY’s story about why minority students worry more about mass shootings. | |
| | 03 | Fifteen percent taxes on Chinese goods like clothing, footwear and electronics — valued at $111 billion last year — went into effect Sunday. “Absolutely worth it,” President Donald Trump tweeted. For its part, Beijing moved more cautiously: Although it enforced levies between 5 and 10 percent on American imports like crude oil and soybeans, most new retaliatory taxes on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods won’t kick in until Dec. 15. By then, Washington will have likely taxed all $550 billion in Chinese imports. Are tariffs affecting American consumers? New York’s Federal Reserve Bank estimated that previous tariffs were already costing the average household around $831 per year, thanks to higher prices. | |
| | 04 | In what’s being described as the most serious exchange of hostilities in four years, Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group targeted an Israeli army base yesterday in retaliation for what it says was a drone attack inside its airspace. Sunday’s attack prompted Israel to fire scores of artillery shells at Hezbollah positions inside Lebanon. No casualties were reported in the exchange, though Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has asked the U.S. and France for help dialing back tensions. How bad can it get? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’ll wait to see what Hezbollah does next, though the country’s military doesn’t appear too concerned, saying, “The tactical event on the ground appears to be behind us.” | |
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| | | INTRIGUING | | 01 | The event’s organizers, a group called Super Happy Fun America, claimed it was poking fun at the left by lampooning a gay pride parade. But despite its innocuous-sounding name, the group has reportedly been linked to violent white nationalist organizations — and the several hundred people who attended Saturday’s march included far-right activists and notorious provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. They were met by hundreds of counterprotesters, and police had to intervene to break up fights between the two sides. How did officials respond? Mayor Marty Walsh dissuaded Bostonians from attending, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pointed out the event’s notable lack of women. | |
| | 02 | Google researchers recently revealed that over a two-year period, Apple, Android and Windows devices were infected by malware that let attackers monitor messages, passwords and phone locations. Now several sources are claiming that the sites were part of a Chinese government campaign that used the hacked data to monitor the Muslim minority group’s population in the northwestern province of Xinjiang. How widespread are the effects? Beyond the harm to the Uighur community, which is already facing mass internment camps and widespread surveillance, iPhone users now fear that governments can hack into their phones. Check out this OZY feature to learn about the apps that violate your privacy. | |
| | 03 | Trump-branded sneakers and a teddy bear with a comb-over are among the products being sold by companies that spend big on Facebook advertising, OZY reports. Neither private businesses nor partisan media outlets are required to disclose their investors and donors — no matter how close to political promotion their advertisements might appear. One former Federal Election Commission chair has already resigned from her post, citing frustrations over the agency’s inability to regulate the digital space. Whose side are these companies on? So far it’s largely a right-wing phenomenon, but as campaign season heats up, observers predict the trend will also veer left. | |
| | 04 | Ahead of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tokyo’s metropolitan government has issued a barrier-free building ordinance that aims to increase the number of hotel rooms that are accessible to the disabled and the elderly. The rule, which went into effect yesterday, stipulates that most new and renovated hotel rooms should not include stairs and must feature doorways at least 31 inches wide. What’s the bigger picture? It’s seen as a step toward making the capital more broadly accessible as Japan faces a rapidly aging population. | |
| | 05 | Former alpine skier Blanca Fernandez Ochoa was last spotted driving a black Mercedes, which police located yesterday in a town near Madrid. But authorities say no one’s seen the 56-year-old since she left her home in Aravaca, northwest of the Spanish capital, more than week ago without her phone. Her daughter reported her missing on Aug. 23. Who is Fernandez? The four-time Olympian made waves in 1992 when she became the first Spanish woman to win a medal in the Winter Games. Read OZY’s Flashback about when thousands of Sikh men disappeared in India. | |
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| | Caught Up? Now Vault Ahead ... | | To get more fresh stories and bold ideas in your inbox, check out The Daily Dose. | | Politics & Power These shadow players are influencing the election — whether regulators like it or not. | |
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