Welcome to the Pnut Gallery, brought to you by The Daily Pnut, your weekly world news in a nutshell!
“Mamma Mia!” – an Italian commentator reacting to the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, being taken out by a Segway at the World Athletics Championships. Happy Weekend Pnutters!
In a Nutshell: Must Read
1. Refugee Crisis In Europe Reaches… Crisis Point
Austria became the latest front-line in the European refugee crisis as the bodies of 70 refugees were found in the back of an abandoned truck. This latest tragedy came as leaders huddled in Vienna to discuss their approach to the largest wave of refugees into Europe since the Second World War. In a separate (and all too familiar) incident, 500 refugees were feared dead when their boat capsized off Libya.
Why is there a crisis?
With conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East, there has been a surge in refugees (four million from Syria alone). Many are using the summer months to gain access into the EU, overwhelming authorities in Italy, Greece, France, England, Hungary and the Balkans. There has been no coherent or unified response from Europe to the ever expanding crisis and rising body count.
2. Stock Markets: Play It Cool And Pretend Nothing Happened
Global markets had a “relief rally” Thursday as stocks everywhere went up! The Dow Jones closed up 2.3% to cap its strongest two day gain since 2008. The rally comes after a painful ride that saw China’s stock market lose almost $5 trillion in value (aka the GDP of France and Italy combined).
Why the turnaround?
Investors seemed to be thinking they might have overreacted last week after figures came out showing that the US economy was doing just fine, growing at 2.3% last quarter (no biggie). China also announced that it would give some provinces debt relief in order to boost growth. Greece has been asking Europe for more or less the same thing for about six years.
Nuts and Bolts: Should Read
3. Virginia Shooting: An Update
Family members were left grappling for meaning after the on-air shooting of two journalists by a former co-worker. The father of Alison Parker, one of the victims, made a personal appeal to President Obama for gun reform. Her boyfriend also asked for dialogue on gun control. The Donald quickly dismissed guns as the problem, citing the killings as a mental health not a gun problem… the gun helped, though, Donald.
4. Facebook Creates A Personal Helper That Is Actually Helpful
On Thursday, Facebook launched “M,” a personal assistant that “can actually complete tasks.” M will reside inside your messenger app, allowing you to message him/her/it with requests and it can make suggestions, buy things or make reservations on your behalf. Unlike Siri, which has you yelling, “Call mother” 15 times before finally calling your brother instead, M isn’t voice based, you just message it and it responds.
5. Russia: Freedom Of Speech Nyet Here
Russia burnished its credentials as a bastion of un-free speech when it jailed and sentenced Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian film-maker to 20 years hard labour. The film-maker had been a leading voice in Ukrainian protests against Russia’s annexation of Crimea. He claimed he had been tortured, but Russian authorities blamed his penchant for “sado-masochistic” tendencies for his injuries. That’s an imaginative excuse…
6. North And South Korea Put Away Missiles And Apologize
After days of tense negotiations, North and South Korea have agreed to de-escalate threats against each other after the North expressed “regret” over an incident that killed two South Korean soldiers near the border. The North agreed to end its “semi-state of war” and the South agreed to stop playing Korean pop music over the border. Now the countries go back to a “quasi-state of war.” Well, what a relief.
Good Deed: Tourism In North Korea… An Inside Look
Loose Nuts: For Your Enjoyment
7. To McWhopper Or Not McWhopper, That Is The Question
In the world’s most unlikely burger merger, Burger King posted a peace offering online to McDonalds to put an “end to the burger wars” by working together for one day to produce “one delicious, peace-loving burger”, the McWhopper. In honor of World Peace Day on September 21st all proceeds would be donated to non-profit group, Peace One Day. In a passive-aggressive rebuttal, McDonald’s CEO turned it down with a Facebook post saying “A simple phone-call will do next time.” Customers weren’t happy with McD’s response. Below are a few of our favorite Facebook comments on the post:
- “Once again McDonalds messes up, just like my order last night.”
- “A simple phone call to say no would have been a better idea than posting it here.”
- “Fine. I’ll go to McDonald’s then BK and build my own McWhopper. With Blackjack. And Booze. In fact, forget the McWhopper.”
- “I choose the crown over the clown any day of the week.”
Great Pnut Weekend Reads:
- The New Yorker investigates what Chinese lingerie merchants are doing in rural Egypt.
- Humans of New York goes to Iran to see what Humans of Iran are up to.
- How did Presidents fly before Air Force One (via The Week)?
- Wondering what The Donald’s first 100 days as President would look like? Politico tries to find out.
- More from Politico on The Donald. How did the Trump family make their wealth?
- Why does luxury in London seem immune to global economic volatility?
WE SAID THIS: Don’t miss last week’s Pnut Gallery!