Continuation & escalation

Thousands of students in Hong Kong boycotted classes on Monday as part of the ongoing pro-democracy protests in the city. This comes after the Friday arrests of high-profile activist leaders and an increase in violent clashes between protesters and police over the weekend.

West Texas shooting

Seven people have died following a shooting in the West Texas towns of Midland and Odessa. Three law enforcement officers and a 17-month-old were among the 22 others injured.

An exchange of fire

Israeli forces exchanged fire with Hezbollah militants on Sunday near the Israeli-Lebanese border. This comes on the heels of recent conflict between Israel and Iranian allies in the Middle East.

Fuelin’ up

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih is stepping down as chairman of oil giant Saudi Aramco, and will be replaced by Yasir al-Rumayyan, head of the Saudi Public Investment Fund. This is seen as a move to separate the Saudi energy ministry from the operation of the company as it prepares for an IPO.

Jet lag

American Airlines will remove the Boeing 737 MAX jet from its flight schedules until early December, a month later than originally planned. United and Southwest have also announced extended 737 MAX flight cancellations, though American Airlines expects to cancel ~140 flights each day in November as a result of the move.

Crown Juul

E-cigarette company Juul has raised an additional ~$460 million on top of the $325 million it secured earlier this month. The company has raised $13.9 billion to date, with this round intended to “bolster the company’s balance sheet as it continues to grow worldwide” amidst increasing US regulatory scrutiny.

A time of tariffs

US tariffs of 15% on $112 billion of Chinese goods went into effect Sunday, as did Chinese tariffs of 5-10% on major US exports like crude oil and soybeans. The US market was closed yesterday, but stock futures fell slightly in anticipation of their effects.

The Dropout Doctor

Doug Lindsay was 21 years old when he first noticed signs he was developing his family’s mysterious illness – one that had puzzled doctors for generations. The illness confined him to a hospital bed for twenty-two hours each day, without enough stamina to walk more than 50 feet at a time… and still, no one could diagnose what was wrong.

Doug couldn’t attend college classes anymore, but he could read medical textbooks and research studies. After seven years of intense reading he discovered what was ailing him: an adrenal disease with only 32 cases ever documented, and no record of any attempt to cure it.

Undeterred, Doug devised a groundbreaking surgery himself and found a team of medical professionals willing to risk their licenses to perform his invented procedure. And it worked. An additional surgery freed him from his illness entirely, and he now works as a medical consultant on rare diseases, traveling the world, giving speeches, and never tiring.

A new promotion

At age 18, nightclub promoter Scott Harrison was living the life in New York City. Promoting nightclubs for a living essentially meant he got paid to party, but after 10 years he realized his “”dream job”” left him empty and unfulfilled.  He quit the nightclub scene and began applying to work at humanitarian organizations.

After numerous rejections, he finally landed a gig as a photographer documenting a team of medical professionals in Liberia. The group performed lifesaving (and life-changing) surgeries for thousands of Liberians, with many of their illnesses originating from a single source… dirty water. With that realization, Scott found his true calling: to provide developing nations with clean water.

Upon returning to New York, he founded charity: water to accomplish this mission. Twelve years later, charity: water has raised more than $388 million and funded more than 38,000 water projects in 27 countries, providing over 6 million people with clean water. Now that’s something to promote.