Hong Kong protests

On Friday, the Hong Kong government used its emergency powers for the first time in more than 50 years to ban people from wearing masks at public assemblies. Over the weekend, tens of thousands of masked protestors engaged in violence with authorities and vandalized property belonging to mainland China.

U.S.-North Korea talks

U.S. and North Korean officials met for 8.5 hours in Stockholm on Saturday to resume denuclearization talks. Afterward, North Korean officials stated the talks had broken down, but the U.S. said the countries had good discussions containing creative ideas that it intends to continue – Sweden has invited both sides back in two weeks to continue negotiations.

Iraq protests continue

Anti-government protests in Iraq continued over the weekend, marking six straight days of unrest. More than 100 people have been killed and more than 6,000 have been wounded in the clashes between Iraqi security forces and protestors.

A sign for the sign

Paypal has become the first company to officially leave the Libra Association, a Facebook-led group of ~30 companies overseeing the effort to build Libra, a global digital currency. Per the WSJ, Paypal’s exit comes as other major companies within the association are considering leaving the group as the project has become a target of regulatory agencies and governments worldwide.

September Jobs Report

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics released Friday, the economy added 136k new jobs in September and revised job numbers from August and July upwards by a combined 45k. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, its lowest rate since December 1969, though the increase in worker pay over the past 12 months fell to 2.9% from 3.2% in August.

Netflix Disney and chill

Disney has banned advertising from Netflix across all of its entertainment TV properties ahead of the November release of its Disney+ streaming service. Disney has mutual business or advertising relationships with other streaming companies, but Netflix does not include advertising on its platform.

“Joker” not a choker

Warner Bros’ “Joker” pulled in $93.5 million at the U.S. box office this past weekend, which gives the film the highest-grossing October opening of all time. The movie also brought in $140.5 million internationally, bringing its total opening weekend haul to $234 million (these numbers include estimates for Sunday).

Not your average Joe (pt. 2)

On a warm August night this summer, 75-year-old Joe Cwiklinski was driving home after dinner at a friend’s house when he suffered a sudden heart attack and lost control of his vehicle. His car crashed in the street and people poured out of their houses to investigate, unsure what to do.

At the same time, registered medical assistant Toni Pollard was walking to the grocery store with some friends. She hadn’t initially wanted to go but finally acquiesced to her friends’ pleas – thankfully, this caused her to be right there when Joe crashed. She helped pull him from his vehicle and quickly got to work. Because she administered CPR when she did, Joe survived the ordeal.

As we covered in a previous edition, Joe posted flyers around where he crashed thanking the neighborhood profusely for saving his life – at the time, he had no idea who was responsible for doing so. After someone took a picture of the flyer and shared it on social media (it ended up going viral), Joe was able to find the exact person who did it. This past Thursday, Joe met Toni for the first time as they were acknowledged in a ceremony at the local fire station. Looking at each other in disbelief, they hugged. “All I can think of to say right now is thank you,” said Joe.

No time like the present for presents

For some of us it takes decades – and several lessons – to learn it is more rewarding to give than to receive. But 5-year-old Weston Newswanger, who is in remission from a rare soft tissue cancer, has already figured it out.

When asked what he wanted for his birthday, Weston said he didn’t want or need anything. So after his mom suggested they ask friends and family to donate to a cause instead, Weston had the perfect idea: he’d ask for toy donations for the children’s hospital where he had been treated. Weston knew first-hand the value of toys in helping him through the difficult days of treatment, and he wanted to make sure other kids had those distractions during hard times too.

Once they spread the word with relatives, friends, and over social media, toys began flooding in. By the time Weston helped deliver the toys to Penn State Children’s Hospital, there were more than 3,000. After two years in remission, it was the perfect way to celebrate Weston’s birthday – and his wisdom, which is well beyond his 5 years.