Hong Kong protests continue

Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters marched on the streets of Hong Kong on Monday night, waving American flags and signs asking for U.S. support. The peaceful demonstration followed a violent end to the weekend – on Sunday night, a small bomb was detonated and a policeman was stabbed during protests.

Democratic Debates: Round 4

The October Democratic debate takes place tonight at 7pm CT in Ohio. Before the 12 participating candidates take the stage, here's a look at the latest polling numbers.

Spanish Sedition

Nine leaders of the Catalan separatist movement in Spain were convicted of sedition and sentenced to 13 years in prison yesterday by the country’s Supreme Court for holding an illegal independence referendum in 2017. Pro-independence protesters marched on the airport in Barcelona in opposition to the ruling, resulting in dozens injured and more than 100 flights canceled.

Brand New Day

Authentic Brands Group (owner of Sports Illustrated, Nautica, Nine West, Aéropostale, and more) bid ~$270 million to buy the bankrupt Barneys New York, and will most likely be the retailers next owner after another group of investors failed to come up with financing for their $220 million offer. Barney’s filed for bankruptcy in August after the landlord for its Madison Avenue location doubled the annual rent to ~$30 million.

Final cut

Uber laid off ~350 employees across their Advanced Technology Group, Eats, Global Rides and Platform, Performance Marketing, and Recruiting divisions yesterday. This is the third (and final) wave of layoffs for the company as it implements its organizational restructuring plan - 435 employees in product and engineering were laid off last month and 400 people on the marketing team lost their jobs in July.

'Til Debt Do Us Part

Jia Yueting, founder of electric vehicle startup Faraday Future and Chinese tech conglomerate LeEco, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today in an attempt to satisfy his $3.6 billion debt to more than 100 Chinese creditors. The entrepreneur has been known to over-leverage himself in an attempt to expand his businesses, and prior to going to court is trying to work out a deal to use his ownership in Faraday Future as collateral to avoid bankruptcy and the possible liquidation of his assets.

Power outage, no LiveWires

Harley Davidson has temporarily ceased production and delivery of LiveWire, its first electric motorcycle, after discovering a charging equipment issue during final quality checks. The issue doesn’t affect the operation of the vehicle, though current owners will be forced to charge the motorcycle at Harley dealerships instead of their homes until the issue is resolved.

Sweet Child O’ Mine

Javier Larragoiti was 18 when his dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. As Javier was learning about chemical reactions and engineering methods in college in Mexico City, his father was trying – and failing – to stick to his new, low-sugar diets.

Because Javier’s father couldn’t stand the flavor of traditional sugar substitutes, he was having trouble staying away from the real thing. So Javier came up with a plan – he’d create a new, better substitute. And 10 years later, he’s done it.

Javier uses a common, sweet-tasting alcohol – xylitol – but designed a way to produce it cheaply using wasted corn cobs that would otherwise be burned in Mexico, adding carbon to the atmosphere. By creating a sugar substitute with the cobs, Javier’s new company succeeds on two levels: cutting back on carbon emissions while providing his father – and so many like him – with a more palatable sugar substitute. “My dad is super-happy,” Larragoiti said. “He uses my product every day and he’s willing not to cheat on his diet any more!”

Dog days

There are dog lovers, and then there is Claire-Louise Nixon. In her four-bedroom home in England, Claire lives with her husband, daughter, and 27 dogs. The pups, mostly former street dogs that were abandoned and badly injured or ill, come to Claire from shelters when they have nowhere else to go.

Each of the dogs is named after a celebrity that Claire thinks says something about their personality. For example, Sir Elton John was hit by a car in Romania and broke his spine – but he’s still standing, and can even go on short walks now, thanks to Claire’s physical therapy regimen.

Claire works with the dogs to rehabilitate them, provide specialized care, or train amputees to use wheels or ride in buggies on walks. While adoption is the goal for some of the rehabilitated pups, she’s always there to take them in if no one else will. “It is tremendous hard work but I can’t tell you how rewarding it is,” Claire told GNN. “The love these dogs give back is amazing. I would not be without any single one of them.”