1 Million Virus Deaths | When Hotel Reviews Land You in Jail

1. Global Pandemic Deaths Exceed 1 Million

It’s probably a lot more. But we know this: The nations of the world have now reported more than 1 million deaths — a milestone U.N. Secretary General António Guterres called “agonizing.” Meanwhile, White House pandemic expert Dr. Anthony Fauci called it “very concerning” that Florida has reopened bars and restaurants at full capacity. He said allowing unrestricted, unmasked gatherings in one of the worst-hit states in the world’s worst-hit nation is “really asking for trouble.” Referring to political resistance to prevention efforts, Guterres said, “Science matters. Cooperation matters — and misinformation kills.”

Sources: Washington Post, The Hill

2. American Opposites Gird for Battle in First Debate

Fasten your seatbelts. In the battleground state of Ohio, President Donald Trump faces Democratic challenger Joe Biden tonight in the first of three presidential debates. The 90-minute forum, moderated by Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace, hits subjects in 15-minute segments ranging from Supreme Court appointments to the pandemic to the controversially named “race and violence in U.S. cities.” Biden is cramming, as is traditional for debates, but Trump’s reportedly shrugged off such preparation. The Biden campaign says he won’t spend time fact-checking Trump, instead skewering his tumultuous record, while the incumbent’s expected to attack, attack, attack.

Sources: NPR, Fox News, CNN

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3. Dozens Killed in Nagorno-Karabakh Fighting

Armenia and Azerbaijan continued fighting for a second day in the mountainous area that’s been disputed since the Soviet Union broke up. Although part of Azerbaijan, the region’s been occupied by ethnic Armenians since a 1994 war that left tens of thousands dead. The breakaway territory’s authorities said 26 soldiers were killed Monday, bringing the death toll in the latest flare-up to 95, including 11 civilians. It’s the worst violence the region has seen in four years, and Germany and France have asked the U.N. Security Council to address the issue at a meeting today.

Sources: BBC, Reuters, DW

4. Trump’s Debts Seen as Security Issue

It’s an “outrageous vulnerability.” That’s how one former CIA chief of staff sees the debts revealed in the New York Times report based on two decades of President Trump’s tax returns. With foreign investments and hundreds of millions in personal debt, the former official said, the president raises red flags that would prompt investigations of ordinary federal workers. Trump tweeted that he has very little debt compared to his assets, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it a “national security issue” that raises the questions: Who has leverage over the president — and what could they accomplish with it?

Sources: AP, Washington Post, NBC, Fox News

5. Also Important …

A nursery school teacher is to be put to death for poisoning 25 children, one fatally, a court in China has ruled. Amnesty International says it will cease its human rights monitoring in India because of government reprisals, including freezing the group’s bank accounts. And Kentucky’s attorney general will release recordings of grand jury proceedings in the Breonna Taylor case after a juror said officials mischaracterized their discussions and did not give them an option of charging the two officers.

Check out special coverage of the first presidential debate from our partners at Cheddar, covering the players and issues you care about most. Watch tonight starting at 8 p.m. ET.

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1. A Bad Hotel Review Can Land You in Jail

Will the big house get five stars? Wesley Barnes complained on TripAdvisor that Thailand’s Sea View Resort and Spa in Koh Chang had an “extremely rude and impolite” restaurant manager and its employees’ working conditions were akin to “slavery.” But it didn’t end there: The resort sued its American expat tormentor, prompting authorities to arrest him under strict local defamation laws. Barnes, who works in Thailand, faces up to two years imprisonment if convicted. He’ll need a lawyer, but he’s already been defended by netizens barraging the resort with more bad reviews.

Sources: Kansas City Star, NY Post, NYT

2. Portugal Shakes the Grip of Its Former Colony

Occupied for centuries by Portugal, Angola’s oil-enriched oligarchs turned the tables on their former European masters decades after gaining independence. In recent years, they’ve turned Lisbon into a “laundromat” for amassed cash: Former Angolan first daughter Isabel dos Santos, who ran the state oil company, bought up 65 percent of Portugal’s biggest energy company and stakes in the country’s telecommunications and real estate sectors. But OZY reports that her accounts are now frozen in a financial misconduct probe that’s driving other Angolans to divest from the country, potentially freeing Portugal from its former colony’s control.

Source: OZY

3. Brain-Eating Microbes Prompt Texas Emergency

Residents of the Gulf Coast town of Lake Jackson, Texas, must avoid tap water after authorities traced a deadly brain-eating amoeba to the city’s water supply. The crisis began when a 6-year-old boy died earlier this month after being infected by Naegleria fowleri, which can cause a rare brain infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis. Gov. Greg Abbott declared an emergency across Brazoria County, which includes some of Houston’s southern suburbs. Lake Jackson is now flushing its water system with disinfectant, and until it clears the contamination, residents must boil water before use.

Sources: Live Science, Houston Chronicle

4. With IPO, We Can All Have a Piece of BTS

Is this how boy bands grow up? After dominating the 2020 charts, K-pop supergroup BTS is launching an IPO expected to raise $822 million as its Big Hit label, valued at $4.1 billion, becomes South Korea’s biggest stock listing in three years. The offering will drop Oct. 15 on Korea’s KOSPI exchange, making band mastermind Bang Si-Hyuk a billionaire with 43 percent ownership. He also gave the seven singers 68,385 shares each: Valued at nearly $8 million per heartthrob, they’ll all be multimillionaires once investors clamor for a slice of this cultural phenomenon.

Sources: TMZ, BBC, Forbes

5. Tampa Bay Wins Bubble Stanley Cup

Without fans or injured captain Steven Stamkos, the Lightning captured their second Stanley Cup last night in Game 6 of the NHL finals. Blake Coleman and Brayden Point scored unanswered goals and Andrei Vasilevskiy saved 22 to knock out the Dallas Stars 2-0 in Edmonton’s pandemic bubble — one of two that hosted the entire playoffs. While their cloistered heroes collected their first title since 2004, fans thronged downtown Tampa Bay, despite Florida's positive coronavirus test rate that’s double the World Health Organization’s recommended benchmark for lifting restrictions.

Sources: ESPN, NBC, CBS