Sep 6 update

Oil prices climbed further on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday Brent crude rose above $90 a barrel—the first time it has breached that level this year. Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s second- and third-largest producers, said they would continue to limit output. Saudi Arabia is constraining supply at around 9m barrels per day, 25% below its declared maximum output. It has said it will continue to do so until the end of 2023.

The White House said that arms negotiations between North Korea and Russia are advancing. Jake Sullivan, the Biden administration’s national-security adviser, said that North Korea would “pay a price…in the international community” if it provided weapons to Russia. On Tuesday the Kremlin declined to comment on reports that Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader, plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin.

Adding to the gloom surrounding the German economy, industrial orders fell by 11.7% in July compared with the previous month, a substantially sharper drop than expected. The decline was in part the result of big aerospace orders flattering June’s figures, according to the German Federal Statistics Office. But orders were down in a number of sectors in July, including computing, electrical equipment and machinery.

The past three months have been the hottest ever measured, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, an EU-funded programme. Last month was the warmest August on record—and the second hottest month ever, after July 2023—with temperatures an estimated 1.5°C above preindustrial averages. In August sea-surface temperatures also hit 20.98°C, their highest monthly average.

Britain will designate Wagner, a Russian mercenary outfit, as a terrorist group. Suella Braverman, the home secretary, described Wagner’s presence in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa as “a threat to global security” and “a military tool of Vladimir Putin’s Russia overseas”. In Britain it will become a criminal offence to support or be a member of the group.

A cyclone in southern Brazil killed 22 people, flooded cities and forced thousands to flee their homes. It is the worst-ever weather disaster in Rio Grande do Sul, a southern state, according to its governor. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, said the federal government would provide help. Aid workers in helicopters are rescuing people from their rooftops, but the death toll may still climb.

Venice will charge €5 ($5.35) to day tourists over the age of 14 hoping to visit the city from next year, according to its council. Famed for its glittering canals and domed basilicas, Venice has long suffered from overtourism: in July UNESCO, a United Nations body, recommended it be categorised as a “world heritage in danger” site, in part due to excessive numbers of tourists.

Figure of the day: 15, the number of premium games that feature combat in the top-selling 20. Read the full story.

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PHOTO: AP

A Georgia arraignment, minus Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s private jet will not be landing in Georgia on Wednesday. After turning himself in to authorities at the Fulton County jail in August, he waived his right to appear at his arraignment. Last week he pleaded not guilty to racketeering and other charges stemming from his alleged effort to change the result of the 2020 presidential election.

Some of his 18 co-defendants, however, will be arraigned in person. Mark Meadows, Mr Trump’s former chief of staff, is trying to get his case moved from state to federal court (where he believes his prospects would be better). He argues that, by facilitating Mr Trump’s alleged conspiracy, he was merely doing his job. In court filings, three others—Republicans who submitted false paperwork to Congress alleging that Mr Trump had won Georgia—have pointed fingers at Mr Trump. All were charged under a law originally designed to bring down the mafia. Their strategy is fast becoming apparent: blame the kingpin.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Rishi Sunak’s rough question time

On Wednesday Rishi Sunak faces Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition, at the first Prime Minister’s Questions since Britain’s Parliament broke up on July 19th. It will be a rough ride.

In the summer recess before an election year, governing parties typically road-test their campaign lines. That went badly for Mr Sunak’s Conservatives. A week focused on irregular migrant boats ended with the evacuation, over a legionella scare, of a barge intended as new accommodation for asylum-seekers. In “health week” NHS waiting figures reached a new high. And as schools returned on Monday, ministers were scrambling to identify hundreds of buildings feared to be unsafe because of flaws in their concrete.

Grim polls for the Tories have barely shifted in recent months: a survey by Redfield and Wilton, a pollster, published on Monday, gave Labour a 16-point lead. Sir Keir had a 17-point advantage over his rival—his best result since Mr Sunak became prime minister last October.

PHOTO: AP

Mexico’s ruling party picks its presidential candidate

Morena, Mexico’s ruling party, will on Wednesday announce its candidate for the presidential election in June 2024. It will almost certainly be Claudia Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City. She was 17 percentage points ahead of her closest rival in the final public opinion poll in August, before Morena began its opaque process of surveying 12,500 people across Mexico to help make its pick. Ms Sheinbaum is a heavyweight politician, but has benefited from the implicit support of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the president.

On September 3rd Xóchitl Gálvez, a senator, was anointed the candidate for an opposition coalition comprising the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the National Action Party and the Party of the Democratic Revolution. Mexico is therefore almost certain to get its first female president next year. Hugely charismatic, Ms Gálvez will put up a good fight. Morena is projected to win the presidency, but Ms Sheinbaum may rule over a divided congress.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Australia faces economic slowdown

Interest rates may well have peaked down under. On Tuesday Australia’s Reserve Bank held them steady at 4.1% for the third consecutive month, after inflation dropped by more than expected. The annual inflation rate eased to 4.9% in July, from 5.4% in June.

But it isn’t all good news. Australia’s economy is slowing—GDP grew by just 0.4% in the second quarter, according to data released on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank expects Australia to eke out GDP growth of 1% this year. That is slower than the population growth rate, meaning a fall in GDP per person.

One big concern is slowing growth in China, Australia’s biggest trading partner. Australia usually relies on China’s huge appetite for iron ore and coal. Even after it launched a campaign of economic coercion against Australia in 2020, China still accounts for almost a third of Australia's global trade in goods and services. If China’s demand for Australian resources crashes with its economy, the “lucky country” will feel it.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF SOTHEBY'S

The story of dress and power

“Optics governed more or less everything in the political world,” wrote Michelle Obama in “Becoming”, her memoir. “And I factored this into every outfit.” A 1950s dress by Norman Norell, an American designer, worn by Mrs Obama to a Christmas concert in 2010 was particularly resonant. The first vintage piece ever donned by a First Lady at a public event, it championed thrift-store shopping before it was fashionable. It eloquently suggested to a country reeling from recession that there was no shame in rewearing clothes time and time again.

That item, and nine others in Sotheby’s “Fashion Icons” collection, can already be bid for online and are open to viewing in New York from Thursday. From Princess Diana’s famous black-sheep jumper to a wedding veil worn by Madonna, each spotlights fashion’s symbolic power. But it is the dress worn by Mrs Obama—who on average generated $14m for the fashion industry during each public appearance as First Lady—that steals the show.