Apple has unveiled the iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone, with sales set to begin October 23. The new model opens to a 7.6-inch inner screen and carries a 5.4-inch outer display. U.S. prices start at $1,999 for 256GB of storage. Preorders begin October 16 across more than 70 countries and regions. Apple powers the iPhone Duo with the A20 Pro chip, also used in the iPhone 18 Pro models. The company rates mixed use across both screens at up to 24 hours per charge.
Typhoon Dujuan lashed eastern Japan on Monday with intense rain and strong winds, triggering emergency landslide warnings and widespread travel disruption. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest landslide alert for Oshima in the Izu Islands shortly after midday. Rainfall totals exceeded 500 millimeters in parts of the island chain. Chiba Prefecture also recorded more than 300 millimeters from Saturday through early Monday afternoon. Officials warned residents about flooding, swollen rivers, landslides and dangerous coastal conditions.
China left its benchmark lending rates unchanged in September, extending a period of stable borrowing costs. The one-year loan prime rate remained at 3.0%, while the over-five-year rate stayed at 3.5%. Banks commonly use the longer-term benchmark when pricing mortgages. The September fixing kept both rates at the same levels seen in August. The figures remain central to loan pricing across China’s banking system.
A rare inherited genetic mutation increases a person’s overall risk of developing lung cancer by approximately 25 times and by roughly 60 times among non-smokers, according to a study published in the journal Science. Conducted jointly by investigators at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the 23andMe Research Institute, the analysis evaluated de-identified genomic data from more than 3.3 million individuals. Researchers identified the germline variant, known as EGFR T790M, as one of the most powerful inherited risk factors for lung cancer discovered to date.
The World Health Organization says Ebola transmission is declining in some of the hardest-hit areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The improvement is most visible in parts of Ituri province, the main center of the outbreak. However, the epidemic continues to expand in other areas. Official data through Sept. 13 showed 7,258 confirmed cases and 3,510 deaths across seven provinces, with the national case fatality ratio at 48.4%.
News
More than 55,000 people were evacuated across China’s Hainan province after days of extreme rainfall triggered flooding and other hazards. Authorities moved residents from high-risk areas by 6 p.m. on September 14. The evacuations focused on low-lying communities, landslide-prone areas and locations near rivers. Officials also arranged temporary accommodation and basic supplies for displaced residents.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority has raised the number of people missing after the Aug. 26 floods to 6,150. The revised total is 971 higher than the previous figure of 5,179. Authorities have also recovered 1,403 bodies since the disaster struck. The floods and debris flows caused extensive damage across northern Nepal, particularly near the border with China. Authorities have identified 105 of the recovered bodies and continue forensic work on the others. The latest government data lists 3,175 DNA samples collected during the identification process.
Business
China left its benchmark lending rates unchanged in September, extending a period of stable borrowing costs. The one-year loan prime rate remained at 3.0%, while the over-five-year rate stayed at 3.5%. Banks commonly use the longer-term benchmark when pricing mortgages. The September fixing kept both rates at the same levels seen in August. The figures remain central to loan pricing across China’s banking system.
Spot gold declined 1 percent to $4,249 per ounce, hitting multi-session lows under the weight of higher sovereign yields and restrictive monetary policy. Higher interest rates have increased the opportunity cost of holding physical bullion, prompting institutional portfolios to reallocate capital into fixed-income assets.
Gold prices edged higher on Thursday as a softer U.S. dollar supported bullion before fresh U.S. inflation data. Spot gold rose 0.3% to $4,414.28 an ounce by 0419 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery slipped 0.1% to $4,457.20. The early gain kept spot gold above $4,400 after a sharp reversal during Wednesday’s trading. Gold had initially moved lower before finishing that session more than 1% higher.
The Panama Canal may reduce daily ship traffic to about 29 vessels in February or March 2027 if drought conditions continue, its new administrator said. Ilya Espino de Marotta took office on Sept. 7 and raised the possibility as El Niño pressures reservoir levels. The canal needs freshwater from rainfall-fed lakes to operate its locks. The Panama Canal Authority has already begun staged capacity cuts after below-expected precipitation across the watershed.
German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen AG agreed on Monday to sell its Osnabrück assembly plant to Israeli private equity firm Aurelius Capital and the German state of Lower Saxony. Under the preliminary agreement, the new owners will convert the vehicle manufacturing site into a dedicated security and defense production facility. The strategic transaction marks the first major industrial conversion of a German car factory to supply military hardware amid ongoing structural reorganization across Europe’s automotive sector. Israel Aurelius German state to take over VWs Osnabrueck plant defense projects to supply air defense equipment for European security markets.
Egypt’s net international reserves rose to a record $57.2145 billion at the end of August 2026. Reserves have increased by about $920.6 million during August, extending a series of monthly gains in 2026. The latest reading takes Egypt’s official foreign reserves above $57 billion for the first time. Remittances from Egyptians working abroad also reached a record level during the 2025/2026 fiscal year, with inflows of about $47.3 billion.
The ministerial summit, running from September 8 to 11, operates under the theme of leveraging artificial intelligence and communications networks for African structural transformation. South Korean Prime Minister Han Seong-sook is scheduled to deliver opening addresses alongside leadership delegations from the African Development Bank Group. Delegations will focus on combining South Korean technological manufacturing expertise with African human capital and critical mineral reserves. Korea Africa chart new course AI digital infrastructure strategies as continental planners seek to bridge an estimated $400 billion annual development financing deficit.
Fuel costs remained a major source of price pressure during the month. Petroleum product prices climbed 14.2% from a year earlier, though the increase slowed from July. Diesel prices jumped 19.6%, while gasoline prices rose 11.5%. Petroleum products added 0.54 percentage point to annual consumer price growth. South Korea relies heavily on imported energy, leaving domestic fuel costs sensitive to changes in global energy markets.
Technology
The iPhone Duo uses Super Retina XDR displays on both sides, with ProMotion and Always-On support. Apple rates peak outdoor brightness at 3,000 nits for both screens. A nano-texture finish on the inner panel reduces glare and makes the fold crease less visible, according to Apple. Grade 5 titanium forms the enclosure, while the precision hinge uses more than 100 components. Apple also gives the iPhone Duo an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. Apple designed iOS 27.1 to work across the phone’s open and closed configurations. Split View lets users run two apps side by side, a first for the iPhone. Users can also open two windows of the same app and save app pairs for later use. The inner screen can show two Home Screen pages and a vertically scrolling Today View. Touch ID sits in the side button and works whether the device is open or folded. Photography features include a 48-megapixel Fusion Main camera and a 48-megapixel Fusion Ultra Wide camera. The main camera also provides an optical-quality 2x telephoto option. Duo Preview displays a live camera view on the outer screen while someone takes a photo. Users can also take selfies with the rear cameras while viewing themselves on that outer display. The main camera supports 4K video recording at up to 120 frames per second in Dolby Vision. Apple powers the iPhone Duo with its A20 Pro chip, which uses 2-nanometer process technology.
Sports
The shortlist includes players from leading clubs across Europe and other major competitions. Paris Saint-Germain has one of the strongest contingents in the men’s field. Its nominees include Dembélé, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, João Neves, Fabián Ruiz, Vitinha and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Bruno Fernandes, Declan Rice, Michael Olise, Lautaro Martínez and Sadio Mané also earned places. France Football administers the Ballon d’Or and applies a season-based assessment period to each edition.
Automotive
The restructuring strategy, formally named the Future Package, was negotiated between the executive leadership of Porsche and the General Works Council in coordination with the metalworkers union IG Metall and the employers association Südwestmetall. Executives emphasized that workforce reductions will be executed through socially responsible mechanisms, including expanded partial retirement programs, voluntary severance packages, and natural demographic attrition. Management explicitly ruled out compulsory redundancies through 2035, while extending existing site guarantees for five years. In exchange for labor concessions, the automaker committed 2.1 billion euros in capital investments dedicated to upgrading its assembly plant in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen and its research facility in Weissach.