Vox Sentences: There’s no planet B

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Youth strikes calling for action against the climate crisis are happening simultaneously around the world; an American pilot is detained in China.

To skip school and strike

Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

• Adults often don’t get it right. So students — many of them teens — around the world are taking to the streets Friday on a global strike against climate change, skipping roll call to hold their elected officials accountable for the ongoing threat of global warming. [NPR / Jeff Brady]
• The worldwide event has mobilized hundreds of thousands of protesters, many holding signs with messages ranging from angry to playful, like “there’s no Planet B” and “this planet is getting hotter than my imaginary boyfriend.” [Al Jazeera]
• China, the world’s biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions threatening the planet’s wellbeing, did not authorize strikes. [NYT / Somini Sengupta]
• Chief among the teen protesters is Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist who is leading the cause in 150 countries this September. The Friday strikes will culminate in New York, where Thunberg is leading the city’s march. [Vox / Umair Irfan and Al Jazeera]
• The two planned marches — on September 20 and 27 — were timed to coincide with the United Nations Climate Action Summit on Monday, during which leaders are supposed to ramp up their ambitions to curb greenhouse gases under the 2015 Paris climate agreement. [Washington Post / Brady Dennis and Sarah Kaplan]
• UN Secretary General António Guterres acknowledged the leadership of the young activists, calling for governments to take more immediate action against the climate “emergency.” He is optimistic that the European Union will announce Monday it will achieve a “carbon-neutral” status by 2050, as the Paris agreement mandates. [Guardian / Mark Hertsgaard]
• CNN and the Guardian are reporting live on many of the youth strikes taking place around the world. Follow their updates here. [CNN / Rob Picheta, Jessie Yeung and Meg Wagner and Guardian / Haroon Siddique, Sarah Marsh and Naaman Zhou]
• Still not convinced the climate crisis is an urgent matter? Watch how the climate could change in these US cities by 2050. [Vox / Umair Irfan and Kavya Sukumar]

China detains former US Air Force pilot

• A former US Air Force colonel who now works as a FedEx pilot was detained by Chinese authorities for carrying nonmetallic pellets used in low-power replica air guns in his checked luggage. [WSJ / John Lyons and Wenxin Fan]
• A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the pilot, Todd A. Hohn, was detained on suspicions of illegally smuggling weapons and ammunition. He’s since been released on bail, pending trial, and cannot leave China until the investigation is over. [CNN / Clare Duffy]
• The incident comes amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over the 15-month trade war, with a partial truce being negotiated. The detention is sure to add fuel to the fire, since China has been probing into FedEx in recent weeks for illegally shipping weapons, including knives, to Hong Kong. [Washington Post / Gerry Shih]
• China has strict laws against the possession of ammunition and weapons. Nationalists have called for the delivery company to be included in a list of “unreliable entities,” while airport security measures have also drastically increased, with authorities paying particular attention to travelers flying into or out of Hong Kong. [NYT / Keith Bradsher and Emily Flitter]

Miscellaneous

• The Food and Drug Administration has launched a criminal probe on the recent string of vape-related illnesses, as more than 530 people in 38 states have become sick from e-cigarettes. [Washington Post / Lena H. Sun]
• Friends, the hit TV show that’s defined comedy for several generations, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Google and Ralph Lauren help you honor the series with Easter eggs and a Rachel-inspired clothing collection. [The Verge / Tom Warren and Marie Claire / Amy De Klerk]
• Airbnb is the latest business profiting off a robust gig economy, as it now plans to go public in 2020. [Engadget / Amrita Khalid]
• The 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards will air this Sunday night. Have you made your predictions yet? [Indiewire / Ben Travers]

Verbatim

“I said to him, ‘Prove that you’re serious … sell WhatsApp, and sell Instagram.’ I think it’s safe to say that he was not receptive to those suggestions.” [Sen. Josh Hawley comments on a meeting with Mark Zuckerberg. The Silicon Valley figure also met with President Trump in the Oval Office. / WSJ]

Watch this: How these rocks became a Western movie cliché

That stereotypical Western backdrop isn’t typical of the West. [YouTube / Coleman Lowndes]

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