Died

383,000

The estimated number of dead in South Sudan’s five-year civil war, whether from fighting, disease, hunger, or other causes, according to the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

3.7%

The unemployment rate in the United States in September, the lowest level in 49 years.

1,700 pounds

The weight of an extinct elephant bird, based on a new fossil analysis by Zoological Society of London researchers. That would make it the largest bird known to science.

1,488

The number of migrant children the Department of Health and Human Services says it lost track of between April and June after placing them with sponsor families.

45%

The percentage of Americans who have a favorable view of the Republican Party, the party’s highest approval rating since 2011, according to a September Gallup poll.

30,000

The cap on the number of refugees the United States will allow into the country during the 2019 fiscal year, according to the Trump administration—a record low.

Papered over

[ Sept. 1 ] I felt conflicted reading this article about Liberty University’s handling of its student newspaper because I can see the argument from both sides. I wondered what I would do if I had responsibility for advising the students. Then I read the sidebar, “Against journalistic slavery,” and it was just what I needed. You provided context and principles illustrated by personal experience. —Phil Joseph / Milton, Ga.

Died

Posing as carnivores

Don’t expect many British men to choose a vegetarian option for dinner when friends are around. Researchers from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom say their yearlong study demonstrates that men choose meat dishes for dinner because they fear what others around them would think if they ordered vegetarian. “What we have discovered is that many men are interested in eating less meat, they just need social permission to do so,” study author Emma Roe told The Telegraph.

‘I choose to go to the moon, with artists.’

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, SpaceX’s first paying moon tourist, on why he purchased not just a seat on the company’s rocket, but a whole flight to the moon. SpaceX has scheduled the trip for 2023.