Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The European Central Bank releases minutes from its July meeting. Amid signs the euro-zone economy gained strength in the second quarter, investors will look for clues on how the ECB plans to unwind its stimulus measures.
Japan talks North Korea in DC. Japan’s newly appointed defense and foreign ministers will meet their US counterparts in Washington. Dealing with Pyongyang will top the agenda (paywall), as Japan seeks to reaffirm US commitments (paywall) to its security.
Retail and tech earnings. Gap and Walmart report second-quarter results; investors will look for continued momentum from the latter as it battles Amazon. Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba also reports earnings, and is expected to show strong returns, buoyed by its booming cloud business and confident consumers in its home market.
While you were sleeping
Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong was jailed. Wong, together with fellow activists Nathan Law and Alex Chow, was sentenced to between six and eight months for their prominent roles in the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests. Human Rights Watch condemned the court’s decision as an attempt to crack down on future pro-democracy protests.
Steve Bannon had a Mooch moment… Like former White House comms director Anthony Scaramucci, who ranted to a New Yorker journalist last month, chief strategist Bannon called a writer at The American Prospect unbidden on Tuesday. He launched a tirade against China, saying it was locked in an “economic war” with the US, and called America’s white nationalists “a collection of clowns.”
…and Tim Cook condemned Donald Trump. “Hate is a cancer,” the Apple CEO wrote in an email to employees on Wednesday, according to a copy obtained by Buzzfeed. He said he disagreed with the president and others “who believe there’s a moral equivalence” between white supremacists and those who oppose them.
Uber hired a Mount Everest summiteer to lead its Southeast Asia business. Brooks Entwistle, former chairman of Goldman Sachs Southeast Asia, faces tough new terrain as rivals like Grab and skeptical regulators continue to challenge Uber in the region.
Philippine police carried out a second night of killings. At least 26 people were killed in police operations as president Rodrigo Dutere ramped up his war on crime and drugs, bringing deaths at the hands of police this week to 58. Duterte warned human rights groups not to get in the way of his campaign or the police would shoot then.
Hyundai announced a new long-range hydrogen-powered SUV. The Seoul-based automaker plans to launch a second-generation hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle with a 580 km (360 mile) range (paywall) early next year. Fuel-cell cars are emissions free and can be refueled in a few minutes; by 2020, South Korea aims to have 110,000 of them out on the road.
Quartz obsession interlude
Isabella Steger on Taiwan’s lavish solution to postpartum misery. “The boom in ‘postpartum centers,’ which in reality are often more like five-star (or more) hotels, seems counterintuitive in a place where the birth rate remains ultra low—in 2011, Taiwan had the world’s lowest, and this year it’s on track to be the lowest since the 2008 financial crisis.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Robots will restore our humanity. Increased automation frees us up to be more creative and empathetic.
“Anti-goals” are the key to workplace happiness. Making a list of things you want to avoid doing in your job can help you take stock.
Western media’s coverage of US white tribalism is hypocritical. If journalists covered civil unrest (paywall) in Charlottesville the way they do elsewhere, things would look a lot worse.
Surprising discoveries
Guam’s nuclear survival guide warns against conditioning your hair. Conditioner can bind radioactive particles to hair follicles.
Game of Thrones is forcing Croatia to crack down on overcrowding. Dubrovnik, or “King’s Landing” on the HBO show, wants to impose visitor limits to preserve city sights.
Domino’s is getting lost in translation in France. The pizza chain’s online ordering platform can’t deal with accents on words and slang (paywall).
A tweet by Barack Obama about race is making history. The former US president’s response to violence in Charlottesville has become the most-liked tweet ever.
Nokia is betting the “bothie” will replace the selfie. Its new Android phone can take photos with the front and rear cameras simultaneously.
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