Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Angola heads to the polls. For the first time in nearly 40 years, the country will have a new president as 74-year-old Jose Eduardo dos Santos is stepping down reportedly due to health issues. Defense minister João Lourenço is the favorite to succeed him despite significant opposition.
Samsung unveils its next flagship phone in New York. The South Korean giant will likely tout the quality control that went into producing the Galaxy Note 8 (paywall). The company is releasing the phone a year after the Note 7 debacle, when widespread incidents of phones catching fire prompted a global recall of the smartphone.
Whole Foods shareholders vote on Amazon’s bid. The organic-grocery chain agreed in June to a $13.7 billion takeover by Amazon, whose offer at $42 per share was 27% higher than Whole Foods’s last trading price before the bid announcement.
Israel and Russia hold Syria talks. Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet with president Vladimir Putin in Sochi on the Black Sea to discuss the conflict in Syria. Israel has pushed back on the encroachment of Iranian forces—many equipped with Russian military artillery—on the Israel-Syria border.
While you were sleeping
The US Navy will relieve an admiral from his post after a string of accidents. Joseph Aucoin will be removed from his position as three-star commander of the Seventh Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan, following four collisions since January including two deadly ones. Divers are still searching for remains of the 10 missing US sailors from the USS John McCain, which collided with an oil tanker near Singapore on Monday.
A powerful typhoon lashed Hong Kong. The city raised the highest No. 10 typhoon signal for the first time in five years, as severe typhoon Hato moved closer to the city this morning local time. Trading was suspended on the stock exchange, and hundreds of flights were canceled.
Trump held a combative rally in Phoenix, Arizona. The president reiterated that he would build the Mexican border wall, implied he would pardon former sherif Joe Arpaio, and used the occasion to rail against CNN and the rest of the press (paywall), accusing it of “distorting” his response to Charlottesville. The rally ended with police using tear gas and pepper balls to disperse protestors.
Major mutual funds marked down their Uber investments. Vanguard, Principal, and Hartford Funds marked down their holdings (paywall) by 15% for the quarter ended June 30, while T. Rowe Price cut the estimated price of its Uber shares by about 12%. Uber’s shares don’t trade publicly, so funds must provide estimates of their holdings every quarter.
Quartz obsession interlude
Gideon Lichfield on “blood and treasure,” the phrase Trump keeps using about Afghanistan. “‘Blood and treasure’ obviously just means ‘lives and money.’ But nobody ever writes about the ‘blood and treasure’ that will be lost to a tsunami, an Ebola outbreak, or the opioid epidemic. It’s specifically a war cliché—a kind of rhetorical cape that writers and politicians throw over their shoulders to lend their opinions a little more gravitas.” Read more here.
Markets haiku
Risk indicators / are rising as Dalio / says, “I told you so.”
Matters of debate
Longevity is the enemy of workplace satisfaction. People 35 and older are twice as likely to hate their jobs.
A US war with North Korea could rapidly envelop Asia. The proximity of China, Japan, and Russia could quickly pull in several Asian powers.
Economists still can’t decide whether the minimum wage is a good thing. If wage floors are effective, they would upend orthodox economic theory.
Surprising discoveries
A Madagascar cyclone made vanilla four times more expensive. Prices just hit a record high, and artificial alternatives don’t taste the same.
Doing the Macarena could be illegal in Saudi Arabia. A teenager was arrested after a video of him doing the dance went viral, weeks after a singer was arrested for “dabbing” at a concert.
The Hallmark Channel is really, really popular. Known for its feel-good shows with happy endings, Hallmark is one of the few non-news channels to record a surge in ratings (paywall) last year.
The Australian tiger snake’s venom hasn’t evolved in 10 million years. Its venom is so powerful that it’s never had to counter-adapt to evolutionary changes among prey.
Scientists are collecting poop from elite athletes. Their microbes may carry the secret to endurance—which could be offered in pill form.
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