Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
North Korea’s foreign minister delivers a keynote to the UN General Assembly. Ri Yong-Ho is expected to justify the country’s nuclear weapons program as an act of self-defense.
Controversial French labor reforms are introduced. President Emmanuel Macron’s attempt to improve the country’s competitiveness and lower unemployment is expected to soon become law. Unions have protested the weakening of worker protections.
Theresa May’s big Brexit speech in Florence. Ahead of the fourth round of UK-EU talks on Monday, the UK prime minister is expected to offer a €20 billion payment (paywall) to the EU in exchange for access to the bloc’s single market.
While you were sleeping
S&P downgraded China. The ratings agency bumped the country down from AA- to A+, citing increased debt and financial risks. The move comes only weeks before the Communist Party shuffles key leadership posts and sets policy priorities at its twice-a-decade congress.
Donald Trump ordered new sanctions on North Korea. In response to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests, the US president authorized the treasury department to blacklist companies that continue to do business with Pyongyang—though he stopped short of additional penalties on China.
Tata Sons went private. Shareholders of India’s largest conglomerate voted to turn the $109 billion holding company into a private entity. Ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry had opposed efforts to dilute the value of his family’s minority stake.
The world’s richest woman died at the age of 94. Liliane Bettencourt, heir to the L’Oreal cosmetics empire, died peacefully in her home. She had an estimated net worth of €33 billion ($39 billion).
Facebook struck a deal with Congress. The tech giant agreed to give investigators more than 3,000 ads (paywall) purchased by Russia to influence the US presidential election, in a reversal of its previous stance. CEO Mark Zuckerberg formerly said the idea that fake news stories influenced the election was “crazy.”
Quartz obsession interlude
Katherine Foley, Youyou Zhou, and Christopher Groskopf on the evolving spectrum of sexual norms: “We found that over five decades, the most popular words in sexology evolved to reflect cultural ideas about what’s normal bedroom behavior. Broadly, these changes reflect major social events over time, including the sexual revolution, the AIDS epidemic, and the civil rights and LGBTQ movements.” Read more here.
Markets haiku
Apple sell-off scare / after all-time market highs. / Tech leads the tumble
Matters of debate
America needs Amazon more than vice versa. The competition is fierce to woo the company’s second HQ.
2017 is full of jerks. A Stanford professor points to technology and fatigue as primary factors—and he uses a much stronger word than “jerks.”
Tim Cook is nothing like Steve Jobs, and that’s a good thing. Apple’s current CEO has much more modest goals for his legacy.
Surprising discoveries
A bitcoin trader accused Jamie Dimon of market manipulation. The JPMorgan CEO allegedly badmouthed the currency while his own bank bought it.
A prestigious French chef asked Michelin to strip his restaurant of its stars. Sébastien Bras of Le Suquet said he’s weary of the constant pressure to perform.
Spiders have adorable paws with claws. The furry appendages are also capable of detecting wind currents and odors.
Iran’s president trolled Trump with poetry. To refute the US president’s accusations, Hassan Rouhani cited Persian literary masters from the 12th and 13th centuries.
A prehistoric frog may have eaten dinosaurs. Madagascar’s Beelzebufo ampinga (aka the “devil frog”) weighed up to ten pounds and may have also chomped on crocodiles.
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