Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
China’s Communist Party kicks off its twice-a-decade meeting. Beijing’s most important political event, lasting about a week, brings together the party’s top 2,300 members. But don’t expect drama from the 19th National Congress: All the big decisions have already been made behind closed doors.
Rex Tillerson gives his first policy speech on India. The US secretary of state will deliver a speech on US-India relations to a top think tank in Washington, DC. The talk, at 10am local time, will be streamed live and comes ahead of Donald Trump’s visit to Asia next month.
Credit cards and airlines report results. Third quarter revenue is expected to reflect accelerating loan growth at American Express. United Airlines’ earnings will likely reflect a turbulent quarter, thanks mainly to Hurricane Harvey, which forced it to cancel more than 7,000 flights.
While you were sleeping
Xi Jinping warned Taiwan against independence. In a marathon three-and-a-half hour speech to open the 19th National Congress, the Chinese president warned that Beijing would never allow Taiwan to break away. He heralded a new era of Chinese power and said that China will relax market access for foreign investors.
Germany started tough coalition talks. A three-way coalition between Angela Merkel’s conservatives, the pro-business Free Democrats, and the environmentalist Greens is the only viable option after September’s election result. The chancellor will to try to unite the old enemies, who disagree on refugees, climate, and European integration.
US authorities charged Rio Tinto with fraud. The SEC accused the British-Australian mining giant and two former executives—ex-CEO Thomas Albanese and former CFO Guy Elliott—of hiding losses by inflating the value of coal assets in Mozambique. Elliott resigned from his new job at Shell over the charges.
The head of Amazon Studios quit over harassment allegations. Roy Price is leaving his post (paywall) after producer Isa Hackett accused him of making lewd remarks and unwanted advances to her in 2015. Meanwhile actress Rose McGowan accused Price of ignoring her claims she’d been raped by Harvey Weinstein.
Reckitt Benckiser shook things up. The British consumer goods giant reported its weakest quarter ever in July, after a massive cyber attack and a safety scandal in South Korea. In an effort to get back on track, it will now split into two: a health unit and a home and hygiene unit. Reckitt hopes that US formula maker Mead Johnson, which it bought in June, will make up half of the health unit’s sales.
Quartz obsession interlude
Lianna Brinded on the unexpected, paradigm-shifting power of #MeToo. “To be honest, I would be more surprised if any woman didn’t post #MeToo. Because unfortunately, we are used to this treatment—it has just been normalized. Some experiences are clear-cut, but for those of us who grew up in a less-woke era, this has been a moment to reassess a myriad of incidents from our own pasts.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The Supreme Court is allergic to math. For decades, the court has ignored or misinterpreted quantitative evidence in a variety of cases.
We don’t dream as much as we used to, and it’s a public health problem. A lack of deep REM sleep leads to irritability, depression, erosion of reason, memory loss, and weight gain.
You are what you read. You’re reading all the time (even right now!), but browsing the internet may not be the kind of reading that hones your mind.
Surprising discoveries
Fish depression is a lot like the human variety. Sad fish withdraw to the bottom of their tanks (paywall), and happy ones play toward the top.
There’s a secret Swiss bunker where millionaires stash their bitcoins. Private cryptographic keys are guarded by a security team that fends off constant attacks.
A missing Rodin bust of Napoleon was hiding in plain sight for 85 years. Worth an estimated $10 million, it was on display in a New Jersey town hall.
Super high-end coffee shops will pour you a cup for $55. Rare beans, fancy equipment, and a healthy dollop of hype add up to sky-high prices (paywall).
General Motors will test self-driving cars in New York City. The packed streets will give autonomous cars tougher training scenarios than the suburbs.
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