Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
OPEC+ meets in Abu Dhabi. The confab of petroleum exporting nations and its partners should provide hints at how far the group will go to shore up prices. It comes on the heels of an OPEC demand forecast downgrade for 2019 and 2020.
The ECB announces a rate cut. At the European Central Bank’s meeting, observers expect to see a deposit rate cut of 10 to 20 basis points as well as quantitative easing measures. Bank president Mario Draghi will hold a news conference after the announcement.
The Frankfurt Motor Show begins. This year’s expo will highlight sustainable vehicles, such as Porsche’s first all-electric sports car and BMW’s new hydrogen-powered car. Chinese manufacturers, particularly electric battery suppliers, will have a big presence at the show.
While you were sleeping
The Hong Kong Exchange offered to buy London’s. The £32 billion ($40 billion) surprise bid for the London Stock Exchange comes as the two regions face considerable geopolitical turmoil and would likely drum up significant scrutiny. The merger would create an entity with a combined market value of more than $70 billion.
A Scottish court ruled the UK Parliament’s suspension unlawful. The immediate practical effects of the ruling are unclear; the UK’s supreme court will hear the government’s appeal next week, and Parliament is unlikely to reconvene before then.
China said it’s investigating a dissident’s disappearance. It is believed Lee Meng-chu, a Taiwanese man who visited Hong Kong and then crossed into Shenzhen, distributed photos of Chinese troops gathering near the Hong Kong border. Lee’s family has been unable to reach him since Aug. 18.
The Netherlands’ euthanasia laws were tested. A Dutch court ruled that a doctor did not break the law by giving a patient with Alzheimer’s a lethal drug without consulting her, treating her written declaration from four years prior as sufficient. The Netherlands has allowed doctor-assisted euthanasia since 2002.
Post-Suharto Indonesian president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie died. His 16-month presidency opened the door for democratic reforms such as a free press and free elections, as well as an independence referendum for East Timor. He died in Jakarta at age 83.
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Quartz Obsession
Esports is the Super Bowl of streaming. If you’ve ever been mesmerized watching someone else play a video game, then you get the appeal of esports. If you haven’t, it’s still worth paying attention. Streaming video game play keeps esports platforms brimming with viewers around the clock, and sooner or later, those eyeballs will be monetized. The Quartz Obsession takes the lead.
Matters of debate
Join the conversation on the Quartz app!
Storm is the hero we’ve been waiting for. Forget Black Panther and Luke Cage, the X-Woman is the comic world’s overlooked trailblazer.
Is it OK for a nonprofit to accept tainted money? It depends on how the money was made, how much influence it buys, and what would happen to it otherwise.
Teenagers shouldn’t have smartphones. Kids miss out on more by having constant connectivity than by not having it.
Surprising discoveries
Scientists reconstructed a “lost continent.” Remnants of Greater Adria can be found in Italy, Turkey, Greece, the Alps, and the Balkans.
A new device can mass-produce “synthetic” human embryos. While embryoids are important for the study of human development, the method raises ethical questions.
Planes are keeping track of your bathroom use. Sensors track all sorts of flyer behavior to help airlines plan, save, and find things to charge money for.
Exoplanet forecast: rain. A rocky planet twice the size of Earth has water vapor in its atmosphere—good conditions for possible life forms.
Your credit card sounds awful. Square’s card reader converts the magnetic strip’s information into dissonant noise to send it through a headphone jack.
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