Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Boris Johnson asks to suspend parliament. The UK prime minister, who also meets with European Parliament president David Sassoli today, is expected to again ask Queen Elizabeth for a prorogation until Oct. 14, the last day a Brexit deal could be agreed upon. This time, the suspension probably won’t be ruled illegal.
The US supreme court rules on a landmark LGBTQ case. If the court finds that current Title VII employment anti-discrimination laws include sexual orientation and gender identity protections, the ruling could form the basis of a wide-ranging set of legal protections in housing, education, and beyond.
Finance chiefs take the mic. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell will speak in Denver—his first remarks since the US published its lowest manufacturing data in a decade, causing the odds of a rate cut to soar. And the International Monetary Fund’s Kristalina Georgieva will speak in Washington DC—her first speech since taking the post.
Domino’s and Levi’s report earnings. With shares down roughly 1% this year, investors in the county’s largest pizza maker will be watching out for a continued slow-down in sales. Levi’s latest results are expected to reveal whether its attempts to attract more women shoppers are working—and how much its store expansion is costing.
While you were sleeping
China suspended NBA broadcasts. China’s state-run CCTV and domestic tech giant Tencent will not broadcast the league’s pre-season games currently taking place in China. The announcement came after NBA commissioner Adam Silver defended Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey’s decision to tweet in support of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests over the weekend.
The UN said it’s running out of money. Secretary-general António Guterres informed his 37,000 employees that the body is operating with a $230 million deficit and that it could run out of money by the end of the month. Guterres attributed the shortfall to member states paying just 70% of the amount needed to maintain its $5.4 billion budget.
Hong Kong dropped its bid for the London Stock Exchange. London had already swiftly rejected the £32 billion ($40 billion) offer last month, saying the amount was too low. Now, Hong Kong has given up, saying it’s “disappointed” that it couldn’t engage with London’s leadership.
SoftBank’s bets on Uber and WeWork got a $5 billion price tag. Following a withdrawn WeWork IPO and a dismal debut on the public markets for Uber, investment analysts are anticipating major writedowns on Masayoshi Son’s Vision Fund.
Quartz Membership
Welcome to the age of the gray zone, where states use “intimidation and coercion in the space between war and peace,” as the US National Defense Strategy Commission defines it. For a time, deaths from armed conflict fell around the world, but now, driven by the complex interaction of global power politics and local ideologies, the world is facing the bloodiest years since the 1980s. Quartz reporter Tim Fernholz breaks it down in his state of play for this week’s field guide on the future of war.
Quartz Obsession
Ebola is inevitably fearsome—but maybe it’s not inevitable. One vaccine currently in development is even showing a 90% success rate if administered early. But perhaps more important is basic medical care, without which there’s a 90% rate of mortality. Ebola isn’t airborne and victims are only contagious when symptomatic, so the best prevention is improving health systems more generally. Get the prescription at the Quartz Obsession.
Matters of debate
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The NBA should cut ties with China. The league’s Chinese division is reportedly worth $4 billion, but it’s time to take a stand.
Automating entry-level jobs kills careers. Machines don’t just take jobs—they take away a stepping stone into an organization.
Grown-ups can’t help hating modern music. Psychologically, their brains are just less primed to take in new tunes.
Surprising discoveries
You can’t grab this bull by the horns. Scientists have successfully genetically engineered hornless bulls to save farmers from being gored.
African countries were named by bumbling European explorers. Marco Polo mis-recorded “Mogadishu” as “Madageiscar”, and a whole other country was named.
Being bad with faces might make you an introvert. It’s unclear if poor facial recognition causes introversion or if it’s the other way around.
Tree thieves terrorize US forests. The ne’er-do-well lumberjacks sell bigleaf maple trunks on the black market for a handsome fee.
Bullying reshapes kids’ brains. In one longitudinal study, two brain areas associated with movement and learning were smaller in bullied teens.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, bald-headed bulls, and legal lumber to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Luiz Romero and Max Lockie.