Good morning, Quartz readers!
Here’s what you need to know
The UK sets out a new post-Brexit blueprint… Prime minister Boris Johnson will announce a new law governing how powers currently held by the EU will be shared out, and trade among the UK’s four nations after the country leaves the bloc. The new rules, however, could override parts of the UK-EU withdrawal agreement, and the government has admitted as much.
…and England toughens rules on social gatherings. The new restrictions, which take effect on Sept. 14, include limiting social gatherings to six people, and come amid a surge in coronavirus cases. The measures are expected to dampen enthusiasm for the government’s call for people to resume working in offices.
A leading coronavirus vaccine trial was put on hold. The suspension comes after a UK participant developed a “potentially unexplained illness.” Researchers from the University of Oxford, working with drugmaker AstraZeneca, must now conduct a safety review to ascertain whether it is linked to the vaccine.
Donald Trump announces a further reduction of troops in Iraq. There are currently over 5,000 US troops there, and an additional drawdown of US forces in Afghanistan is also expected soon. Separately, the justice department requested to take over the president’s defense in a defamation lawsuit filed against him by E. Jean Carroll, a columnist who has accused him of sexual assault.
OBSESSION INTERLUDE: BEYOND SILICON VALLEY
To understand a Quartz obsession, it helps to check the numbers. Here are some figures that explain why India is central to looking Beyond Silicon Valley:
450 million: Internet users in India, the world’s second-largest user base after China—even though less than half of India’s population has access to the web.
24: Number of unicorns in India, the fourth highest in the world after the US, China, and the UK.
$21 billion: Money raised by Jio Platforms, the digital services business run by India’s richest man, between April and June. Investors include Facebook, Google, and Saudi Arabia among others.
$16 billion: Amount Walmart paid in 2018 to acquire a majority stake in Indian e-commerce unicorn Flipkart. It’s Walmart’s biggest-ever acquisition and the world’s largest e-commerce buyout to date.
$10 billion: How much Google plans to invest in India over the next seven years.
Keep up with our Beyond Silicon Valley obsession.
Charting India’s smartphone market share
Two years after it beat long-time incumbents to become the market leader, Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus saw its share of India’s premium smartphone segment sliding in recent months, mainly due to its made-in-China tag.
Scores of Indians already blamed China for the Covid-19 outbreak, and things got worse when 20 Indian soldiers were reportedly killed on the Chinese border in the Galwan Valley in June. Indian calls to #BoycottChina have only grown since then.
You’re overconfident (and in good company)
Of all the errors in human judgment, overconfidence may be the most damaging. Psychologists Don Moore, of the University of California, Berkeley, and Max Bazerman of Harvard, call it “the mother of all biases” in their textbook on decision making.
Overconfidence comes in many forms, but “it is overprecision that I think is the most consistent and pernicious,” says Moore, the author of Perfectly Confident: How to Calibrate Your Decisions Wisely.
Overprecision involves being too sure of the accuracy of your own beliefs, and, inspired by a test in Moore’s book, Quartz created a tool for you to identify and work around overconfidence, which can lead to costly errors when making decisions. Try it out—it’s part of our field guide this week on the topic.
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Preparing for climate change
Millions of migrants will be in search of climate havens this century—Quartz can’t build a real one, so we did the next best thing and created the fictional city of Leeside. But other, very real communities are starting to make moves.
🏙 Get ready. India’s megacities aren’t ready for a wave of climate migrants from agricultural areas that are being hit hardest.
🌊 Preserve cultures. Institutionalized racism in the US has put people of color in the greatest danger, so the South Carolina Lowcountry is rounding up its stories before it’s too late.
🏝 Shore up the shores. Atoll islands have immediate needs to consider, like moving a population en masse, building new islands, or raising existing ones.
🏠 Consider not committing. Buying a house in the era of climate change is no longer the safe bet it used to be.
Surprising discoveries
Google is blurring out Hong Kong graffiti. Words like “FK popo” and “democracy,” which pepper the protest-ridden city, have been rendered illegible on Street View.
A new kind of taxi service in Japan. A company will send a driver to visit graves for those unable to travel for the annual Obon holiday.
Tooth fractures are on the rise. A New York dentist attributes the phenomenon to stress and bad work-from-home ergonomics.
Keeping Up With The Kardashians will finally end. After 14 years, the reality show’s final season airs early next year.
Berghain is now an art gallery. The legendary Berlin nightclub is reinventing itself as clubbers continue to stay away.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, dentist bills, and filial drivers to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app on iOS and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Isabella Steger, Jane Li, Max Lockie, and Susan Howson.