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TikTok’s deal with Oracle appears close. Although there’s no official confirmation yet, CNBC says the Trump administration is set to approve the partnership today. According to the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal (paywalls), TikTok owner ByteDance will form a company in the US, with Oracle taking a minority stake.
Britain’s foreign secretary is in Washington to discuss Brexit. A future US-UK trade deal could be threatened by concerns over Ireland, and Dominic Raab will try to convince US officials that the UK’s plan to override parts of the Brexit divorce deal does not violate the Good Friday Agreement.
Yoshihide Suga is the new prime minister of Japan. The Japanese parliament confirmed the 71-year-old’s promotion to the top job today, following the health-related resignation last week of Shinzo Abe. He immediately has to try and get the world’s third largest economy back on track during a pandemic.
Government help for restaurants drove down inflation in the UK. The “eat out to help out” scheme, which ran throughout August, gave diners up to £10 ($13) off their meals, with the government paying the balance. Cheaper food means lower inflation, which is now at a five-year-low.
The World Trade Organization ruled that US tariffs on Chinese imports are illegal. But it’s not a US victory, Tim Fernholz reports. The new ruling marks another step towards trade based on economic power rather than on rules, and the panel’s report underlines the US failure to effectively oppose China.
Louisville agreed a $12 million settlement with the family of Breonna Taylor. Police officers shot and killed the 26-year-old Black woman at her home in March, prompting mass protests in the US and a wrongful-death lawsuit. Family members and activists continue to demand criminal charges.
Checking up on global health
đź’‰ Hoarding vaccines will extend the pandemic. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation warned rich countries that buying up all the vaccines and leaving poorer countries without is counterproductive.
📉 Covid-19 undid 25 years of global health progress in 25 weeks. Poverty, immunization rates, education, gender equality, clean water access, and more will take years to get back to pre-pandemic levels.
👀 And another potential epidemic needs serious attention. There’s a brewing mental health crisis for South Asian immigrants in the West.
Charting bitcoin in India
After a ban on cryptocurrencies was revoked in March, bitcoin accounted for 20% of the total traded volumes on WazirX, one of the popular cryptocurrency exchanges in India. Over the last six months, bitcoins worth $184 million were traded on the platform.
Not only is it the most stable, but bitcoin is one of the base currencies for buying altcoins if a user doesn’t want to use sovereign-backed money to trade. Endorsements from Wall Street veterans haven’t hurt the currency’s cachet either.
But Tether may be the other one to watch. Read more here.
Are commercial breaks coming to Netflix?
Netflix doesn’t have commercials—and it won’t any time soon. But that doesn’t mean it won’t embrace advertisers.
The streaming service had 193 million global subscribers as of June and is likely to surpass 200 million by the end of the year. For now, the only substantial way it monetizes that massive audience is from subscriptions.
But many observers—including marketers who want to reach those subscribers—believe the company needs to find other means through which it can capitalize on its legions of binge-watchers in the event subscriptions stop growing.
Read more about the ways Netflix is already working with advertisers, and what this means for the future of the TV ad, in this week’s field guide. If you’re not already a member, sign up to become one today.
Build a sustainable productivity routine
Hit reset on your productivity. Join us on Sept. 17 from 11am-12pm US eastern time for our free virtual workshop on how to build a sustainable productivity routine. For this workshop, we’ve assembled a group of experts to share practical tips and advice on how to overcome distractions and set yourself up for efficiency.
Obsession interlude: How we spend
The biggest question facing retailers of all stripes is whether the changes in global purchasing habits forced by the pandemic will result in a permanent disruption of how we shop and spend.
Almost every consumer-facing company—from luxury retailers to restaurants to entertainment venues—had to adjust to the lockdowns and quarantines. Some moved online, others reduced capacity, or just shut their doors and hoped to survive long enough for customers to return.
There’s evidence that some shoppers will, in fact, return to stores. That’s been the pattern in China, for example. But the post-pandemic world has both fewer stores, due to a wave of bankruptcies, and more opportunities to buy online. Amazon is a clear success story, and other retailers are more focused on e-commerce in anticipation of a permanent shift. Whether shoppers opt to stay online will dictate much of the future of retailing.
Keep up with our How We Spend obsession here.
Surprising discoveries
A man in England used a live snake as a face covering. He took the reptile on a bus.
Dolphins are making a comeback around Hong Kong. It’s because there aren’t many boats to disturb them.
A monkey appears to have taken selfies. A Malaysian man found the photos after retrieving his phone, which had gone missing, from the jungle behind his house.
Barbados wants to drop Queen Elizabeth as its head of state. She’s still the reigning monarch in 16 countries, including Canada and Australia.
Asbestos, Quebec is changing its name. The shortlist of new monikers includes Jeffrey and Trois-Lacs.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, new city names, and new heads of state to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Hasit Shah, Liz Webber, and Susan Howson.