Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Venezuelans protest against their president. An opposition coalition has organized a “Takeover Caracas“ rally in the capital to contest Nicolás Maduro’s crackdown on opposition leaders, amid severe shortages, crime, and rampant inflation.
The WHO committee on Zika meets. The emergency committee, which convenes every three months, will discuss efforts to fight the disease, after Singapore confirmed 26 new cases of locally transmitted infections, amounting to the largest cluster in Asia.
Lululemon reports earnings. Analysts expect to see a 12% increase (paywall) in the yoga-wear maker’s second-quarter earnings, as against the same period last year. Lululemon’s shares have risen by more than one third this year, doing much better than competitors Nike and Under Armour.
While you were sleeping
Donald Trump and Mexico bade each other a testy farewell. Speaking on Wednesday night in Arizona, right after a seemingly conciliatory visit to Mexico, the Republican presidential nominee said he would deport millions of undocumented people in his “first hour in office.” Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto called Trump a “huge threat” after the visit.
Samsung got burned by exploding batteries. The Korean smartphone giant had to delay shipments of its new flagship Galaxy Note 7 phones this week after reports emerged of the phone’s batteries catching fire. The news sliced $7 billion off the company’s market value and its share price hit a two-week low.
Pernod Ricard raised a glass to itself. The French liquor group posted a 2% rise in full-year underlying profit, to $1.4 billion, despite a sales decline in the last quarter. Strong sales in the US helped offset a slowdown in China for the world’s second-largest spirits company.
China’s factory activity surged. The official measure of manufacturing PMI rose to over 50 in August, a sign of expansion, and its highest reading since October 2014. Growth in the construction sector boosted the indicator. But China-watchers urge caution—they believe the country is not out of the woods yet. Also, the official PMI isn’t always trusted (paywall).
Mazda announced a massive recall. The Japanese carmaker will recall 2.3 million cars worldwide because of defective rear gates, as well as 110,000 cars in Japan over an engine computer flaw. It’s launched an online “recall center” for North America to help customers figure out if they’re affected.
Post-electoral protests in Gabon turned violent. Opposition supporters clashed with the police and set the parliament building on fire after incumbent president Ali Bongo won re-election. Bongo’s rival, Jean Ping, said the police attacked his party’s headquarters overnight, killing two people.
Quartz obsession interlude
Lauren Alix Brown on how musicians are helping design the hospital of the future. “The goal of changing the soundscape of hospitals isn’t to cover up suffering, but rather to make them more healing environments for those who work and receive treatment there. We may never get to a place where a hospital has the full comfort of home, but this is sounding like a start.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
India must stop trying to become the next China. If it wants to become a superpower, the country needs to first sign a free-trade deal with itself.
We’re heading for a more protectionist era. Politicians are going to be unable to resist the populist backlash on both sides of the Atlantic.
Facebook is a media company. Whatever Mark Zuckerberg says, distributing content and controlling the world’s news coverage is the definition of media.
Surprising discoveries
One in five British mothers regrets her child’s name. And the main regret, an (unscientific) online survey found, is giving children names that are too common.
NASA blankets are keeping refugees warm. The reflective, light plastic sheets used to protect athletes, refugees and disaster survivors were originally used to shield spacecraft from harsh environments.
ISIL law and FIFA rules don’t mix. The Islamic State has outlawed football referees in one Syrian city, saying that FIFA’s rules are “in violation of the commands of Allah.”
A hand-drawn map got a postcard delivered to a remote Icelandic farm. No address was no problem for Íslandspóstur, the national postal service.
Africa’s elephants are going extinct faster than we thought. There were over 1 million on the continent in 1979, but researchers expect the species to number 160,000 by 2025.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, hand-drawn postcards, and hospital soundtracks to hi@qz.com. You can download our iPhone app or follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.