Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Theresa May’s first keynote speech as British prime minister. In her closing address at the annual Conservative conference, May is expected to urge the Tories to move to a “new center ground” by becoming “the party of the workers.” Her home secretary has already unveiled plans to restrict non-EU migration ahead of Brexit and force companies to reveal how many British workers they employ.
Monsanto and Yum Brands release quarterly results. The seed-and-chemical giant’s latest quarterly results are expected to show a modest increase in revenue. Yum Brands, which owns Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC, delivers its last quarterly results before it spins off its China business.
US trade deficit data. The nation’s trade-deficit data for August will be released at 8:30am ET, and is expected to have contracted to $39.3 billion in August from $39.5 billion in July. The Markit Services PMI report for September comes out at 09:45 ET.
While you were sleeping
The US vice presidential candidates sparred. Republican Mike Pence lent a sheen of statesmanlike authority to Trump’s record and will probably be considered the winner by many Americans—if not by fact-checkers.
Hurricane Matthew pounded Cuba and headed for the US. The most powerful storm to hit the Caribbean in over a decade tore through Haiti and the Dominican Republic, made landfall in Cuba, and is expected to hit the US state of Florida by Thursday.
Tesco beat estimates with its first-half results. The UK’s biggest supermarket chain showed that its turnaround plan was having a positive effect, reporting a 60% rise in operating profit to £596 million ($759 million). It said it expected to deliver £1.2 billion in operating profit for the full year—and shares gained 9% (paywall) in early London trading.
Dutch insurer NN Group went after Delta Lloyd. The Dutch insurer and asset manager made an unsolicited €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) cash offer (paywall) for its rival. The deal, which still needs shareholder approval, would make NN the top player in its field in the Netherlands.
A Hong Kong pro-democracy activist was detained in Bangkok airport. Joshua Wong was stopped and sent back to Hong Kong. Beforehand, Wong had expressed concern about his trip to Thailand on Facebook, saying it was “close to the Chinese Communist Party.” He had planned to address a university audience about Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement and his new political party Demosistō.
Quartz obsession interlude
Alison Griswold on Uber’s troubles with self-driving cars. “For now Uber’s cars have limited operating hours and terrain, and they must travel with two humans up front—a designated ‘safety driver’ behind the wheel and an engineer in the adjacent seat. Even so, the company is pushing this technology onto the public when it remains largely unproven and other tests of driverless cars around the US have yielded their fair share of accidents.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Voting should be restricted to those with knowledge. We need a political system that empowers intelligent people.
Russia just became a threat to the US. Vladimir Putin’s decision to renege on a 20-year-old plutonium deal is a red flag from a country with a massive nuclear arsenal.
Chinese investments may put Hollywood in danger. Dalian Wanda’s acquisition of US movie chains and studios could open the door to censorship.
Surprising discoveries
Bees get drunk, too. According to a new study, bees made bolder, more optimistic decisions when given sweet nectar than bees that were given water.
Yahoo allegedly scanned millions of emails on behalf of US intelligence. The company even built special software to do the scanning, Reuters reported.
Jamie Oliver is suffering a paella backlash. Fans of the Spanish dish called his recipe, which includes chorizo, an “abomination.”
Jakarta’s waterways are 70% blocked. The Indonesian capital is dredging its 17 rivers and canals for the first time since the 1970s (paywall).
Panasonic has developed a bendable battery. The device could be a game-changer in wearable technology.
Corrections: A version of the Daily Brief sent out yesterday linked to a story about Hillary Clinton and Julian Assange that has since been discredited, incorrectly referred to Aleppo as the capital of Syria, and also contained a misleading line that suggested the International Monetary Fund considers free trade a boon only to the “fortunate few.”
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, authentic paella recipies, and buzzed bees to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our iPhone app.