Good morning, Quartz readers!
WHAT TO WATCH FOR TODAY
The G20 summit in Hangzhou, China draws to a close. Chinese president Xi Jinping told fellow world leaders that the global economy is under threat from rising protectionism and highly leveraged financial markets.
Debating Brexit all over again. Members of Britain’s House of Commons will debate a petition calling for a second referendum on EU membership. But prime minister Theresa May has alreadydismissed the idea of a second referendum, even though the public petition gathered more than four million online signatures.
Markets are closed in the US and Canada. Both countries mark their Labor Day holidays.
OVER THE WEEKEND
Japan warned Britain against making too hasty a Brexit. The Asian giant is worried about the lack of clarity on the terms of UK’s exit and how it might affect Japanese investments in the UK particularly in the automotive and banking industries.
The Catholic Church gave Mother Teresa sainthood. The process began five years after her death in 1997. But the decision to make her a saint has not been without controversy. Some in Kolkota, the city for which her selfless work is best known, aren’t really bothered one way or another.
A politician spoke about one of the biggest taboos of being a woman. In advance of her upcoming book, Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon candidly admitted to having a miscarriage in 2011. In doing so, she started a discussion women rarely have in public forums, even though one in six pregnancies end in miscarriage.
Hong Kong’s post-Occupy activists entered government. Following record voter turnout, preliminary results from the city’s legislative election suggest that several seats went to candidates who are openly challenging Beijing’s authority over Hong Kong. These activists-turned-politicians will be the first members of the Legislature to openly reject “One country, two systems,” the premise that has defined the city’s relationship with Beijing since 1997.
QUARTZ OBSESSION INTERLUDE
Allison Schrager on how technology is taking jobs away from men. A great shift in job culture has upset men before, during England’s industrial revolution in the 19th century. The current trend could see a return to artisanal employment for the middle class, where good jobs combine technology and interpersonal skills to deliver specialized, high-quality services. Read more here.
MATTERS OF DEBATE
Having boys saves marriages. Data suggests couples who have sons are more likely to stay together.
China is still our best hope for global growth. Despite the hand-wringing, no developing economy comes close to China’scontribution to global growth.
Bottled water is a sham. It’s more expensive and worse for the environment than tap water, and often comes from the same source.
SURPRISING DISCOVERIES
Your avocado toast may be killing the Monarch butterfly. As avocado demand rises, so does the incentive to deforest swathes of land and plant avocado trees instead of the pines that are usually the winter home for Monarch butterflies.
The UK is weirdly terrified of immigration from one specific country. And it’s not a country which has a history of much migrationto the British isles.
China’s helicopter parents sleep in tents on their kids’ campuses. They often stay for several days at the start of the school year to say goodbye to their only children.
One in four Americans didn’t open a book last year. A new poll shows that the portion of adults who read at least one book in the last year stayed the same as the previous year.
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