Hong Kong: Wong arrested
Joshua Wong, the prominent pro-democracy activist, and two other well-known Hong Kong opposition leaders were arrested ahead of planned unauthorised protests. Wong’s party said he was “forcefully pushed into a private minivan on the street” and taken to a local police station. Sources: BBC, Deutsche Welle, the Guardian and South China Morning Post.
Hong Kong: Troop rotation
China’s People’s Liberation Army conducted its “routine annual rotation” of its forces garrisoned in Hong Kong in unusually visible fashion ahead of this weekend’s protests. This was, one commentator said, to prevent “any misunderstanding and speculation about troop deployment”. Sources: Hong Kong Free Press, Reuters, South China Morning Post and Telegraph.
Brexit: Johnson bullish on talks
Boris Johnson said he will “step up the tempo” of Brexit negotiations with the EU. British officials are to meet with their Brussels counterparts twice a week in September. Sources: BBC, the Financial Times, New York Times and Guardian.
Brexit: Confidence slumps
Britain’s economic confidence has hit its lowest level since September 2012. Sources: Bloomberg, Financial Times, the Guardian and Reuters.
Brazil: Recession averted
After shrinking by 0.2% in the first quarter of the year, Brazil’s economy grew 0.4% in the April-June period, beating analyst expectations. Sources: Bloomberg, Financial Times and Reuters.
Technology: Huawei without Google
Huawei’s next forthcoming flagship smartphone will be released without any Google apps. Sources: BBC, the Guardian, Reuters and The Verge.
Media: Youtube drops paywall
Youtube will make its original programming free (and will focus more on advertising than subscriptions) as it competes with rival video streaming services from Amazon and Netflix (and soon Apple and Disney). Sources: Adweek, Deadline, Financial Times and the Telegraph.
Agenda
Friday 30 August-Sunday 1 September: Schwebsange wine festival. Saturday 31 August: Luxemburg Elektro Festival in Esch-Alzette. Saturday 31 August-Sunday 1 September: Kirchbéier craft beer festival takes place in Kirchberg. Monday 2 September: Braderie street sales in Luxembourg City-Centre and Gare districts. Delano Live: Still time to win free passes to the next edition, on the retail wine business, held 24 September.
Here are 3 finance & economy article you may have missed
Investor fright: Ongoing protests have a hit Hong Kong’s property and stock markets hard, per the South China Morning Post. Culinary trade: “The United States is the world’s biggest net importer of cuisine, gobbling down $55bn more in foreign dishes than the rest of the world eats in American fare” and Italy is the biggest net exporter, per The Economist. Corporate manoeuvres: The Atlantic explained why stock buybacks are so popular among US listed firms.
Here are 3 science & technology stories you may have missed
Automotive: Tesla is reportedly looking for a site to build its fourth battery “gigafactory” in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia or Lower Saxony, per the Rheinische Post via Observer.com. GDPR: Sweden’s data protection agency fined a high school €19,000 for using a facial recognition system to monitor student attendance, reported The Next Web. Health: “Optimistic people live as much as 15% longer than pessimists, according to a new study” covered by Science magazine.
Runners take care of yourselves
GQ has tips on treating “runners knee” and four other common running injuries. (Stating the obvious, but see a medical professional if it doesn’t get better soon.)
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald