📬 Daily Brief: Sunak's triple challenge

Good morning, Quartz readers!

What you need to Know

Yesterday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was faced with a triple threat at the annual conference of the ruling Conservative Party.

The UK leader has a long list of things to do, including improving polls, fighting off rivals and gaining public support.

A little hope for populism

Will do the trick

Indonesia will get Southeast Asia's very first high-speed rail.

The project is part of

China's Belt and Road Initiative

The travel time between the capital and another major city will be reduced by 40 minutes.

Currently, it takes three hours

).

The government workers in Nigeria have received a pay increase.

The increase is a gesture of goodwill towards the labor unions who are in the country.

Strikes are a threat

In protest against economic hardships.

The Panama Canal is being restricted by the drought.

Only 31 vessels are allowed to travel on the waterway each day.

Usually, it's around 40

.

Climate change makes El Nino more extreme

El Nino, the climate pattern characterized by warm waters on the surface of the Pacific Ocean in its central and eastern regions, is back this year and it's avenging itself. This is because rising global temperatures set a warmer baseline for El Nino. El Nino then naturally warms Earth more.

What is the difference between this year's event and previous years?

7:

El Nino events since 2000

34:

The majority of provinces in Indonesia experienced severe drought during the El Nino 2014-16 season, which was the strongest and last one since 2000.

60 million:

Food aid was provided to people in Southern Africa affected by famine caused by the El Nino 2014-16 season.

What would happen if this El Nino is even stronger than last year's? Clarisa Diaz of Quartz looks back at the seven seasons

for some clues

.

Is the medical brain-drain in Nigeria due to rich countries?

"My safety is of no concern to them." The government does not care about me.

T., an Nigerian nurse, speaks about public officials in the country

Nurses in Nigeria are leaving the country because of pressures from within its health system. As the US and Europe pull healthcare workers out of places where they can't afford to lose them and leave them behind, this exodus increases the burden on nurses who are left behind. They become exhausted and burned out and look for a way out.

Quartz shares the story of T., and other Nigerian nurses as part of its series.

Merchants of Care

Published with the support of the Pulitzer Center, and in partnership Type Investigations.

You can read T.'s complete story

.

You may be familiar with Meta's AI assistants

Which of these celebrities isn't a source of inspiration for Meta AI's new AI Assistants?

A.

Snoop Doggy

B.

LeBron James

C. Kendall Jenner

D.

Naomi Osaka

Find your answer here

It doesn't really matter if Meta's AI investment is successful, so long as the data it collects on its users' usage patterns.

Quartz is the most popular of all gemstones

Can The Great British Bake Off go back to basics?

Poor countries pay the price for rich countries importing nurses to solve their nursing shortage.

Indian brokers crush the dreams of migrant nurse.

The new research from Sony AI has revealed new layers of skin color bias

About half of Americans aged 18-29 live with their parents

Apple is quiet about AI but it is the largest buyer of AI companies

Surprising discoveries

Earthworms are responsible for the 140 million tonnes of food we consume each year.

Invertebrates

Contribution to grain harvests

The same as Russia.

Scientists have created tiny flying robots using the art of origami in order to shape-shift mid-flight.

You can also find out more about the following:

Solar-powered machines

Can change from folded into unfolded within 25 milliseconds.

AI has detected new fairy circles on the planet.

The imprints on the ground, which are usually found in arid areas, were

Find new locations

In 15 countries.

Texas is getting too hot to BBQ...

Extreme heat and high prices of meat are causing the makers of this Southern staple to struggle.

Smoke them out

.

And to dive deep in lakes.

Hidden caves are being revealed by the record-low water levels.

The remains of abandoned houses

From a century ago

Best wishes for an productive day. Send us any news or comments. We'd love to hear about the productivity of earthworms and the grace of flying robots.

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Morgan Haefner is the author of today's Daily Brief.

Every weekday morning, we deliver a fun, quick and free briefing about the global economy.