Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The US and South Korea kick off a joint military exercise. The annual event, Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, takes place in the wake of threats of war between North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and US president Donald Trump, and will last until Aug. 31. There are more than 28,000 US service members stationed in South Korea.
Trump outlines US engagement in Afghanistan and South Asia. The president will present a “path forward” for the US in the region at the Fort Myer military base in Arlington, Virginia. National security advisor H.R. McMaster has been spearheading a review mulling a more aggressive role for the US military in Afghanistan.
A total solar eclipse sweeps across the US. Towns in the 70-mile-wide path of totality are beset by tourists and traffic (paywall), but you can comfortably watch online from anywhere in the world using our guide. Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler will also perform on a cruise ship (paywall) during the spectacle on a special “Total Eclipse Cruise.”
Brits bid bye-bye to Big Ben’s bonging. Members of parliament will gather outside the iconic clock as it bongs for the last time for four years before renovation work on the clock tower starts. The decision to temporarily retire Big Ben, however, didn’t come without controversy, with some right-leaning politicians and media criticizing what they said was an effective silencing of the symbol of British democracy.
While you were sleeping
Trump faced more fallout from his handling of Charlottesville. The number of charities pulling out of hosting events at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort climbed to a dozen, joining a chorus of CEOs and artists protesting the president’s response to a violent white supremacist rally last week. The White House also announced that the president and first lady would not be attending this year’s Kennedy Center Honors, which artists had threatened to boycott.
The USS John McCain collided with an oil tanker near Singapore. The guided-missile destroyer was approaching port in the Strait of Malacca when the crash happened Monday morning local time, with 10 sailors reportedly missing and five injured. The clash is the second destroyer accident in recent weeks, after the USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship in Japanese waters in June, killing seven sailors.
Police in Spain narrowed their manhunt. Spanish authorities continued to search for the van driver who plowed into a crowd in Barcelona on Wednesday, killing 13 people. More than 100 gas canisters were also discovered in the search, leading officers to believe terrorists were planning an even larger attack.
Jerry Lewis died from natural causes at age 91. The comedian and filmmaker shot to fame working alongside Dean Martin in the late 1940s, before starring in several comedy cult classics. Also known for his philanthropic work, Lewis hosted the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s annual charity telethon for more than four decades.
Quartz obsession interlude
Isabella Steger on how a 100-year-old delivery firm is emblematic of Japan’s demographic and labor woes. “Yamato’s black-and-yellow logo is ubiquitous across Japan, as customers use the company to deliver same-day grocery orders, luggage to the airport ahead of a flight, or equipment to a music festival… But in today’s Japan, faced with a shrinking labor force and an insatiable demand for convenience and ever-faster deliveries, that level of service isn’t possible without something having to give.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Iceland’s prenatal testing is out of control. The disappearance of Down Syndrome in the country as a result of early-detection testing is a disturbing version of eugenics.
Humans shouldn’t terraform Mars. Making the Red Planet more habitable for future human colonists will subject it to humanity’s worst vices.
You might as well be your own therapist. Patients in therapy fared no better than those who followed self-help treatment in new research.
Surprising discoveries
Surfers have become obsessed with a cheap Costco surfboard. The imperfect but affordable Wavestorm board (paywall) is worshipped by pro surfers.
Children could solve a 2,000-year-old philosophy debate. Developmental psychologists think the way children learn might answer an age-old question of how knowledge is formed.
Elon Musk wants to ban killer robots. Tesla’s founder has joined a large group of AI experts in calling on the UN to ban autonomous weapons and prevent a “third revolution in warfare.”
An iconic pop music sound was discovered by accident. The punchy sound of reverb drums that dominated the charts in the 1980s began as a misrecording of Phil Collins drumming.
Persuasive astronomers are behind one of the most popular solar eclipse videos. The eclipse chasers convinced an airline to change its departure time in order to capture the stunning footage.
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