Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
A chemical plant near Houston is poised to explode. Arkema Group reports the plant was flooded due to tropical storm Harvey. Since Sunday the facility has been without the electricity and cooling needed to prevent chemical reactions leading to a blast. The surrounding area has been evacuated. In 2013 an explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant killed 15 people and destroyed 500 homes.
A German court will rule in an emissions suit against Volkswagen. A consumer advocacy group hopes to force the carmaker (paywall) to buy back all affected vehicles at the original price, saying the carmaker broke EU law by selling software that cheated emissions tests. Defeat is expected, but the group will appeal and wants the case to reach the European Court of Justice.
Vivendi releases first-half earnings. The French media conglomerate will win big as music streaming continues to grow, says a new Goldman Sachs report. Vivendi owns Universal Music Group, one of the world’s largest labels. Universal rakes in royalty payments whenever listeners access its songs through streaming services like Spotify.
While you were sleeping
Harvey flooded Port Arthur and crossed into Louisiana. The tropical storm churned through the Beaumont-Port Arthur area of Texas, causing devastating floods that shut down the largest oil refinery in the US, before weakening as it hit Louisiana. Authorities in Louisiana issued warnings for flash floods and storm surges.
Toshiba missed its self-imposed chip sale deadline. It’s been trying for months to offload its flash memory unit to pay down debt stemming from a disastrous move into the US nuclear business. One bid was bolstered at the last minute by Apple, which depends on flash memory from Toshiba for its iPhones—and doesn’t want to depend on Samsung.
Donald Trump pitched tax reform. Speaking in Springfield, Missouri, the US president said that lower- and middle-class Americans would benefit from a Republican tax code overhaul. An earlier report from a non-partisan research group concluded that 60% of Trump’s tax cuts would go to those making more than $599,300 a year.
A US federal judge blocked key parts of Texas’s ban on sanctuary cities. Two days before the law was slated to go into effect, judge Orlando Garcia issued a preliminary injunction blocking the main parts of it, in a victory for immigration rights advocates. Garcia suggested the law, authorizing local police to ask about immigration status during routine stops, would “erode public trust.”
Uber’s new CEO said it could go public in 18 to 36 months. During an all-hands meeting at the embattled ride-sharing giant’s San Francisco headquarters, Dara Khosrowshahi vowed to rebuild company culture and set a timeline for an initial public offering. An Uber IPO would be among the most highly anticipated market debuts in memory (paywall).
Quartz obsession interlude
Marc Bain on why H&M should do more than identify where its clothes are made. “Shoppers, especially millennials, are increasingly eager to make sustainable and ethical choices, and the rise of ‘transparency’ is a step toward helping them do so. But it’s not an end unto itself: Transparency can only ensure fair and safe practices when coupled with rigorous third-party monitoring, and when it’s clear enough for shoppers to understand.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The Rock should run for president. The world’s highest-paid actor could lay the smackdown on petty partisan politics.
A “fake” Instagram isn’t the ticket to social media freedom. The trend exposes the troubling way that work is taking over our lives online and offline.
Tech firms are the biggest competitive threat to the banking industry. Google, Amazon, and Facebook have the market cornered when it comes to the cloud, AI, and big data.
Surprising discoveries
Entire colonies of fire ants are floating in Texas floodwaters. The stinging pests are set adrift when their nests are inundated.
A first-time author unwittingly exposed the house of cards beneath “bestseller” books. A social media skirmish ultimately revealed how authors can buy their way to the top.
Nearly half a million people need to update their pacemakers’ software. The FDA is recalling several models that are vulnerable to hacker attacks.
Otters learn by copying each other. They complete puzzles more efficiently by watching other otters’ problem-solving techniques.
Traces of wine dating back 6,000 years were found in a Sicilian cave. The discovery revises the history of Italian winemaking back three millennia.
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