Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The euro zone’s most powerful financial players in government gather. The cohort of EU finance ministers known as the Eurogroup will meet in Brussels to discuss the completion of the banking union and prepare for December’s euro summit. With Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem stepping down in January 2018, a plan will also be laid out to elect his successor.
SoftBank reports its second quarter results. Investors will likely have questions about its pullout from a merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, the latter which it bought in 2013. In addition to investments in WeWork, Sofi, and Slack, the Japanese tech giant—which has the largest tech investment fund in existence having raised $93 billion—is looking to buy a $10 billion stake in ride-sharing platform Uber.
Broadcom makes a $100 billion bid to buy its rival. The chipmaker is expected to unveil an unsolicited offer to purchase Qualcomm for $70 per share, amounting to the largest-ever technology acquisition. Qualcomm, meanwhile, will likely rebuff the deal, paving the way for Broadcom to launch a proxy fight.
While you were sleeping
The Paradise Papers uncovered the global elite’s hidden wealth. In a leak similar to last year’s Panama Papers, journalists around the world began publishing stories that revealed offshore financial accounts—beyond the reach of most governments—held by the world’s wealthiest people. Discoveries include Queen Elizabeth’s funds in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, Wilbur Ross’ stake in a shipping company with ties to Putin, and the Kremlin’s investments in Facebook and Twitter.
US president Donald Trump arrived in Japan. Shinzo Abe greeted Trump on Sunday at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Tokyo for a round of golf, gifting him with matching trucker hats reading “Donald & Shinzo: Make Alliance Even Greater.” He also made reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warning that “no dictator…should underestimate American resolve.” On Monday, Trump lamented that “Japan has been winning” when it comes to trade with the US, and urged the country to “Try building your cars in the United States instead of shipping them over.”
The “Warren Buffett of the Middle East” was arrested in Saudi Arabia. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was one of at least 10 princes detained on Saturday in a crackdown on alleged corruption that appears to be part of a consolidation of power by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. Boasting substantial investments in the likes of Apple, Citigroup, and 21st Century Fox, Alwaleed is considered the 45th-richest person in the world.
Dozens of people were killed in a Texas church shooting. A gunman opened fire at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs late Sunday morning before dying as he fled the scene, killing at least 26 individuals and injuring about as many. Police have yet to identify the shooter’s motive. Donald Trump, commenting from Japan, called the incident an “act of evil.”
Catalonia’s ousted president turned himself over to Belgian authorities. A judge granted Carles Puigdemont and four former ministers conditional freedom within the country, which they fled to days after Spain issued an arrest warrant against them. All five face potential extradition back to Spain, where they have been charged with rebellion and misuse of public funds.
Quartz obsession interlude
Allison Schrager, Christopher Groskopf, and Scott Cunningham on how the internet changed sex work. “Elle works in different cities, so she adjusts her prices to match the local market conditions. ‘I will also look at the places that I travel to for work, go to the ads on Backpage.com or Eros.com, and then check out their websites,’ she said. ‘Most girls will have their prices listed.’ Prices are cheaper in the Midwest, at about $200 an hour, but on the coasts she charges $260.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The Paradise Papers are really about income inequality. The ultra-wealthy are abusing offshore accounts which, while legal, are unfair.
China, the US, and other countries are over-emphasizing STEM studies in college. Signaling that art, political science, and philosophy are less valuable will erode civility.
The British don’t know what Britain is anymore. Citizens are divided over its national narrative, and it’s driving the country into irrelevance (paywall).
Surprising discoveries
Americans can’t stop renouncing their citizenship. For the third year in a row, US expatriation is on track to eclipse the previous year’s record, with over 6,800 citizens expected to flee the states by the end of 2017.
Corporate lobbies, not farmers, were behind America’s daylight savings time. Farmers didn’t demand an extra hour of sunlight at the end of the day—the sellers of candy, barbecues, and golf did.
North Korea has its own black market street food. Alongside smuggled electronics and housewares, vendors will sell snacks made of rice, soybeans, and sugar.
An undetonated bomb discovered in Germany was nothing more than a squash. Authorities called to a backyard in Bretten expecting to see a WWII-era explosive found nothing more than a massive, 16-inch-long (41 cm), 11 lb (5 kg) zucchini.
Invisible “rivers” in the atmosphere can affect the weather on earth. They drop vast amounts of rain in some places and not others, causing a patchworks of flooding and drought.
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