Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Summitry in the Philippines begins. Donald Trump arrived from Vietnam in time for the ASEAN summit’s 50th anniversary dinner. Leaders are to announce a new “code-of-conduct” for territorial disputes over the South China Sea. Critics say the 10-nation-bloc’s decision-making style can’t resolve Beijing’s claims to the strategic waterway. And, of course, Trump will meet with Rodrigo Duterte.
The US bickers over tax reform. The Senate will hold a finance committee meeting today to parse details of the Republican-led tax reform effort. Republicans remain split on several issues, including on the proposed timing of the corporate tax cut and the top tax rate. At this speed, lawmakers will be pressed to get legislation to Trump’s desk by the end of the year.
A $150 million World Cup scheme heads to court. The US trial of a 24-year bribery scheme over broadcasting and hosting rights of the games begins today in New York. More than 40 people have already pleaded guilty in the operation.
Global emissions are going in the wrong direction. Delegates to the Bonn UN Climate Change Conference are expected to continue meetings this week to further cement steps to enact the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Currently, the US is the only country in the world not participating.
Over the weekend
Kim Jong-un called Trump an “old lunatic.” The North Korean leader’s comments came after Trump’s South Korean speech warning the regime to stop developing nuclear weapons. With uncharacteristic humor, Trump tweeted back Saturday, “Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me ‘old,’ when I would NEVER call him ‘short and fat?’ “
Twitter users assailed Roy Moore in the US Senate race. Moore, running as a Republican in Alabama, is accused of sexual misconduct, including dating at 14-year-old when he was 32. He’s said the allegations about his behavior 40 years ago aren’t true. Twitter users posted photos in a #MeAt14 campaign, asking whether children that age should date a 32-year-old.
A 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked Iraq. The quake occurred along the border with Iran, and was felt in Erbil and as far south as Baghdad, where journalists said they could feel tall hotels swaying from the tremors.
Alibaba snagged $25.3 billion in Singles’ Day sales. That’s a record amount for the Chinese online retailer, which has been pushing to make the sales day a global event. About 90% of the transactions took place by mobile phone.
United Airlines stopped flights to New Delhi. The temporary halt in flights between Newark, New Jersey, and New Delhi is because of poor air quality in the Indian capital. A toxic smog prompted the city’s leader, Arvind Kejriwal, to call the capital a “gas chamber.”
Elon Musk’s Instagram account caused a stir in Turkey. The Tesla CEO posted a photo of himself that has garnered more than 1 million likes. In it, Musk stands at the grave of former Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk’s values conflict with those championed by current Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who’s been tightening his grip over the country.
Uber’s former CEO relinquished some power. In exchange, one of Uber’s investors, Benchmark, will put a stay in its lawsuit against Travis Kalanick. The deal clears the way (paywall) for the multi-billion-dollar SoftBank investment and gives directors more control over who fills three board seats.
Demonstrators called for ethnic purity in Poland.
In an Independence Day march of about
in Warsaw, radical nationalist groups chanted anti-gay, anti-Muslim, and anti-Semitic rhetoric. The chanters were not immediately condemned by senior government officials.
Quartz obsession interlude
Dave Gershgorn on the complexities of creating human-like artificial intelligence. “Our best AI today can do very specific tasks. AI can identify what’s in an image with astounding accuracy and speed. AI can transcribe our speech into words, or translate snippets of text from one language to another. It can analyze stock performance and try to predict outcomes. But these are all separate algorithms, each specifically configured by humans to excel at their single task.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
British Vogue’s new editor delivered his first issue. Edward Enninful, the former creative director of W Magazine, says he will show models of all shapes, sizes, and colors. New contributing editor and model Naomi Campbell had criticized the magazine under former editor Alexandra Shulman for its all-white staff.
Alibaba’s Singles’ Day threatens a history of valuing frugality. What do record-smashing online sales actually say about cultural shifts in China? Singles’ Day represents China’s rise as a world power and the buying power of its citizens. It also questions whether the previous generations’ roots in thriftiness and frugality will survive.
Teresa May can’t catch a break. The British prime minister is caught between a rock and a hard spot over Brexit. A secret memo written by two government secretaries pushed her to announce June 2021 as the date to break from the EU. Meanwhile, in the House of Commons, a cross-party group of MPs say they have the votes to stymy a hard exit.
Surprising discoveries
Apple’s new iPhone X can represent 16 million colors. Who knew there were so many?
Nasa launched 7,400 pounds of groceries into space. Fresh fruit and vegetables are a rare treat for the astronauts on the International Space Station. The agency also sent up some E. coli to test the bacteria’s reaction to a low gravity.
The ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya is visible from space. More than 600,000 members of Myanmar’s ethnic minority have fled persecution.
Boris Johnson met the mysterious London professor. A Facebook post shows the UK foreign secretary sipping wine with Josef Mifsud, the Maltese professor who allegedly promised a Trump campaign advisor “dirt” on Hillary Clinton from Russian sources, casting further suspicion on how Russia influenced elections.
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