Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Iran, Russia, and Turkey discuss Syria’s future. Representatives will meet with United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura to discuss the process for rewriting war-torn Syria’s constitution. De Mistura, tasked with picking members of Syria’s “constitutional committee,” will meet with Western and Jordanian officials later in the month.
Mario Draghi and Larry Summers kick off the ECB Central Banking Forum. The European Central Bank president and former US Treasury Secretary will speak at a three-day summit in Portugal on price and wage-setting in wealthy economies. Watch both speeches live here.
Will the US and South Korea suspend “war games”? Senior officials on both sides expect to cancel August’s Ulchi Freedom Guardian military exercise this week, after Donald Trump’s surprise announcement that he would end the two countries’ joint military exercises. The move should please North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Markets are closed in China for the Dragon Boat Festival.
Over the weekend
Colombians voted on a new president. Voters chose between dramatically different candidates: leftist Gustavo Petro, a former Bogota mayor and guerrilla, and young conservative Ivan Duque (paywall), who supports oil exploration and cutting corporate taxes.
Elizabeth Holmes was indicted for wire fraud. Late on Friday, both the Theranos founder and former COO Ramesh Balwani were formally accused of scheming to dupe investors, doctors, patients, and the public about the company’s “revolutionary” blood-testing technology. The pair could face decades in prison.
The US issued a travel advisory for Russia. Americans should reconsider travel to the World Cup, warns a new state department advisory, which describes local officials as untrustworthy, and the event as bait for terrorists. It also emphasizes that Crimea is, in fact, an occupied territory.
Migrants from the boat Aquarius arrived in Spain. After a week of being turned away by both Malta and Italy, hundreds of migrants drifting on the Mediterranean Sea were given safe harbor. They docked in Valencia, but not before losing at least two young men.
Soccer fans caused an earthquake in Mexico City. Mexico’s winning goal against Germany may have made seismic waves back home. Sensors housed in the country’s Institute of Geological and Atmospheric Research recorded artificial tremors, attributed to “mass jumping” at the time of the goal.
Quartz obsession interlude
Ephrat Livni on Cambridge Analytica’s resurrection: “Top staffers from the fallen consultancy are back on the job at a newly-formed company with a name that’s eerily reminiscent of the last place they worked—Data Propria. As the name implies, the new company is similarly preoccupied with gathering information, specifically to target voters and consumers.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Globalists should learn the zen of trade. Too many free traders are focused on how they think the world should be, instead of how it is.
OPEC’s not the one driving up oil prices. Donald Trump’s decision to re-introduce sanctions against Iran will reduce the amount of crude oil (paywall) by as much as a million barrels a day.
Paris bistros deserve UNESCO status. As iconic sites of debate, romance, and business, the sidewalk scenes are a key part (paywall) of France’s “intangible cultural heritage.”
Surprising discoveries
China is reeling in all the world’s squid. Thanks to the government’s help, Chinese fishing ships account for 50 to 70% of all squid caught in international waters.
Ontario is giving citizens’ health data to corporations. The government hopes data-sharing will speed the development of healthcare-related tools.
Zongzi are a way of networking. The wrapped balls of sticky rice, traditional for China’s Dragon Boat Festival, were historically gifted to gain favor or courtesy.
Goldman Sachs bankers are quietly moonlighting as venture capitalists. The bankers were early backers (paywall) of Uber, Dropbox, and Square.
Connecticut is America’s most psychopathic state. A study of psychopathy across the US placed California at number two, followed by New Jersey.
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