Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Poland rolls out a controversial judicial overhaul. The European Commission has already lodged a protest against a new policy that would force out 40% of the country’s Supreme Court justices by lowering the mandatory retirement age from 70 to 65. Critics say the ruling Law and Justice party is seeking to undermine the independent judiciary.
Sweden’s central bank makes a policy statement. The Riksbank is likely to maintain its key rate, but it’s coming under increasing pressure to tighten policy.
The last of the World Cup’s quarterfinalists are confirmed. England play Colombia and Sweden play Switzerland in the final matches of the round of 16—some England fans are already daring to dream of a place in the finals.
While you were sleeping
Donald Trump sent snail mail to NATO leaders. In letters sent in June, the US president chastized the leaders (paywall) of countries including Germany, Norway, and Canada for spending too little on their own defence and warned that the US was running out of patience with the bloc.
Angela Merkel compromised on immigration. The German chancellor struck a last-minute deal with interior minister Horst Seehofer to keep her coalition in power. The two sides agreed to build transit centers which would allow Germany to send those who are seeking asylum in Europe back to their arrival point.
Australia convicted a senior Catholic cleric for concealing child sex abuse. Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson was sentenced to a maximum of 12 months in prison for covering up abuse by a priest in the 1970s in New South Wales. Wilson is the most senior member of the Church to be convicted of the crime to date.
Lyft bought a major US bike-share company. The $250 million acquisition of Motivate (paywall), which operates docked bikes in New York and other cities, adds to the increasingly fierce battle for alternative transportation startups. Uber recently acquired the electric bike-share firm Jump, as Lime and Bird raised hundreds of millions to expand their electric scooter fleets.
Prosecutors filed another sexual assault charge against Harvey Weinstein. The 66-year-old former film producer is accused of forcibly performing oral sex on a woman in 2006. He also faces two other charges, which altogether carry a potential sentence of 10 years to life in prison.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Nikhil Sonnad on what Belgium’s soccer team says about the neutrality of English. “French might seem like a better option as the team’s common language. Most Belgian players speak French well enough; it’s widely spoken in Belgium, and would be less likely than English to be understood by the team’s World Cup opponents. Moreover, some of the Belgian team’s players have rather poor English skills… But defaulting to French would be controversial.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Tech regulation must come from companies, not governments. Private third-party supervisors are more effective than slow bureaucracies.
Neymar is an emblem of Brazil’s problems with race. The star striker and the country’s soccer team (paywall) reflect Brazil’s racial diversity, but a hierarchy based on skin color still rules.
Amazon’s prescription drug push will be hard to swallow. Buying PillPack was easy compared with competing against powerful and well-established incumbents.
Surprising discoveries
Australia is punishing anti-vaxxers. Parents who don’t vaccinate their children will get money taken from their family tax benefits.
“Pompeii’s Unluckiest Man” was no more unfortunate than his neighbors. The 79 AD meme sensation (paywall) was killed by suffocation, not a boulder.
Japan’s World Cup octopus barely outlasted the country’s soccer team. The creature was sold for food before it could forecast the heartbreaking outcome of the Belgium match.
Astronomers photographed a planet’s birth for the first time. The image of a gas giant forming is equally beautiful and enlightening.
Uniqlo is using Roger Federer to show off its climate-controlling clothes. The Japanese company insists that it’s not a “sports company,” but a technology company.
“Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, scientific tennis wear, and psychic-octopus salad to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Isabella Steger and edited by Tripti Lahiri.