Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The US reinstates sanctions against Iran. Many of the sanctions that were relaxed under Barack Obama will come back in full force following Donald Trump’s decision in May to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.
Weight Watchers reports second-quarter earnings. Investors will be looking for good news from the company, which lifted its full-year earnings outlook in May. Weight Watchers’ stock has more than doubled this year.
England Cricket star Ben Stokes appears in court. Stokes bowled England to victory against India, but a trial over charges of affray—fighting, basically—means he won’t be able to play in the second game of a five-match series.
Over the weekend
Venezuela’s president accused Colombia of trying to kill him with drones. Nicolás Maduro was giving a live televised speech when an explosion took place that he attributed to weaponized drones. Officials claimed it was an accidental gas tank explosion. Six people have been arrested, and Maduro escaped the incident unharmed.
North Korea sparred with the US (diplomatically). At the ASEAN forum in Singapore, North Korea’s foreign minister accused the US of being “insistent” on continued sanctions, despite Kim Jong Un’s vague promises of denuclearization. A recent UN report showed continuing nuclear and missile programs in North Korea.
Steven Seagal was made a special US-Russia envoy. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the actor and martial arts guru will help “facilitate relations between Russia and the United States in the humanitarian field.” Vladimir Putin first pitched Seagal for the role in 2013.
A senior Brexiteer said “no deal” looks likely. UK international trade secretary Liam Fox pegged Britain’s chances of crashing out of the EU at 60:40. On Friday, Bank of England governor Mark Carney said the odds were “uncomfortably high.”
Wildfires forced the closure of Yosemite National Park. Officials closed the park to protect visitors from thick smoke caused by the Ferguson fire, which has consumed more than 80,000 acres.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Ashley Rodriguez on the doomed economics of MoviePass. “Whatever its flaws, 30 or so movie tickets a month for less than the cost of one at most US theaters was too good a deal to walk away from. MoviePass was the first company to truly try to change the economics of the movie industry to make moviegoing more affordable again.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Apple’s $1 trillion market cap serves only Apple. Even a fraction of the money Apple is sitting on could improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers.
Companies with narcissistic CEOs spend more time in court. Studies show arrogant leaders are likely to take reckless risks.
Learning French is not useless. Studying the world’s sixth most popular language teaches discipline and humility.
Surprising discoveries
China produces 50% of the world’s cannabis. Most of the country’s crop is hemp, used for fabrics, medicine, and recreation.
Thousands of people are watching a 66-year-old sleep. Since 2017, Bob Pagani has been broadcasting his slumber on Periscope and Twitch.
Even crab meat gets cut with cheaper crab meat. A federal probe uncovered sales of 398,000 pounds of Chesapeake blue crab that had been mixed with cut-rate crab from outside the US.
Russians observe a moment of silence before travel. “Sidet’ na chemodanakh” or “sitting on suitcases,” is a custom connected to the symbolism of passing over a threshold.
Algae killed a shark. A dead whale shark tested positive for brevetoxin, which is deadly to fish and created by algal bloom.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, sleep videos, and travel customs 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 Olivia Goldhill and Kira Bindrim.