Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
North Korea hosts a three-day reunion of families separated by the Korean War. The gathering brings together 93 people from the South and 88 from the North. For many of the families, this will be the first time they’ve seen each other since the 1950-53 war—and it likely will be the last.
India mobilizes rescue efforts in flood-devastated Kerala. As water levels finally started to drop after the worst flooding the southern state had seen in a century, the central government has made available 90 aircraft and 500 motorboats, and is opening up a naval airstrip in Kochi for commercial flights. At least 370 people have died, entire villages have been destroyed, an estimated 600,000 are in relief camps, and thousands remain stranded.
The Trump administration begins hearings on anti-China tariffs. For the next week, the US trade representative will hear the views of some 370 witnesses on whether to slap tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. Levies on $34 billion of imports from China went into effect in early July.
Over the weekend
Kofi Annan, the Ghanaian diplomat who reshaped the United Nations, passed away at 80. The Nobel Peace Prize winner died Saturday “after a short illness,” his family confirmed. Annan led the UN from 1997 to 2006 as its seventh secretary-general, the first black African in the position, and the first in this role to be selected from the ranks of the global agency’s staff. One of his landmark proposals led to the creation of the Millennium Development Goals, which aimed to eradicate extreme poverty, combat malaria and HIV/Aids, reduce child mortality, and improve maternal health.
Italy held a state funeral for 19 of the 43 victims confirmed dead in the Aug. 14 Genoa bridge collapse. The families of at least 17 of those who died refused to attend the Saturday service, and criticized the Italian government for failing to act on prior safety concerns that may have prevented the collapse. The government vowed to establish a national infrastructure database and increase the Transportation Ministry’s oversight. Meanwhile, rescue workers continue to look for victims in the rubble.
Cardinal Donald Wuerl has withdrawn from an upcoming Catholic congress in the continued fallout over decades of reported sexual abuse. The World Meeting of Families confirmed that Wuerl will not attend this year. Though he hasn’t been accused of misconduct, Wuerl was the bishop for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, where a recent investigation found hundreds of priests were accused of sexual abuse, and implicated bishops in aiding in cover-ups.
Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel had a Saturday check-in in Germany. The Russian president and the German chancellor discussed conflicts in Ukraine and Syria and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, a project opposed by the US. A spokesman for the Kremlin said that no concrete agreements were reached; the meeting was merely to “check the watches” of the two powerful heads of state.
Crazy Rich Asians dominated the US box office. The first Hollywood film with an all-Asian cast in 25 years raked in $34 million over its first five days—the best opening for any romantic comedy in several years and a huge victory for representation in Hollywood. Kevin Spacey’s latest movie, Billionaire Boys Club, was not so lucky. The film grossed $126 (yes, you read that right) across 10 theaters on Friday.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Annaliese Griffin on how burlap-wrapped, mason-jar-cocktail-filled “barn weddings” are bringing the wedding industrial complex to farm country. “A barn is a rough-hewn, empty slate for you to fill with the full force of your love and design savvy. A fixture of the aspirational class, as surely as an NPR tote bag or a pair of fancy clogs, barn weddings are appealing in the same way as a waxed canvas apron or an elaborately simple plate of roasted heirloom root vegetables.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
We aren’t living in a grim new post-Truth world. Rather, it’s the same multi-truth one we’ve always been in.
There’s some hope for US pro-choicers. If Brett Kavanaugh becomes the next US Supreme Court justice, female politicians could be the last line of defense for protecting abortion access.
The fashion industry should stop selling clothes with the bodies of adolescent models. In an industry rife with sexual coercion, pressure to maintain unhealthy weights, and sexism, the least we can do is keep children out of it.
Surprising discoveries
You know the old saying: Lambs don’t grow on trees! It turns out, though, that many people in the the Middle Ages believed they did.
Ultra-long-distance flights don’t have to leave you feeling awful. Airlines betting on these long-haul flights are enlisting the help of scientists and spa chefs to turn 20-hour trips into circadian rhythm-attuned mini-vacations.
Hedonists weren’t really all that hedonistic. In ancient Greece, the hedonist worldview did not advocate for a life of gluttony and frivolity.
Americans flush as many as 10 tonnes of contact lenses down the drain each year. There, they can wind up hurting fish and other ocean life.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, adorable lambs, and mason jar cocktails 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 and edited by Gwynn Guilford, Adam Epstein, and Indrani Sen.