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What to watch for today
India tries again with its Moon mission launch. Chandrayaan-2, the country’s second lunar exploration mission, is scheduled for blast-off at 2.43pm local time (9.13am GMT) today, a week after the original launch was halted at the last minute due to a technical glitch.
Spain’s Socialists face a key vote. The parliament begins a confidence vote process today on the ruling party’s bid to take office, following a weekend of negotiations with potential allies Podemos to form the country’s first-ever coalition government. Spain has had a caretaker government since April, when no single party won a majority in the general elections.
Imran Khan meets Donald Trump. Despite initial claims by the State Department that it was unaware of the visit, Pakistan’s prime minister is scheduled to meet with the US president today to discuss strategic goals.
US tech giants gather at the White House. Trump’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow and Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin will meet with executives from companies including Intel and Qualcomm to discuss the US ban on sales to Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.
Over the weekend
A vicious mob attack broke out in Hong Kong. Hundreds of masked men beat protesters, journalists, and residents at a train station and surrounding areas in the suburb of Yuen Long on yesterday night. Police were conspicuously absent and no arrests were made as of today. In downtown Hong Kong, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets as they clashed with protesters following another major protest.
“China’s Nasdaq” started trading. The Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Science and Technology Innovation Board, was designed to persuade Chinese tech-industry champions to list at home. Most of the 25 listed companies surged on the first day of trade.
Abe Shinzo kept his majority in Japan. The prime minister’s ruling coalition clinched a victory in the upper house but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to amend the country’s pacifist constitution. Abe wants to add wording to the document to make explicit the legality of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.
A comedian and a rock star hold the keys to Ukraine’s political future. Exit polls showed comedian-turned-president Volodymyr Zelensky’s party winning a record score in parliamentary elections, though possibly short of a majority. He may now have to start coalition talks with rock star Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, whose new party took 6% of the vote.
Benjamin Netanyahu became Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. After 13 years and 128 days in office, he’s broken the record held by David Ben-Gurion just ahead of a September election.
Quartz Obsession
Bad banks aren’t so bad. Deutsche Bank is creating one to dump its icky assets away in, which it calls, with Orwellian flair, a “Capital Release Unit.” But there’s often a silver lining, as not only do they help stabilize the good bank, the bad one can turn a profit. It’s also a good place for bankers to cut their teeth, like Citi’s current CEO, who once led its bad bank. Get fiscal at the Quartz Obsession.
Matters of debate
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Trashy TV makes us dumber. It numbs our brain and boosts support for populist politicians.
Online dating is an existential nightmare. The problem is that sites inject modern romance with radical individualism.
We need to ban facial recognition. Regulation alone won’t be enough to prevent a nightmare era of mass surveillance.
Surprising discoveries
“Corn sweat” makes hot weather even muggier. The millions of acres of the crop in the US adds a lot of moisture into the air, heating up cornfields but also cities far away.
People are stapling bread to trees in England. It’s the latest phase in a global phenomenon that has its roots in a Reddit forum titled “BreadStapledToTrees.”
Pacific gray whales are dying at an accelerated pace. They’re showing up dead in North America’s oceans and shores at a rate four times greater than typical.
A Nigerian flight was delayed by a hitchhiker. The pilot noticed a man running from the bushes and jumping onto the wings of the moving aircraft.
Pig fat may have helped build Stonehenge. Archaeologists think the ancient builders greased sledges with lard to transport the giant stones.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, stapled bread, and pig fat to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Mary Hui and edited by Isabella Steger.