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What to watch for today
Kashmir’s status is up in the air. Pakistan’s parliament will convene to discuss India’s bill that proposes reclassifying Jammu and Kashmir from a state to a union territory. The bill easily passed the Rajya Sabah, and could give India more power over the region.
China makes a statement on Hong Kong. The State Council will hold its second press conference in two weeks as the unrest enters its third month, and violence escalates between protestors and police. Beijing has thus far supported the Hong Kong government.
Disney’s earnings get superpowered. The proud parent of Avengers: Endgame (the highest grossing movie of all time), a new Star Wars theme park attraction, 21st Century Fox, and, its forthcoming baby, Disney+, is expected to show stellar results.
While you were sleeping
A Cairo car bomb killed at least 20 people. The blast, which went off outside a cancer hospital in the center of the city, injured 47 more. Egyptian authorities blamed the attack on Hasm, a violent offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, and said they had arrested one of its members.
Heathrow workers called off their strike. The airport and the workers’ union reached a deal on pay raises to avoid a planned walkout on Monday and Tuesday. Fearing delays, airlines had already canceled 16 flights on Monday. Strikes planned for later this month, however, are still on.
Two US news giants merged. New Media Investment Group, which owns GateHouse, and Gannett, the owner of USA Today, announced that they’re joining forces to the tune of $1.38 billion. The new entity will enjoy both the widest circulation as well as the highest number of newspapers in the US.
The Dow took a tumble. The Chinese yuan’s historic nosedive—blamed by Chinese officials on the latest round of US tariffs and blamed by Trump on Chinese currency manipulation—pulled the plug on the index. The Dow dropped a cumulative 961 points before ending the day with a 766-point loss.
Donald Trump addressed mass shootings. The US president did not comment on the weapons used to commit the total of 35 murders committed in a matter of minutes in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio over the weekend, but he did warn against “glorification of violence,” which he attributed to video games and the internet, and condemned white supremacists.
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Can technology make us better parents? Quartz senior reporter Jenny Anderson, who has spent years writing about the science of learning, took a deep dive into the wave of entrepreneurs seeking to demystify early childhood for a potentially enormous global market: millennial moms and dads. All week, she’ll explain what we know helps children succeed, and offer a structured look at companies and initiatives targeting different aspects.
Quartz Obsession
Hate brainstorming meetings? You’re not alone. But here’s a thought: Your organization isn’t doing them right. The war-inspired method, which dates back to the 1940s, has been tried and criticized often over the years, and creatives have modified the approach in kind. Open your mind to the idea at the Quartz Obsession.
Matters of debate
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Motherhood is a bad bargain. If countries want to raise birth rates, they should sweeten the deal for working women.
Ride hailing makes traffic worse. Uber and Lyft “confessed” to this—as a way to promote congestion pricing policies that help their business.
Biden is bad news for legal weed. The Democratic frontrunner’s marijuana plan would severely disrupt the US pot market.
Surprising discoveries
Google plans to use recycled material in all its hardware by 2022. The company also pledged to make its shipments carbon neutral by 2020.
Animals keep popping up in prepackaged salad bags. Most of the stowaways are frogs and toads, but alarmed customers have also found reptiles, rodents, birds, and even a bat.
A cooling system that doesn’t use electricity. The device shoots heat back into space, even in the middle of the day.
Amazon’s Ring means surveillance without warrants. The company is teaching police how to convince Ring customers to hand over their security footage.
Finally, flying cars. Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp. unveiled a vehicle that can hover in the air for about a minute.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, salad frogs, and guilt-free air conditioning to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written and edited by Susan Howson and Nicolás Rivero.