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Here’s what you need to know
China sentenced Michael Spavor to 11 years for spying. He was one of two Canadians detained by Beijing soon after Canada arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in 2018. The final phase of hearings on a US request for her extradition began this month.
Germans will no longer get free Covid tests. Berlin is ending gratis testing in October in a bid to encourage more citizens to get vaccinated.
New York will get its first female governor. Kathy Hochul will take over after Andrew Cuomo resigned in disgrace following an inquiry into longstanding sexual harassment allegations against him.
China’s tech crackdown is hurting SoftBank. The Japanese tech investor made $6.9 billion from April to June, far less than its $46 billion profit for the first quarter, and plans to hold back on investments in China as a regulatory crackdown there plays out.
The Boeing 737 Max had a test flight in China. It’s a crucial step to lifting a grounding in place for more than two years, after a second fatal crash of the model.
Zomato’s first earnings as a public company were not reassuring… The Indian food delivery platform reported a much larger net loss than the same period a year ago.
…and Twitter is finally in compliance with India’s new internet laws. The US social media company had faced police raids and government questioning after initially failing to appoint a chief grievance officer.
What to watch for
The world’s largest phone makers launch a fleet of new smartphones. OK bear with us, it’s a heady couple of days: Samsung, the world’s #1 phone manufacturer, is expected to unveil two new folding phones today. Meanwhile, Xiaomi, which just surpassed Apple to become the world’s second-largest phone-maker, announced a long-awaited new addition to its high-end Mi Mix series. The newly demoted Apple will probably launch its own new phones in September.
There’s more. Tomorrow, budget smartphone brand Honor will announce its first new phone since it split off from Huawei (which was #1 until US-led trade restrictions torpedoed its sales last year). Much of Huawei’s market share went to Xioami—so Honor’s new release will be its attempt to claw some of those customers back.
Visualizing the IPCC report
The most important takeaways from the 4,000-page Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released this week are easily summarized. Global warming is caused by human greenhouse gas emissions, and the impacts range from very bad to catastrophic.
While much of it is written in inscrutable scientific jargon, if you want to understand the scientific case for man-made global warming, look no further. We’ve reviewed the data, summarized the main points, and created an interactive graphic showing a “heat map” of scientists’ confidence in their conclusions. The terms describing statistical confidence range from very high confidence (a 9 out of 10 chance) to very low confidence (a 1 in 10 chance). Check out our full visualization.
How to learn something new online
Sure, you could just fire up YouTube, but adding a bit of structure can make the difference between a few idly wasted hours and a truly transformative experience.
1️⃣ Decide why you want to learn this thing, and write that motivation down.
2️⃣ Set a goal for yourself. Be specific about what you want to achieve and when, breaking long-term goals into smaller chunks.
✦ Setting the goal is the easy part; the rest of our member-exclusive How To email can help you achieve the rest. Get that email, other ones, and 40% off a membership with code QZEMAIL40.
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Surprising discoveries
China’s migrating elephants are headed towards home. Over the course of the animals’ months-long trek, 150,000 people have been evacuated to avoid conflict.
Africa accounts for just 1% of new car sales in the world. Car loans tend to have very unfavorable terms, if they’re available at all.
There’s exactly one way to tickle a rat. It mimics their play, and helps make them happier and more willing test subjects.
Polar bears sometimes use rocks and ice to take out prey. How else are they going to kill a 2,500 lb (1,100 kg) walrus?
Hermit crabs get turned on by plastic garbage. Such pollution releases a chemical that may make the crustaceans “sexually excited.”
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, tickling strategies, and “Welcome home, elephants!” signs to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Susan Howson, Tim McDonnell, Amanda Shendruk, and Liz Webber.