Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Signs of stress at UK banks. The Bank of England releases its semiannual Financial Stability Report. The regular assessment of current conditions should be interesting enough, but in the wake of Brexit, all eyes will be on the central bank’s promised outlook for the stability of the UK financial system.
Jean-Claude Juncker speaks in Strasbourg. The European Commission president will review the Dutch presidency of the European Union and offer his conclusions regarding the June 28-29 emergency EU summit. It was an eventful gathering, if you recall.
Tech luminaries and media moguls descend on Sun Valley, Idaho. They’ll attend an annual conference hosted by the boutique investment bank Allen & Co. that’s known for generating a headline or two (paywall). Both Shari Redstone and Philippe Dauman, now locked in a vicious dispute over control of Viacom, are expected to attend.
While you were sleeping
Vietnam protested China’s military drills in the South China Sea. Its foreign ministry demanded China stop the exercises, saying they are a threat to security and maritime safety. China has cordoned off about 100,000 sq km of the sea, including the Paracel Islands, claimed by both China and Vietnam.
NASA’s Juno probe entered orbit around Jupiter. The spacecraft will look beneath the planet’s roiling cloud cover to unlock new secrets. The journey to Jupiter took nearly five years.
At least four people were killed in a suicide bombing outside the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. It was the deadliest of three attacks in Saudi Arabia on the second-to-last day of Ramadan. The mosque was the second one ever built; Mohammed lived next door to it and his tomb is still there.
A new study suggested noodles can help people maintain healthy body weight. The Italian scientists conducted their research on nearly 1,800 middle-aged Americans—rather than Italians—to help separate the health effects of pasta from that of other staples in Mediterranean diets. They found people who ate noodles were less likely to be overweight and obese.
Hong Kong’s best film of 2015 was screened in New York. But the Hong Kong government didn’t want to discuss it, even as it issued a statement listing the other Hong Kong films showing at the New York Asian Film Festival. Ten Years depicts a bleak future for the city under communist rule.
Quartz obsession interlude
Steve Mollman on China’s plans to conduct military drills this week in the contested South China Sea. “China routinely carries out exercises in the sea, but the timing of these drills is hard to ignore. In a speech on Friday marking the 95th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s founding, president Xi Jinping said China was ‘not afraid of trouble,’ and would not compromise on its sovereignty.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Children need some stress in their lives. New research suggests that intergenerational risk factors can lead to intergenerational resilience.
There’s a logic to Elon Musk bringing Tesla and Solar City together. It has to do with an energy policy called “net metering.”
In the world according to Star Wars, Donald Trump is not Darth Vader. “He’s not torturing people,” American legal scholar Cass Sunstein argues, “though he has supported some things that are plausibly characterized as torture.”
Surprising discoveries
New biomaterial could repair and regenerate parts of your teeth. But don’t quit brushing and flossing just yet.
China just finished building the world’s largest telescope. The $180 million project spans 30 soccer fields and will be used to look for aliens and the origin of the universe.
Invasive shore crab numbers are dwindling. Acidic seawater, courtesy of carbon emissions, is confusing the chemical signals for mothers.
Fireworks don’t have to be loud. A town in Parma, Italy, has introduced legislation compelling people to use silent fireworks, for the sake of its residents’ pets.
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