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. In the wake of Brexit, all eyes will be on governor Mark Carney’s plan to stabilize the UK financial system.
The race for leadership of the Conservative Party begins. Tory MPs start the process of selecting their next leader, who will also be the next British prime minister. The first round of voting happens today—the lowest ranked candidate is eliminated and voting will take place on Thursdays and Tuesdays until there are only two left, who are then put to the wider party membership.
Tech luminaries and media moguls descend on Sun Valley, Idaho. It’s time for the annual, super-exclusive Allen & Co. conference, which is 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
“Roger Juno, welcome to Jupiter.” After five years, 1.8 billion miles travelled, and against all odds, NASA’s Juno probe entered Jupiter’s orbit. The spacecraft will look beneath the planet’s roiling cloud cover to unlock new secrets, such as whether the planet has a solid core.
China’s week of military drills in the South China Sea drew protest. Vietnam’s 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.
France must overhaul its intelligence services. A parliamentary inquiry said the country, rocked by two terror attacks last year, should merge its various services into something resembling the US National Counter-Terrorism Centre. The commission said the ongoing state of emergency was having a “limited impact” on security.
South Korea launched its “Internet of Things” network. The low-cost network from SK Telecom will reach 99% of the population and allow smart devices to talk to each other. It follows hot on the heels of the Netherlands, with was the first country to switch on a nationwide IoT network last week.
The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into Ashley Madison. Avid Life Media, the parent company of the infidelity dating website, is being probed over the security hack that exposed millions of members’ personal details last year. The company is currently facing class action lawsuits in the US and Canada.
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.”
Looking at the world according to “Star Wars…” Donald Trump is not Darth Vader and deceased Supreme Court judge Antonin Scalia was a Jedi, not a Sith.
Surprising discoveries
China finished building the world’s largest telescope. It’s the size of 30 soccer fields and will be used to look for aliens and the origin of the universe.
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 pets.
A Wimbledon player threaten to urinate on court after being denied a toilet break. He and his partner then staged a sit-down protest.
Google DeepMind will use AI to fight blindness. It will create algorithms to detect early-warning signs that humans might miss.
Invasive shore crabs are acting crazy. Acidic seawater, courtesy of carbon emissions, is confusing the chemical signals for mothers.
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