Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Super-typhoon Nepartak slams into Taiwan and China. The Category 5 storm is expected to hit Taiwan’s east coast on Friday morning and mainland China on Saturday, with winds up to 280 km/h (170 mph) and waves up to 7 meters (24 feet). Financial markets, schools, and many businesses will be closed in Taiwan.
Twitchy investors eye the US jobs report. The June unemployment data will take on even more importance in the wake of the UK’s Brexit vote, especially after an unexpectedly anemic jobs report in May. The numbers are certain to play a big role in the Fed’s consideration of an interest rate hike.
Japan’s parliamentary elections. President Shinzo Abe is trying to win a super-majority in the legislature’s upper house, which could aid his goal of amending the constitution. The Communist Party is also expected to win new seats.
While you were sleeping
An explosion on a train in Taiwan injured 21 people. Police are searching for a man who allegedly left something on the train just before the blast, which caused a massive fire. Authorities found an object that resembles a large firecracker.
The next UK prime minister will be a woman. Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom won the top two spots in the Conservative Party’s leadership race, eliminating Michael Gove. Party members will now vote to pick the country’s second female prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher, with the results due on Sept. 9.
Minnesota’s governor acknowledged that racism caused a fatal shooting by police. “All of us in Minnesota are forced to confront that this kind of racism exists,” Mark Dayton said of the killing of Philando Castile yesterday by a police officer. Protests outside of Dayton’s office were part of a huge swell of outrage against the disproportionate killing of black men by police.
The ringleader of Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment resigned. Eduardo Cunha, who accused Rousseff of violating fiscal laws, stepped down as speaker of Brazil’s lower house of congress amid accusations of corruption and obstruction of justice. He kept his legislative seat, which shields him from prosecution.
Quartz markets haiku
Like a free diver
Kicking blindly through the deep
Yield on the T-note
Quartz obsession interlude
Marc Bain offers a conscientious shopping manifesto. “Think of your purchase as the beginning of a relationship with an item of clothing. It starts at the earliest stages of the supply chain, is carried on by the people who design the clothes and those that stitch them together, and ends in a landfill or recycling plant. You enter it at the point of purchase, and from that point on, that piece of clothing is your responsibility—it was created for you, and it’s yours to wear, to care for, and eventually to dispose of.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The BRICS have fallen. The new geopolitical order won’t be ruled by a bloc of emerging economies, but by chaos.
Black lives still don’t matter in America. Grainy videos of unjustified police killings don’t translate into justice.
US bond yields have never been this low—even if you look all the way back to 1786. That’s good news for borrowers, but not so much for banks.
Surprising discoveries
A Japanese man paid more than 1.1 million yen ($11,000) for 30 grapes. To be fair, each one is the size of a ping pong ball.
Neanderthals probably ate each other sometimes. Butchered hominid leg bones were discovered in a Belgian cave.
Snapchat is being sued by children for its spicy content. The class action lawsuit is seeking $50,000 for every raunchy story on the popular app.
Scientists found a planet that weighs four times more than Jupiter. It orbits three stars at once.
Medical marijuana leads to less drug use. Elderly and disabled patients use fewer prescription drugs in states that make pot legal.
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