Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The US prepares to seize over $1 billion worth of assets linked to 1MDB. The civil lawsuits are part of an ongoing federal probe into the Malaysian government investment fund and those linked to it, and could be one of the largest asset seizures in US history (paywall).
The European Commission sets targets on greenhouse gas emissions. The national targets for each EU country have been a long time coming. In 2014, EU leaders pledged to cut overall emissions by 40% by 2030 (from 1990 levels), but until now they haven’t set national targets. (After the Brexit vote, though, will the UK participate?)
Intel’s cloud business could grow. The chipmaker’s quarterly revenue is expected to dip to $13.5 billion, from $13.7 billion a year ago, but it could still exceed expectations if restructuring efforts offset the effect of shrinking PC sales. Qualcomm and Morgan Stanley also report quarterly results.
While you were sleeping
It’s happened—Donald Trump officially became the Republican presidential nominee. Trump captured the nomination on a roll-call vote, with New York giving him the final delegates he needed to reach the 1,237 and clinch it. The billionaire businessman has seen off 16 party rivals and divided the Republican Party during the course of his campaign.
The UK gave up its right to head the EU next year. The new UK prime minister, Theresa May, relinquished the UK’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, due to commence July 2017, ahead of her first meeting today with German chancellor Angela Merkel—with whom she has been compared. Brexit will be high on the agenda at the “working dinner.”
SAP had a solid second quarter. The German business-software provider beat expectations with a 73% surge in net profit for the last quarter (paywall). The company’s results were helped by a rise in software licenses, especially in Europe, lower restructuring costs year-over-year, and cloud growth. Growth in cloud computing also gave Microsoft a 2% revenue boost last quarter.
Pokémon Go’s launch in Japan got postponed. After reports the game would launch in its home country today, leaked emails from McDonald’s Japan, one of the game’s sponsors, showed it has been delayed due to fears of server overload. Nintendo’s share price broke its days-long rally.
Unilever cut a deal with Dollar Shave Club. The Anglo-Dutch multinational will pay $1 billion cash for the California-based razor company, according to Fortune. The acquisition will help Dollar Shave Club expand internationally, backed by Unilever’s global reach. Founder Michael Dubin will stay on as chief executive of the company.
Quartz obsession interlude
Allison Schrager on how sex workers keep people honest online. “Once the bill comes, clients might turn violent, or turn out to be cops. That means trust commands a large premium and that’s the centerpiece of Rita’s business model: watertight background checks on would-be johns.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Workers displaced by robots deserve compensation. French philosopher Bernard Stiegler believes that “time saved through automation must be granted to the people.”
Turn the disputed South China Sea into a marine park. The proposed international maritime reserve would combat overfishing (and help China save face).
There’s good news to be found in the global economy, if you know where to look. About 1.5 billion people are no longer living in extreme poverty.
Surprising discoveries
Germany’s first sausage robot is up and running. “BratWurst Bot” expertly grilled 200 sausages at a party recently.
Milo Yiannopoulos was banned by Twitter in a hate-speech row. The conservative provocateur was informed just before he was due to speak at a “gays for Trump” event.
Sandals with socks are in. The longstanding fashion taboo is being violated in this summer’s menswear shows.
The Republican National Convention is making people sick. About a dozen delegates are infected with a suspected norovirus that causes intense vomiting.
The New York Public Library has a “human Google” phone service. Call 917-ASK-NYPL and a librarian will answer questions using 120 years worth of archives.
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