Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
China’s foreign minister heads to India. Wang Yi arrives for a three-day visit in Goa and Delhi, where he will meet with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj. Key issues will be upcoming multilateral meetings (including the G-20 and BRICS summits) and India’s bid to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
China releases a slew of economic data. Updates on key sectors—including retail, manufacturing, loans, investments—will offer important clues about the country’s stabilizing economy.
Day two of the Perseids meteor shower. The celestial fireworks from the comet Swift-Tuttle have already begun, but the best viewings continue through Aug. 12. They’re visible from anywhere on earth, so get outside and watch the sky.
While You Were Sleeping
Alibaba diversified. The Chinese e-commerce company’s stock soared after quarterly revenues rose by a better-than-expected 59%, to 32.2 billion yuan ($4.8 billion). A quarter of Alibaba’s revenues now come from non-retail businesses like cloud computing and streaming video.
The US took an unexpected step back from legalizing marijuana. The Drug Enforcement Administration rejected a request from state governments to change the drug’s classification to allow more medical usage. More than half of US states allow some kind of marijuana use, but it’s still strictly forbidden under federal law.
The EU opened an antitrust probe of the Dow-DuPont merger. Eight months after a deal to create the world’s largest crop and chemical company was proposed, regulators said they’ve opened an official investigation to make sure the merger won’t reduce competition.
Macy’s is closing 100 stores. The largest US department store is shuttering 15% of its locations to cope with reduced foot traffic, which sent quarterly same-store sales down by 2.6%. Macy’s desperately needs to make more money online, where rivals have been crushing it.
Russia-Ukraine relations got even more tense. Russian president Vladimir Putin made a show of activating counter-terrorism measures, including naval training exercises off the coast of Crimea. Ukraine, which has denied Putin’s accusations of a Ukrainian plot against Russia, responded by putting its border troops on high alert.
Quartz markets haiku
Stocks soar to new highs
Retailers gain; Our best sport
is still buying stuff
Quartz obsession interlude
Allison Schrager on the diminishing returns of a college-educated workforce. “[G]iven the current state of technology and invested capital, turning the unskilled into skilled workers won’t do much for growth because the US economy already has all the educated workers it needs.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Driverless cars may not be a boon for our cities. Without careful planning, they’ll cause more congestion, mass unemployment, and a huge infrastructure deficit.
Brazil is still in the running to be the country of the future. Dynamic diversity and improving accountability could help it overcome short-term challenge.
Donald Trump is a learning algorithm. He constantly experiments to see what makes his supporters agitated—but his sample is flawed.
Surprising discoveries
Barack Obama has a steamy summer mixtape. The “day” playlist is for fun—but the night playlist is for romance.
The world’s oldest vertebrate was born during the reign of James I. Greenland sharks live for an estimated 400 years.
Looking to repair your torn clothing? The teeth on a squid’s tentacles could help.
It’s a really good time to buy a helicopter. Thanks to lower demand from oil and gas companies, $1.7 million goes a long way.
India’s forests are worth $1.7 trillion. According to an expert government panel, they’re more valuable than the individual GDPs of Russia, Korea, Canada and Mexico.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, Greenland sharks, and tentacle teeth to hi@qz.com You can download our iPhone app or follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.