Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi meets Chinese leaders. During a four-day trip, the state counselor and foreign minister will discuss Myanmar’s “policy toward Beijing, trade, and other forms of economic cooperation.” Her party, the ruling National League for Democracy, hopes to gain China’s support for a peace conference slated to begin at the end of the month.
Industrial mega-merger. Despite tough new US rules on corporate inversions (paywall), shareholders of Milwaukee-based conglomerate Johnson Controls and Ireland’s Tyco will vote on a possible $16 billion partnership. The deal would create one of the largest industrial companies in the US by market capitalization.
US Fed minutes fears. Low interest rates, and the expectation that they will continue, have helped stocks perform well so far this year, but the Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq took hits yesterday (Aug. 16) ahead of today’s release of the Fed’s July meeting minutes. Analysts will look for hints of a rate increase, which could come as early as September.
While you were sleeping
Univision acquired Gawker Media for $135 million. The US’s largest Spanish-language broadcaster beat out Ziff Davis in an auction for the troubled online publisher. An invasion-of-privacy lawsuit by former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan pushed Gawker into bankruptcy in June.
Intel partnered with ARM Holdings. The world’s largest semiconductor maker wants other chipmakers to use its factories for their production. It hopes that adding licenses for ARM’s technology—which is used by most chipmakers in the mobile space—will help in that effort.
Apple announced it will launch an R&D center in China. CEO Tim Cook revealed the plans during his current trip to the country, where Apple faces mounting competitive pressure. The center will open later this year, though he didn’t indicate where. Cook also met with a fitness guru and fashion designer on the photo-op-friendly visit.
Cisco Systems is preparing to lay off about 14,000 workers. The network equipment maker, which has struggled with sluggish spending on switches and routers, is expected to announce the cuts in the next few weeks, reported technology news site CRN. Such a cut would represent nearly 20% of its global workforce.
Quartz markets haiku
“Will they or won’t they?”
Fed rate hike speculation,
adds to our torpor
Quartz obsession interlude
Oliver Staley advocates for a one-mile Olympic race. “While the 1,500 meters takes three-and-three-quarter laps of a standard 400-meter track, the mile is run in just a shade more than four laps. The symmetry of the four laps makes the mile easy to follow, and is particularly useful when watching elite runners capable of challenging the four-minute mile. Cheering athletes against the clock, knowing each lap has to be run in under a minute, is one of the great spectacles in track, a sport that has far too few of them.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Brexit is an opportunity to re-shape the concept of citizenship. Let’s stop treating it as a birthright, and make it more democratic.
Apple’s squirt gun emoji infantilizes users. Apple might support gun control, but it shouldn’t mess with people’s ability to express their views (paywall) on digital platforms.
You can tell a lot about a company by its motto. Too many words, too much complexity, and too little substance are sure signs of trouble.
Surprising discoveries
The 1980 winter games’ Olympic Village was turned into a prison. The facility in upstate New York was intentionally built to house inmates after the games ended.
Keanu Reeves is building $78,000 motorcycles. Buying a custom-made Keanu bike involves multiple measurement sessions.
A rare Afghani deer was spotted for the first time in 45 years. The Bactrian deer, which scientists thought was locally extinct, has survived two huge wars.
Bahrain’s track-and-field team is made up almost entirely of Africans. Athletes switch allegiances for better pay or better training programs.
Scientists found several specimens of a “living fossil”—the world’s most secretive mammal. The lineage of the Zenkerella goes back 50 million years.
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