Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
Adeus 🇧🇷 , ではまたすぐにね 🇯🇵 . The Rio Olympics end on Sunday with a closing ceremony that will feature Norwegian pop star Kygo, and possibly retired Brazilian soccer legend Pelé before the torch is handed to Tokyo for the 2020 Games. The US currently leads the pack with 35 gold medals, followed by the UK and then China. Host Brazil only has five golds. The last event, as always, will be the men’s marathon.
Party ’til dawn in London. The city’s all-night underground service launches tonight, meaning weekend revelers don’t have to rush to catch the final train at midnight. The service only occurs on Fridays and Saturdays, and only on a handful of Tube lines.
John Deere releases earnings. Analysts are not too optimistic about the impact of weak commodity prices and sluggish farm income on the world’s biggest agricultural-equipment manufacture. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates both decreased their stock holdings in the company.
While you were sleeping
The US Olympic committee apologized for its swimmers. “The behavior of these athletes is not acceptable,” CEO Scott Blackmun said, after it was revealed on Thursday that Ryan Lochte, James Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger had lied about being robbed at gunpoint.
A US federal judge overturned Uber’s proposed settlement with drivers. The company had been set to pay up to $100 million in reimbursement damages to nearly 400,000 drivers—who claimed they should have been classified as employees not contractors—under a settlement reached in April. The judge said the settlement (paywall) was “not fair, adequate, and reasonable.”
Viacom’s corporate drama came to an end. CEO Philippe Dauman will leave with a settlement package worth about $72 million (paywall), and the Redstone family will control the future of the $40 billion media empire. The settlement is a victory for 93-year-old mogul Sumner Redstone and his long-estranged daughter Shari Redstone, with whom he recently reconciled.
François Hollande wants to run for president in 2017. The unpopular French president said he will stand in next year’s elections provided there’s a possibility of winning (link in French), according to a book published today. Hollande previously said he wouldn’t run again if he hadn’t lowered the country’s unemployment rate—that fell below 10% in the second quarter for the first time since 2012.
The US confirmed that a payment to Iran was contingent on the release of American prisoners. While insisting the $400 million in cash was not a ransom, the state department admitted that the long-frozen funds—from a decades-old arms deal—were used as “leverage” in the release of the detainees. “I’m not going to deny that,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said, according to the WSJ (paywall).
Quartz obsession interlude
Ananya Bhattacharya on Asia nurturing the next generation of drone pilots. “While in the US commercial drone fliers and the FAA continually bump heads, many Asian countries have long welcomed governmental and commercial use. There, drones are making their way into a slew of commercial industries—agriculture, entertainment, law enforcement. Drones are frequently used for data collection, mapping, and tracking. In Singapore, drones even wait on tables at restaurants and bars.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
There’s no such thing as the good old days. Nostalgia has a dark side that is particularly dangerous for vulnerable groups.
We shouldn’t forgive US student debt. There’s limited evidence that it harms millennials, let alone the US economy.
Supporting gender equality means saying you’re a feminist. Standing for a cause isn’t standing against someone else.
Surprising discoveries
You can now buy a WWII tank. The Normandy Tank Museum is auctioning off thousands of military items after failing to attract enough visitors.
Bigfoot is big business. A company that investigates sightings of the creature—he’s been “seen” seven times in 45 years—was valued at $10 billion.
Sea anemones could help restore hearing. The proteins that make it possible for anemones to hear again might do the same for humans.
Rio’s Olympic swimming pool was flawed. Currents resulting from a design error may have boosted the performance of athletes in high-numbered lanes.
High-resolution satellite imagery is being used to tackle inequality in Africa. Info such as which areas are lit up at night is being used to track and predict poverty.
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