Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Apple braces for an enormous Irish tax bill. The EU’s antitrust regulator is about to announce (at 6am ET) the result of a three-year probe into Apple’s tax deal with Ireland. RTE reports she’ll put the bill for back taxes at €13 billion ($14.5 billion) and say Apple got its effective tax rate down to just 0.005% in 2014. The US Treasury recently accused the EU antitrust body of unfairly targeting US companies.
A powerful typhoon hits Japan. Typhoon Lionrock is projected to strike the northern Tohoku region, which suffered serious damage in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Prime minister Shinzo Abe is cutting short a trip to Kenya to be back in the country before the storm hits.
Justin Trudeau begins his weeklong trip in China. Talks during the Canadian prime minister’s first visit will likely yield (paywall) pacts related to business and the environment, but experts don’t expect much movement toward a free trade deal.
While you were sleeping
Mondelez gave up trying to buy Hershey. The company behind Cadbury and Oreo said it’s no longer attempting to acquire the Pennsylvania-based candy maker, two months after Hershey rejected its $23 billion offer. Had the deal gone through, Mondelez would have become the largest confectioner in the world.
The US-EU trade deal met more opposition. Matthias Fekl, France’s foreign trade minister, said talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which have been dragging on for three years, should be stopped and started from scratch. Two days previously, Germany’s economy minister said the talks had failed. The EU’s US ambassador is putting a brave face on it.
Samsonite pinned its hopes on Tumi. Samsonite’s first-half net income fell almost 13% year-on-year, mainly because terrorism fears have affected travel, and the dollar has strengthened against other currencies. But the world’s largest luggage maker expects its recent purchase of Tumi to double its revenue to $1 billion in the next three years.
A suicide bomber attacked the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan. He smashed a car through the gates of the embassy in the capital, Bishkek, where it exploded in the middle of the compound. The driver died and three embassy workers were injured. Staff at the American embassy nearby were evacuated.
Turkey’s loss was Spain’s gain. Spain enjoyed a 11% bump (pdf) in international visitors in the first seven months of this year over the same period last year, mainly because people are avoiding other Mediterranean destinations over terrorism fears.
Kim Jong-un reportedly executed two top officials. South Korean media, citing unnamed sources, said the North Korean dictator has had the nation’s agriculture and education ministers shot (using an anti-aircraft gun, no less). If true, this follows a string of defections of North Korean diplomats to other countries.
Quartz obsession interlude
Marc Bain on why American kids are all about leggings. “Kids are rejecting structured garments and wearing only soft, unrestrictive clothing. These demands about clothes aren’t exactly new—young people have complained about bothersome clothes for ages—but earlier generations of children begged to wear jeans instead of more formal dresses or trousers. Today’s children are looking for something that’s even more casual and comfy than traditional denim.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Mormonism and feminism aren’t incompatible. Mormon women have a long history of challenging the church’s “patriarchal order.”
Go ahead and Google your symptoms. WebMD is still no replacement for a real-life doctor, but online research can help us feel a little more in control (paywall).
Bring back communal bathing. Public bathhouses could help cure the loneliness of contemporary urbanites.
Surprising discoveries
Manufacturers of safes are enjoying a boom in Germany. Negative interest rates are driving Germans to stash their cash at home (paywall).
Bugs are wriggling their way into our food. Mealworms could soon be an ingredient in margarine and vegetable oil.
Dogs know a genuine compliment when they hear one. Research shows dogs can distinguish between praise and neutral tones on a neurological level.
Scientists think they know what killed our ancient ancestor, Lucy. Scans of the hominid’s 3.2 million-year-old skeleton suggest that she fell about 12 m (40 ft) from a tree.
iPads are as good as sedatives at calming kids before surgery. Parents and nurses even prefer tablets to drugs.
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