Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Trump heads to Mexico. The Republican nominee accepted an invitation to meet privately with President Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico City. He’ll then head to Arizona to give a speech clarifying his stance on immigration.
Spain votes on forming a new government. Acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy isn’t likely to win the needed parliamentary votes to break the political gridlock, leaving the country bracing for its third general election in December.
The FBI releases its report on Hillary Clinton. The US bureau plans to make public the findings of its investigation of the Democratic presidential nominee’s email server. The report, sent to the Justice Department in July, recommended no charges against Clinton.
While you were sleeping
A key ISIL leader died in Aleppo. US-led airstrikes on the Syrian province caused the death of Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, who the Pentagon describes as the ”principal architect of ISIL external operations.” Adnani regularly encouraged his followers to carry out attacks on individual civilians in France, like the one that killed a French police commander in June.
Typhoon Lionrock struck Japan hard. Airlines canceled dozens of domestic flights and railways halted service as the tropical storm passed through northern Japan, which is still recovering from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Local broadcaster NHK reported that nine people died at a nursing home that flooded.
Ethnic minorities in Myanmar convened for peace talks. Representatives from 17 ethnic groups agreed to put down their arms and hold preliminary peace talks, led by state counsellor Aung Sang Suu Kyi and UN general secretary Ban Ki-moon. Ban also pushed for the government to address the plight of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority the state does not recognize.
Google stepped on Uber’s turf. In May the company began a pilot program in San Francisco that allowed commuters to use its Waze mapping program to connect with each other. It’s set to formally launch in the city this fall.
Quartz obsession interlude
Thu Huong-Ha on how today’s two biggest role models for young readers are total wusses. “Pre-pubescent loser Greg Heffley is irreverent, whiny, and mediocre in school. He has few moral scruples, and his main activities are sarcasm and complaining. Hardly the kind of friend you’d want for your kids, or even for yourself, yet he’s one of the most popular characters in fiction.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Trump has made hate speech normal. The US Republican nominee’s legacy will be giving people permission to make baseless, bigoted comments in public without fear of repercussion.
Bitcoin’s enemies benefit the most from its existence. Big banks are leveraging its innovations, even as infighting among its users jeopardizes the currency’s future.
Moving to a new city will not make you happier. Starting over in a new town just makes your life different, not better.
Surprising discoveries
Climate slums are a thing. US legislation that makes flood insurance expensive is hurting affected inland working-class neighborhoods more than rich coastal areas.
The US Senate has a candy stash. Stocking a drawer full of sweets in one of the Senate chamber’s 100 desks is a tradition dating back to 1965.
Tasmanian devils are beating face cancer. The animals are becoming immune to the facial tumor common to their species.
Sixty percent of South Asia’s groundwater is too contaminated to use. Salinity and arsenic are making groundwater in a major regional river basin undrinkable and unusable for irrigation, researchers found.
Vladimir Putin was caught trespassing. Not the one who runs Russia. Police officials in West Palm Beach, Florida caught a man by the same name refusing to leave a supermarket.
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