Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
South Korea’s nuclear envoy makes an appeal to Beijing. Seoul is looking for stronger Chinese sanctions against North Korea, in the wake of Pyongyang’s recent nuclear weapons test. A ban on overland transportation to North Korea already sounds like a nonstarter.
Mark Carney talks climate change in Berlin. The Bank of England governor, who last year dubbed climate change “the tragedy of the horizon,” will discuss its risks for financial market stability.
New data on US home sales. The National Association of Realtors will release new data on existing-home sales, which could indicate whether the housing market is regaining momentum.
While you were sleeping
The governor of North Carolina declared a state of emergency for Charlotte. Pat McCrory also deployed the state’s National Guard after a prayer vigil honoring Keith Lamont Scott turned violent. Scott, an African-American man, was fatally shot this week by police. His family says he was reading a book at the time; police say he pulled a gun.
The US Senate cleared the way for a $1.15 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. It voted 71 to 27 to kill legislation that would have stopped the sale, which features General Dynamics as the main contractor. Some lawmakers fought the sale, saying it would fuel a regional arms race; they also worried about Saudi Arabia’s role in the war in Yemen.
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan pledged $3 billion to cure diseases. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will focus on some of the world’s biggest killers, including cancer, heart disease, and infectious diseases. The Facebook founder welcomed Bill Gates to the stage during the announcement, saying he was a “role model and mentor.”
The US military investigated a possible chemical weapons attack against its troops in Iraq. It said a ISIL rocket that landed close to US troops at the Qayara air base near Mosul might have contained mustard gas. If so it would be the first chemical weapons attack on coalition forces, which are preparing to retake (paywall) Mosul from ISIL in the coming weeks.
Quartz obsession interlude
Jenny Anderson on the US’s lagging early-childhood education problem. ”Quality clearly matters, as does design: Young children need constant access to a secure attachment figure, and care centers that are not chaotic. Also, it is more developmentally appropriate for kids to play than to face a barrage of flash cards or reading tests.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Renaming places is never politically innocent. Geography, anti-colonial sentiment, and now even alphabetization are fronts to forward the interest of nationalism or multiculturalism.
Ethnic-sounding names have a disadvantage. Changing names for those experiencing prejudice is a means of escape from being discredited or stigmatized.
“The other woman” is always the problem. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s divorce has people looking for a woman to shame rather than holding a married man accountable for going astray.
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Surprising discoveries
The FBI helped a child pornography site gain popularity. When it ran “Playpen” during a two-week sting operation, the dark website’s membership grew by 30%.
North Korea has only 28 websites. All domains are owned by domestic bodies, including cultural committees, maritime agencies, state media, and the state-owned airline.
Small drones helped uncover ancient Roman ruins. Exploring the rugged terrain, which is hard to navigate by foot and dangerous to venture into with planes, revealed its dense nature.
An Ottoman-era fisherman’s house was unearthed in Israel. The three-room house included artifacts like fishhooks, lead fishing weights, a stone anchor, and a bronze bell.
Tardigrade cells can be adapted to protect humans from radiation. Tinging human cells with the microscopic “water bear” protein Dsup reduced X-ray-induced damage by 40%.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, tardigrade cells, and North Korean website addresses to hi@qz.com. You can download our iPhone app or follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.