Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The big buyout goes to DC. Myriad regulators and committees will gear up to examine the proposed $85 billion acquisition of entertainment giant Time Warner by telecom company AT&T. Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s CEO, is arguing that since the deal is a vertical integration, regulatory oversight of the transaction should be kept to a minimum.
The fight to reclaim Iraq heads to Mosul. Kurdish fighters are making a push to take the city back from ISIL. Along the way, they recaptured the town of Bashiqa. The closest points of Kurdish lines to Mosul are now as little as three miles away from the city limits.
Tech, tech, everywhere. It’s earnings week! Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Twitter, among others, are due to report. Meanwhile, details about new Macs to be unveiled by Apple at an event on Thursday are beginning to trickle out.
Over the weekend
Spain will get a government. Conservative leader Mariano Rajoy has been hamstrung by his party’s inability to win an outright majority in two elections. But rather than call a third, his socialist opponents have agreed to stand aside and let him form Spain’s first minority government.
The iPod turned 15. Take a gander at the astonishingly wide variety of form factors that a product renowned for its simplicity and ease of use has inhabited over the years.
Airbnb faces strict new regulations in New York. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a new law introducing fines to strengthen the state’s prohibition against short-term rentals of apartments. With many cities facing housing crunches, the startup’s model has become increasingly unwelcome in urban areas.
The Brexit bank exodus gets a start date. According to the head of the British Banking Association trade group, smaller banks will begin moving operations out of the UK by Christmas, with larger banks following in the first quarter of 2017.
Hillary Clinton turns her attention down-ballot. With her election to the US presidency looking increasingly certain, the candidate is rallying support for Democrats running for senate and house seats, hoping for majorities that will support her agenda.
Quartz obsession interlude
Ephrat Livni on a study explaining the surprising effect happiness has on creativity. “Workers who were rated most creative reported experiencing both strong negative and positive moods and felt they had supportive managers. Happier workers with good bosses, however, were rated significantly less creative than those with mixed emotions.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Actually, many Evangelicals oppose Trump. Polls showing strong support for the Republican candidate among members of that religious group are not factoring in minorities.
You are partly to blame for a cyber attack that paralyzed Twitter and Amazon on Friday. Consumers who don’t secure their internet-connected devices are putting themselves and the internet in danger.
Women should dress any age they want. Society should stop telling women over 50 to upturn their neck collars to hide wrinkles or abandon high heels.
Surprising discoveries
A scientist has launched a worldwide search for a suitable companion for a pet snail. The University of Nottingham professor is trying to find a mate for a snail with a rare genetic variation.
Bill Murray crashed the White House briefing room. The noted party crasher gave a spur-of-the-moment press conference on his beloved Chicago Cubs after visiting president Barack Obama.
Pretty soon you’ll need reading glasses to go online. An award-winning blogger worried about his straining eyesight found a “widespread movement” toward types that blur the contrast between words and background, including at Apple, Google, and Twitter.
Most men misread whether women are sexually interested in them. They are thrown off by the clothes women wear and their attractiveness, but ignore their body language and facial expressions.
Mating with Neanderthals made Europeans immune systems weaker. Two studies found that people of African descent are better at fighting off certain kinds of infections.
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