What to watch for today
A strong US jobs report. Economists expect the US Bureau of Labor statistics to report 225,000 new jobs in July, which would make it the sixth consecutive month of gains above 200,000.
Will the Gaza ceasefire hold? The US and UN say Hamas and Israel have agreed to an unconditional 72-hour ceasefire starting Friday morning. But Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called up 16,000 more reservists and has vowed to get rid of Hamas’s tunnels, no matter what.
A decision on smartphone chip patents. The International Trade Commission is due to rule on Tela Innovations’s complaint against HTC, Nokia, and LG. Tela also tried to take Google to court recently.
The clock starts ticking for Edward Snowden. The one-year visa Russia granted to the US intelligence whistleblower expired at 4am GMT. He has applied for permanent asylum, and will reportedly receive a decision within 30 days (link in Russian).
While you were sleeping
China’s manufacturing sector saw solid growth… The government’s official purchasing managers’ index and the medium and small business survey conducted by HSBC/Markit both rose to 51.7 in July, which suggests the government’s stimulus measures are working.
…And Japan’s didn’t. The country’s HSBC/Markit PMI for July fell to an adjusted 50.5, down from 51.5 in June, signaling slower growth in factory activity.
Glencore picked up $7 billion in a mine sale. China’s MMG and its partners completed their purchase of Las Bambas, one of the world’s largest copper mines. Glencore needed to sell its mine for China to approve its takeover of Xstrata.
The CIA hacked the US Senate. Officers infiltrated a computer network used by legislators who were investigating the agency’s controversial detention and interrogation program, according to an internal CIA investigation.
A global trade pact was scuttled. Talks on a global customs standard, which would have added a projected 21 million jobs and $1 trillion to the world economy, collapsed after India vetoed the deal. It wanted more leeway to stockpile and subsidize food for its poor than the WTO was willing to give.
A series of gas explosions rocked Taiwan. Blasts caused by ruptured gas pipelines killed at least 22 people and injured over 200 in the southern city of Kaohsiung. Smoke with a “gas-like smell” was seen coming out of street drains before the explosions.
Another bidder appeared for T-Mobile. French telecommunications firm Iliad offered $15 billion in cash for 56.6% of the US mobile provider, countering an offer from Sprint and its Japanese parent SoftBank. Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s owner, has reportedly already said no.
Quartz obsession interlude
Tim Fernholz on uncovering who’s to blame for Argentina’s debt default. “There are good cases to blame each party: If the vulture funds had exchanged their bonds earlier, they would have made a decent profit and saved us all this mess—but there’s no law saying they had to do that. If global finance hadn’t integrated the world’s economies, Argentina wouldn’t have suffered from capital flight—but it wouldn’t have had access to capital to begin with absent that system. If Judge Griesa hadn’t issued his controversial order…” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Global unrest is at a all-time high. Radicals, terrorists, and freedom fighters are all better-equipped than they used to be.
Don’t be fooled by falling unemployment rates. They disguise an increase in poorly paid part-time workers.
Private schools undermine India’s caste system. Low-caste students would be more respected than in the public school system.
US universities are selling themselves cheap. They’re taking money from donors and big corporations with too many strings attached.
Kids’ clothes shouldn’t be gender specific. So what if girls have their own science-themed t-shirts?
Surprising discoveries
FedEx can deliver hot coffee. Sent to a customer’s desk, just to prove it can.
Peaches are being sold as sexy butts in China. Just see for yourself (SFW).
Big Brother is watching London’s rowdiest drinkers. They’ll be forced to wear alcohol-monitoring anklets (paywall).
There’s a campaign to rename the kaffir lime. The k-word is racist in South Africa.
A little poison is good for you. It spurs our bodies to create antioxidants.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, non-racist limes, and naughty peaches to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.
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Quartz Daily Brief—Europe edition—US jobs, Gaza ceasefire, CIA hacked Senate, risqué peaches
