Trillion dollar Apple
Apple’s market capitalisation passed the $1trn the mark after posting strong third quarter earnings, as reported by CNBC, the Financial Times and Guardian. Apple shares closed at $207.05, giving the technology firm a market cap of $1,001.7bn.
Searching for China return
Google is reportedly planning to re-enter the Chinese search engine market with a version that filters out blacklisted search terms, as reported by the Intercept, New York Times and Reuters. The firm pulled its search engine out of the country in 2010 citing censorship concerns. The new version could be launched in the next six to nine months.
Interest rate hike in UK
The Bank of England raised its benchmark rate from 0.5% to 0.75%, as reported by the BBC, Bloomberg and Reuters. That’s the highest rate since 2009. The hike was seen as a move against Brexit-related inflation pressure.
Transatlantic purchases
Jean-Claude Juncker promised Donald Trump last month that the EU would buy more US soybeans; but, as DW reported, that was already happening.
Motoring in Austria
Austria is testing higher speed limits, from 130km/h to 140 km/h, on two stretches of motorways for a year, according to the AFP and Euronews.
Motoring in France
This is probably the worst weekend to drive in France, according to The Local. Most of the country (except Brittany and Normandy) will experience high temperatures, and motorways will jam-packed with the “holiday crossover” (people both leaving and returning from vacation). The French health minister said to avoid driving during the hottest hours.
Note to our readers
Delano’s breakfast briefing will take a summer break the next two weeks. We’ll be back in your inbox on Monday 20 August at 6:45am.
But before we go…
Sometimes stories don’t quite make it into the regular breakfast briefing. Albania’s top secret nuclear bunker: BBC. There’s a desert in Canada’s Yukon: BBC. The UK has a lot of words for “bread”: BBC. Visiting the Extraterrestrial Highway (near Area 51) and Roswell, New Mexico: Atlas Obscura. Maybe we shouldn’t colonise space: Nautilus. Scientists have updated the alien signal detection scale: Space.com. A brief history of alien reports: New York magazine. A brief history of Marxist ufologists: The Outline. The Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia project is fighting online conspiracy theories: Wired. Someone posted “extra-terrestrial markup language” services on the UK government’s electronic marketplace: The Register. Maybe robots should replace politicians: Economist. There’s a robot police officer in Dubai: Pacific Standard. Research robots are vulnerable to hijacking: MIT Technology Review. “Why Westerners Fear Robots and the Japanese Do Not” Wired. Japanese dating apps are different than those in the west: Digg. Japan’s youngest female mayor is trying to make Sumo more open to women: PRI. Hospital employees lose their homes in California wildfire but still turn up for work: Buzzfeed News. “This Is What It’s Like to Be Kidnapped by Pirates”: GQ. There’s a fair number of people in the US who take consumer DNA tests that they’ve ordered online; they don’t always get the results they were expecting: The Atlantic. Turn off autocorrect on your phone: Digg.