Welcome to your Daily. Today we look at the EU’s reach for global sway, why populism may wane, black chefs reclaiming their culinary heritage, keeping pillow talk nonpartisan, and a famous library’s centennial rose.

First, two quick profiles in values-clad professionalism. 

Amid a new round of temblors near the second-largest U.S. city stands the stabilizing force that is the “earthquake lady.”

Lucy Jones, an unshakable CalTech seismologist, has long been a rock star among Angelenos, who hang on her every word about “foreshocks” and “preshocks” and openly appreciate her calm explanations of which fault lines connect to which. A rolling motion? That means the event is “pretty far away.” 

The catchphrases that have emerged in L.A. – “I trust Lucy,” “Lucy is my co-pilot” – say a lot about how greatly Dr. Jones exceeds the expectations of a subject-matter authority. She deploys smarts against fear. 

And the integrity that makes her the dominant analyst isn’t limited to cold physics. Speaking about how Southern Californians might best respond to a large-scale quake, she counsels empathy: “The most important thing you can do,” she said at a press conference, “is help yourself and help your neighbor.” Connected communities recover fastest.

Empathy and connection have also shown up lately at sea. On Saturday, a second migrant-rescue ship forced its way into the Italian port of Lampedusa, putting ashore 40 imperiled people despite a ban on doing so. (A third ship was redirected to Malta.)

The docking may have been inspired by a similar act of mercy in late June by German ship captain Carola Rackete, arrested after landing her 40 African migrants, bumping a police boat in the process.

Captain Rackete weighed lifesaving against legality and declared the migrants’ lives “more important than any political game.” She was ordered released July 2 by an Italian judge. His ruling: She had been fulfilling “her duty to protect life.”