Uber’s UK defense, longer tweets, Eminem investment

Good morning, Quartz readers!

What to watch for

Thailand issues a verdict on a former prime minister. Yingluck Shinawatra, deposed in a 2014 military coup, fled the country last month as she was due to stand trial for negligence while in office over a wasteful rice subsidy scheme. She faces up to 10 years in prison and is rumored to be in Dubai with her exiled brother, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Uber defends its independent-contractor business model in the UK. The company will appear before the employment appeal tribunal, which is determining whether its drivers should be classified as employees or self-employed workers. Last week, London’s transport regulator stripped Uber of its operating license.

US Republicans unveil their long-awaited tax plan. The GOP, still smarting from the demise of its last-ditch attempt to repeal Obamacare, will propose major tax cuts for large and small businesses. It’s not clear whether it will seek to reduce the top individual tax rate of 39.6%.

While you were sleeping

Trump’s pick lost in the Republican primary for a Senate seat in Alabama. Roy Moore, a firebrand populist and former judge, defeated Luther Strange (paywall) in the race to fill the seat vacated by attorney general Jeff Sessions. Moore is also deeply conservative, but Strange’s defeat suggests that deep-red Republicans won’t necessarily always follow Trump’s lead—the president later deleted tweets where he showed support for Strange.

Twitter doubled its character limit. The social-media platform said it would expand the number of characters allowed in a tweet from 140 to 280—a decision that some users think defeats the purpose of Twitter. Users who tweet in Asian languages like Japanese and Chinese, however, said they have long been accustomed to being able to fit a lot of information into a 140-character tweet.

The US slapped huge duties on Canada’s Bombardier. The commerce department imposed a preliminary 219.63% import tariff on Bombardier’s new commercial jets, after Boeing complained that the company was able to sell its planes in the US at an unfairly low price due to government subsidies. The penalty will only take effect if the US International Trade Commission also rules in Boeing’s favor in a final decision expected next year.

The female challenger to Shinzo Abe said she wants to “reset” Japan. Tokyo mayor Yuriko Koike, who earlier announced the formation of the Party of Hope to contest next month’s snap general election, laid out her party’s vision and strategy for the first time. Koike said her party will operate free of the interests of the political establishment, and that the country would maintain its pacifist principles, which are enshrined in its constitution.

The FBI busted a college-basketball corruption scheme. The US filed criminal charges against a number of high-profile coaches, managers, and representatives for sneaker giant Adidas. Among those charged were current and former coaching staff members at Oklahoma State University, the University of Arizona, the University of Southern California, and the University of South Carolina.

Quartz obsession interlude

Lily Kuo on China’s vision of itself as the world’s peacekeeper, which starts in Africa. “It also appeals to a growing sense of nationalism in China’s military might and influence around the world. Chinese media this week released footage of live-fire shooting drills at China’s first overseas base in Djibouti… China’s top grossing film of all time, Wolf Warrior II, released last month, reflects some of that sentiment. In the movie, a Chinese special ops soldier single-handedly saves locals and Chinese expatriates in an unspecified African country in the throes of conflict.” Read more here.

Markets haiku

Chipotle burger / with a Top Chef at the helm: / Bad news for Shake Shack

Matters of debate

The Saudi king’s decree allowing women to drive is really about money. The country’s repressive culture is a barrier to its efforts to modernize and diversify its economy away from oil.

The racial wealth divide in the US is worse than people think—and it’s growing. The median black family, who today only owns $1,700 in wealth excluding their car, will reach zero wealth by 2053.

Hollywood created its own worst enemy in Rotten Tomatoes. It encouraged the film-review aggregator, until critics started turning against would-be blockbusters.

Surprising discoveries

Researchers have been terrifying guppies for science. Regular doses of fear were used to determine (paywall) whether the fish have individual personalities. (They do, sort of.)

Belgium, the Mexico-US border wall, and sleeping gas have something in common. They’re all things that Trump has called “beautiful.

Tinder keeps hundreds and hundreds of pages of data about you. “Our matching tools are dynamic and consider various factors… in order to personalise the experience for each of our users,” the company explained.

North Koreans also need help understanding Trump. They’ve reached out to Republican analysts for assistance (paywall).

You can invest in Eminem’s future royalties. A new startup is going public to monetize his back catalog, but without Slim Shady’s consent.

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