Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Uber goes to court in London. It will appear before the Westminster magistrates court to argue that it is “fit and proper” to operate in the city. The British capital didn’t renew Uber’s operating license in September, citing its use of covert tracking technology and failure to report “serious criminal offenses” by its drivers.
The economic fallout from a Brazilian trucker strike is revealed. The central bank releases data on how the nationwide 10-day strike in May affected Brazil’s exports (paywall). Finance minister Eduardo Guardia estimated last month that it would cost the economy about $2.6 billion.
US housing market health check. The Census Bureau will release its monthly report on new home sales. Analysts expect around 665,000 sales in May, up slightly from the 662,000 announced in April.
Over the weekend
Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan tightened his grip on power. The president declared victory on Sunday after winning 52.5% percent of the presidential vote, while his AK Party won 42.5% of the parliamentary vote. A new constitution, due to come into force after the election, will effectively put Turkey under one-man rule.
Donald Trump called for migrants to be deported without due process. The president tweeted that people “who invade our country” must be sent back “with no Judges or Court Cases.” Trump reversed his policy of splitting up migrant families last week—more than 2,300 children were separated from their parents at the border in May and June.
The White House planned to curb China’s tech ambitions. The administration is working on rules—to be announced this week—that would block Chinese firms from investing in industrially significant” technologies in the US. The new rules will up the ante in an intensifying trade war.
Women finally began driving in Saudi Arabia. The first licenses were issued earlier this month and about 2,000 women can now legally get behind the wheel. However, the activists who spearheaded the campaign to end the driving ban are still in prison or have been forced into exile.
Two African leaders survived bomb attacks. Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa survived what’s being described as an assassination attempt after an explosion at a campaign rally in Bulawayo on Saturday. On the same day, an attacker tossed a grenade at a rally for Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa that left two dead. Neither leader was hurt.
Quartz obsession interlude
Thu-Huong Ha on how bilingual authors are challenging the practice of italicizing non-English words. ”The format is meant to be used for clarity, to indicate to a reader that she hasn’t come across a typo or an English word she doesn’t know. But the practice reinforces a monolinguistic culture of othering, some writers believe, and it simply doesn’t sound natural. For the world’s bilingual population—by some estimates, more than half—it’s not the way people really talk.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Celebrating rebel women does a disservice to the quieter ones. Looking at women’s achievements through a masculine “hero” lens consigns many lesser-known role models to obscurity.
Africa’s tourism promoters advertise to nearly everyone but black tourists. They need to look beyond selling safaris to foreigners.
Pushing global vegetarianism is a form of colonial thinking. The water needed to grow food crops in arid lands is environmentally unfriendly.
Surprising discoveries
The world’s “ugliest dog” has been crowned. It’s a nine-year-old English bulldog with a flopped-out tongue named Zsa Zsa.
Trump has a 90% approval rating among Republicans. That’s the highest since George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks (paywall).
A masterpiece by Rubens was hiding in plain sight. The Baroque master’s “Portrait of a Gentleman” was hanging in a Johannesburg home for years.
You only need to learn 50 foreign words to be understood. Bump it up to 800 and you will get through about 75% of all daily conversations abroad.
The pot industry is reinventing child-resistant packages. The designs are also often greener and easier to use.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, hidden masterpieces, and childproof weed to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Jill Petzinger and edited by Jason Karaian.