Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Uber awaits its London fate. The ride-sharing company is challenging a decision by Transport for London that it is unfit to run a taxi service. The regulator cited delays in reporting criminal offenses and conducting driver background checks. It should find out the verdict later today.
Lennar reports second-quarter earnings. The second-largest US homebuilder is expected to be riding high on healthy housing demand buoyed by job growth and a robust economy.
James Mattis meets military leaders in China. The defense secretary is on his first visit to Beijing seeking support for nuclear talks with North Korea. His trip, which includes South Korea and Japan, will test his strained relationship with Donald Trump.
While you were sleeping
Chinese stocks entered a bear market. Trade-war anxiety drove the Shanghai Composite—one of the world’s worst-performing indexes this year—down more than 20% from its recent January high, closing down 0.5% on Tuesday. The White House is expected to announce restrictions on Chinese firms investing in US tech this week.
Trump got vexed at Harley Davidson. The motorcycle maker said it faced losing up to $100 million a year as a result of the EU’s retaliatory tariffs and plans to move production overseas. Trump tweeted that Harley was just using taxes as an excuse and that “ultimately they will not pay tariffs selling into the E.U.”
Google was outed for pushing publishers to lobby against EU copyright laws. It has been encouraging news publishers, who are part of its Digital News Initiative group, to write to European Parliament members (paywall) and rail against the legislation. The laws would force online platforms like Google to pay for links to news content they use.
A federal judge dismissed a climate-change lawsuit against Big Oil. San Francisco district court threw out the case brought by two California cities against fossil-fuel giants—including BP, Shell, and Exxon—alleging that they should pay to protect the cities’ residents from climate-change impact.
Sean Spicer has been developing his own chat show. Trump’s former spokesman is working with Debmar-Mercury and Pilgrim Media Group on a show (paywall) called “Sean Spicer’s Common Ground.” According to the New York Times, Spicer will host “some of the most interesting and thoughtful public figures for a drink.”
Quartz Obsession interlude
Annabelle Timsit on the surprising history of the “disaster baby boom” legend. “As the legends go, major natural disasters and other events that keep people indoors are followed by increased births. That’s why we also have ‘blizzard babies,’ and ‘blackout babies.’ Washington DC even has its own spin: furlough fertility, for what happens when the federal government shuts down, giving federal workers nothing but time—which some apparently use to procreate.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
America’s opioid crisis is not China’s fault. The epidemic is driven by demand, not foreign supply.
To help poor young women stay healthy, try giving them cash. Financial independence empowers better decisions.
Vegan dogs could radically help the planet. The pet-food industry is responsible for a quarter of the environmental impact from meat production.
Surprising discoveries
A rat moved into an Indian ATM and never moved out. Technicians opened it up to find the deceased rodent had shredded 1.2 million rupees ($17,596).
Buzz Aldrin is suing his family for “elder exploitation.” The second man to walk on the moon wants to keep control over his finances and legacy.
Images of the Australasian cockatoo were found on a 13th-century Vatican manuscript. The discovery has historians rethinking medieval trade routes.
The Pentagon’s research arm reinvented the wheel. DARPA designed Humvee treads that can transform from circles into triangular tracks on the fly.
Saudi Arabian female drivers could create an economic boom. Having women behind the wheel could add $90 billion to the economy by 2030.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, cockatoos, and angry astronauts 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 Lianna Brinded.