Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Amazon workers go on strike in Germany. Warehouse employees in Germany will join Spanish and Polish workers who are protesting poor labor conditions. The company said consumer deliveries will not be affected.
The EU levies a huge fine on Android. The European Commission is expected to impose a multi-billion euro fine against the mobile operating system for hampering competition through its promotion of Google services, especially search. Regulators may attempt to force the tech giant to open up Android to promote Google’s rivals.
Europe bolsters ties with Japan. On the heels of a bracing Donald Trump visit and a spiraling global trade war, senior EU officials will meet with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to discuss closer economic ties.
While you were sleeping
Trump showered praise on Vladimir Putin in Helsinki… The US president said he trusted his counterpart’s claim that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 US election, despite the unanimous findings of US intelligence agencies. Republican senator John McCain said that Trump “abased himself…abjectly before a tyrant” at the summit, while former CIA director John Brennan accused him of treason.
…As the US arrested a Russian pro-gun activist for spying. Maria Butina, a former aide to a Russian central bank official, was accused of setting up a back-channel communications between the Kremlin, the US National Rifle Association, and the Republican Party. The FBI is investigating whether Russia funneled donations to the Trump campaign via the NRA.
Netflix plummeted on slowing subscriber growth. The streaming media giant fell short of expectations for the first time in five quarters, adding 670,000 US subscribers (estimate: 1.23 million) and 4.5 million internationally (estimate: 5.11 million). Netflix shares, which have doubled in the last year, plunged by about 13% in after-hours trading.
Jeff Bezos became the richest man in modern history. The Amazon CEO is now worth more than $150 billion, making him the wealthiest person since Forbes began tracking individual fortunes in 1982. The accomplishment was tarnished slightly when Amazon’s Prime Day site crashed at the onset of the company’s blockbuster shopping holiday.
The US filed complaints against retaliatory tariffs. Trade officials filed five WTO dispute actions against China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico and Turkey for slapping $28.5 billion worth of tariffs on US goods. The Trump administration argued that its own tariffs, which set off the global trade war, were legal under WTO rules because they were issued under a national security exemption.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Echo Huang on the lasting legacy of China’s infant milk tragedy: “The incident shattered the confidence of people in Chinese-made infant formula—and in the entire local food supply. Ten years later, the deep distrust remains … The pain has been long-lasting for many suffering families, who didn’t fully understand the effects of melamine at that time. Some have grasped it over the years, as their children remain constantly ill.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Can “over” also mean “more than?” Despite the bitter opposition of many grammar nerds, style guides and dictionaries now say it can.
Today’s children are entering a doomed world. They will likely suffer the extreme outcomes of climate change (paywall), but despair is not the answer.
Oil demand will peak by 2036. Influential consultancy Wood Mackenzie says self-driving electric cars will exacerbate the trend.
Surprising discoveries
Nudists love Twitter. The platform’s commitment to free speech and tolerance of fake names lets the naturalist community thrive.
The US government lost a bunch of plutonium. The radioactive material was stolen in Texas a year ago, and authorities still have no leads.
Algerians are speaking Korean thanks to K-Pop. South Korea has become the surprise soft-power mecca of the 21st century.
China’s first $100 million movie is a breathtaking flop. The fantasy film “Asura” was pulled from cinemas after selling only $7 million worth of tickets in its opening weekend.
An Indonesian mob slaughtered about 300 crocodiles. The bloody, illegal act of revenge took place after a local villager was reportedly killed by one of the protected animals.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, missing plutonium, and “over” takedowns 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 Aisha Hassan and David Wexner and edited by Adam Pasick.