Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Xi Jinping cements China’s role in Africa and the Middle East. The Chinese president will visit the United Arab Emirates, Senegal, Rwanda, Mauritius, and South Africa. He’s drumming up support for the Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, China’s bid to dominate global trade.
Blackstone Group posts second-quarter results. Investors are keen to find out if the world’s largest alternative asset manager is planning to switch to becoming a corporation, like rival KKR, to boost its share price.
Microsoft reports earnings. The firm’s stock just hit a record high and analysts expect its fast-growing cloud business could boost revenue to over $29 billion, up 18% from a year ago. The Walmart-Microsoft cloud-tech deal announced this week is expected to be a key driver of the company’s future growth.
While you were sleeping
Israel passed a “Jewish nation-state” bill into law. The divisive measure defines the country as an exclusively Jewish state and downgrades Arabic as an official language. It also describes advancing Jewish settlement as a national interest, adding that the “whole and united” Jerusalem is its capital.
Iran claimed it rejected eight meeting requests from Donald Trump. President Hassan Rouhani’s chief of staff reportedly said that Iran had refused the requests (paywall) for a meeting between the US and Iranian presidents in 2017. The White House has not yet commented on the claim. Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal in May.
Ofo is dramatically scaling back in North America. Less than a year in, the Chinese bike-sharing startup has failed to lure enough users, and is laying off employees as it shuts down most of its US operations. It is also exiting Australia, Israel, Germany, and scaling down in the UK.
Angry truckers put a dampener on Unilever’s sales. The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant had a disappointing half-year, thanks to weak pricing, the trucker strike in Brazil (paywall), and a stumbling economy in Argentina. Latin America is a vital market for Unilever, accounting for 15% of its sales.
Turkey’s two-year state of emergency expired. New powers acquired by president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will mean conditions, described by critics as a “climate of fear,” essentially remain the same. Since the failed coup in 2016, Erdoğan has jailed more than 120,000 people from the media, police, and civil service.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Anne Quito on office chairs. “Chair settings are tweaked according to cultural norms, according to industrial designer Martin Potrykus of Berlin-based ITO Design. For example, knowing that most Americans like to lean back, office chairs in the US are delivered pre-reclined. In contrast, Japanese workers tend to occupy only the front of the seat.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The EU should punish Apple too. It should be fined for anticompetitive practices (paywall), like an un-deletable browser and locking users into its App Store.
Earned respect is more important than owed respect. Giving one employee specific, public praise doesn’t negatively influence teamwork—if opportunities are equal.
ETFs don’t disrupt markets. Passive investment funds may temporarily swing prices, but stocks quickly correct themselves (paywall).
Surprising discoveries
A Russian shipwreck carrying $130 billion in gold was discovered near South Korea. Half of the treasure will be returned to the Russian government.
There’s a giant Jeff Goldblum statue in London. The sculpture of the bare-chested, reclining actor celebrates the 25th anniversary of Jurassic Park.
Hackers account for 90% of login attempts at online retailers. Consumer banking is also under siege, with 60% of login attempts coming from criminals.
Both partners lie when wives outearn husbands. Women understate their income, while men overstate theirs.
Crows are into necrophilia. The birds have been seen to shred corpses to pieces after copulating with them.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, Goldblum gifs, and gold bullion 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.