Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for
Alphabet kicks off a week of tech earnings. It’s the company’s first quarterly report since EU regulators handed down a record fine for using Android to protect Google’s search dominance. Speaking of which—funny story—analysts expect Alphabet to report another large increase in search ad revenue. Later this week are earnings reports by competitors Facebook and Amazon.
An “away day” for the British cabinet. UK prime minister Theresa May is taking her cabinet ministers to Newcastle for a special meeting about her embattled Brexit plan, among other topics. (Note to May: tips for an effective off-site.) The meeting will be seen as successful if it doesn’t end with further resignations.
Data on America home sales. It’s getting more expensive to buy a home in the United States, thanks to dwindling supply and rising mortgage rates, so expect just a modest increase in existing home sales when the National Association of Realtors reports the number on Monday.
Over the weekend
Fiat Chrysler’s longtime CEO stepped down. Sergio Marchionne suddenly resigned on Saturday after 14 years at the helm of the Italian-American automaker due to an unexplained illness. Mike Manley, who has lead the company’s thriving Jeep brand for the past nine years, replaced him as chief.
NAFTA negotiations moved along. At the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires, Canada and Mexico expressed optimism at reaching a new agreement with the US, which has insisted on reevaluating the trade deal among North America’s three economies. Crucially, the Mexican president-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has said he supports extending NAFTA.
Carter Page wiretap documents were released. The US Justice Department released materials (paywall) related to the surveillance of a former Trump campaign advisor. US Republicans had claimed the FBI improperly obtained a warrant to monitor Page as part of the Russian investigation, but the documents showed otherwise.
San Diego International Comic-Con unfolded. Fans and stars descended on the annual convention and ode to geek culture over the weekend. We got glimpses of movies like Venom, Aquaman, the next Fantastic Beasts film, M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass, and Shazam!, a light, brighter DC movie. A Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot was one of the many projects announced.
Mesut Özil quit the German national soccer team. The star midfielder, who is Turkish, met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in May, leading to widespread condemnation in Germany because, well, Erdoğan is not great. Özil said the reaction made him feel “unwanted” by the German team. He still plays for the English club Arsenal.
Obsession interlude
Gwynn Guilford on tracing Russia’s billions in missing wealth: “The Kremlin’s knack for punching above its weight when it comes to geopolitics is a reminder that wealth sometimes matter less than what you do with it. Or, more precisely, to whom you give it.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Respecting animals is compatible with eating them. Vegetarianism tends to deny that questions about moral eating are increasingly complex.
Comedy is still relevant. Hannah Gadsby’s acclaimed Nanette critiques the genre, but comedy maintains an important place in modern politics.
Timbaland’s “Give It To Me” is the most danceable song in America. That’s according to an analysis by computer scientists who weren’t asked to contribute any dance moves.
Surprising discoveries
The UK’s heatwave is turning the ground brown. The effects of two months of unusually hot weather in the UK and Ireland is clearly visible from space. The region’s lush green landscape is turning a scorched brown shade, satellite images reveal.
Taco salads have twice as many calories as you think. People are usually good as estimating calorie counts, but certain dishes are confounding. Feel free to eat the 906-calorie taco salad with beef, anyway.
The biggest fan convention in the world is in Tokyo. San Diego International Comic Con, which should draw about 130,000 people this weekend, sure gets a lot of attention. But it’s far from the largest fan convention in the world. That’s Tokyo’s Comiket, which 500,000 people will gather for in August.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, Comic-Con sightings, and taco salads 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 Ashley Rodriguez and Zachary M. Seward and edited by Seward.