Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Alphabet kicks off a week of tech earnings. The company is reporting quarterly results a week after EU regulators handed down a record fine for using Android to protect Google’s search dominance, but analysts expect Alphabet to report another large increase in search ad revenue.
An off-site for the British cabinet. Prime minister Theresa May is taking her cabinet ministers to Newcastle for a special meeting about her embattled Brexit plan, among other topics. 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 the National Association of Realtors to report a modest increase in existing home sales.
Over the weekend
The US delivered a blistering attack against Iran. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo accused the Tehran regime of stealing money from the Iranian people and urged more countries to put economic pressure on the government. Donald Trump tweeted in all caps that the US would not stand for Iran’s “demented words of violence & death“ and told president Hassan Rouhani to “be cautious.”
Fiat Chrysler’s longtime CEO stepped down. Sergio Marchionne suddenly resigned 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.
Mesut Özil quit the German national soccer team. The star midfielder, who is of Turkish descent, met with Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in May, leading to widespread condemnation in Germany. Özil, who still plays for Arsenal, said in a statement: “I am German when we win, an immigrant when we lose.”
A mass shooting occurred in Toronto. A gunman opened fire across several blocks in Greektown in the Canadian city. Police said nine people were shot and the gunman is dead.
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 re-evaluating the trade deal. 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 adviser. Republicans had claimed the FBI improperly obtained a warrant to monitor Page as part of the Russian investigation, but the documents showed otherwise.
Quartz obsession interlude
Gwynn Guilford on the mystery of Russia’s missing wealth. “Oligarchs are an essential part of Putin’s power apparatus. And as a recent working paper by economists Thomas Piketty, Gabriel Zucman, and Filip Novokmet reveals, the wealth that won their fealty came directly from the country’s reserves—and, indeed, from the pockets of the Russian people.” 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 Netflix special Nanette critiques the genre, but comedy maintains an important place in modern politics.
Identity should prevail over democracy. Perceptions of security and demographic threats are driving countries like Israel (paywall) to reconsider the importance of democratic values.
Surprising discoveries
The Japanese government is tweaking its heatwave index for color-blind people. More than 30 people have died from heat exhaustion or strokes this month in Japan.
Meat is piling up in the US. About 2.5 billion pounds of meat (paywall) is sitting in warehouses as rising output coincides with trade tensions.
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.
Taco salads have twice as many calories as you think. People are usually good as estimating calorie counts, but certain dishes are confounding.
Toblerone reverted to its original shape. Mondelez announced plans in late 2016 to reduce a 170g bar to 150g by increasing the spacing between the triangles, angering fans.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, excess steaks, 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 Isabella Steger and edited by Alice Truong.