Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
Ryanair pilots go on strike. Several hundred pilots are expected to walk off the job today, with union employees across Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, and the Netherlands calling for better pay and working conditions. The low-cost airline expects to cancel one in six flights, and says it won’t change its business model.
Countries decide on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. At a meeting on the sea’s shore in Kazakhstan, representatives from the other four Caspian countries—Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan—will meet to finalize an agreement (paywall) governing the oil-rich sea’s status, including whether it is in fact a sea, or a lake.
The US capital braces for a far-right rally. One year after the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a ”Unite the Right 2” rally will take place in Washington outside the White House on Sunday.
Turkey presents a “new economic model.” Ankara’s plan for economic reform comes as the lira continues to slide, hitting another fresh low (paywall) against the dollar today. The lira’s plunge also comes against a backdrop of worsening US-Turkey relations over the detention of an American pastor.
The year’s last solar eclipse. Saturday’s cosmic event will only be a partial eclipse visible from Earth’s northern hemisphere, best seen from Siberia and northeast Canada. Other countries will see anywhere from 5% to 50% coverage from the Moon, but special filters and protective glasses should still be worn.
While you were sleeping
The US Space Force needs $8 billion. Vice president Mike Pence said that the “separate but equal” military arm should launch by 2020, along with a Space Command that will draft manpower from other parts of the US Armed Forces. Of course, that assumes Congress approves it in the defense budget.
WeWork raised $1 billion in debt from SoftBank. The shared-office startup also disclosed that (paywall) losses tripled in the first half of the year as it continued to rapidly expand, while revenue doubled. SoftBank already invested $4.4 billion in equity in WeWork last year.
New Zealand banned plastic bags. Prime minister Jacinda Ardern said retailers would be given six months to phase out single-use plastics, or face fines. Over 40 countries worldwide have imposed bans on plastic bags.
The World Bank is selling blockchain bonds. Neither the size nor issue date has been announced yet, but it would be the organization’s first bond (paywall) to be created and run using blockchain technology. The issue will be arranged by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and is named “bond-i,” after the Sydney beach, and also stands for “Blockchain Offered New Debt Instrument.”
Costa Rica’s supreme court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage. The court ruling said that the current ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, and that legislators must amend the law within 18 months. Costa Rica’s recently elected president ran on a platform of protecting LGBT rights, despite the country’s sizable evangelical population.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Tim Fernholz on how the Space Force took over Washington. “Space is vital to US national security and military power, even if very little of what you might consider ‘warfighting’ goes on there now. America’s orbiting military computers are an incredible asset, providing communications and surveillance on a scale that its adversaries can’t rival (to say nothing of how important they are to the US economy).” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The Oscars just got even more elitist. A new “best popular feature” category will ghettoize non-artsy films.
Short sellers may be right about Elon Musk. His financial plans are becoming weirder and weirder (paywall), which doesn’t typically signal a solid investment.
Mass tourism is ruining Amsterdam. It’s a pattern that’s being repeated in cities across the world, with locals skipping town at the peak of tourist season.
Surprising discoveries
Soybean are stranded at sea. A casualty of the US-China trade war, the Peak Pegasus has been stuck in the Pacific carrying 70,000 tons of the commodity.
Australians are crazy for portraits of Queen Elizabeth. People are emailing their legislators with requests for them, after a hitherto obscure rule that citizens are entitled to paraphernalia “related to nationhood” became known.
An elderly Taiwanese man rigs 11 phones on his bike to play Pokemon Go. “Uncle Pokemon,” as he is known, says he plays the augmented-reality game to fend off Alzheimer’s disease.
A giant Buddha statue in China was “restored.” Like its “monkey Jesus” counterpart in Spain, the Song dynasty relic in Sichuan province was painted over in garish colors.
Sixteen years of Verdi is too much. A woman in Slovakia blasted a piece from “La Traviata” all day, every day, until her neighbors finally complained.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, botched restorations, and royal portraiture 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 Steve Mollman.