Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
A Malaysian court rules on Kim Jong Nam’s murder suspects. A judge will decide whether to continue hearing the case of Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong or acquit them. The two women, who are accused of smearing VX nerve agent on the face of Kim Jong Un’s half brother, claim they thought they were pulling a reality-show prank.
Nearly 350 publications will publish editorials against Trump’s attacks on the press. The Boston Globe’s editorial board coordinated the effort after Trump ramped up his anti-press rhetoric in recent weeks. Large newspapers, such as the Guardian and Miami Herald, have agreed to participate, but most of the publications involved will be local media outlets.
Pakistan awaits a review on terror-financing compliance. A six-member delegation will submit its findings on whether the country has complied with international policies. The Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body, previously put Pakistan on its “grey list” for failing to curb terrorist funding or money laundering.
Walmart and JC Penney report earnings. A day after US retail sales exceeded expectations for July, two retail giants will present their own numbers (paywall). Walmart’s will indicate whether its efforts to take on Amazon have been successful. JC Penney faces a bigger struggle as it hopes to rebound from weak sales after shuffling its senior management.
While you were sleeping
The US Securities and Exchange Commission formally probed Tesla. A subpoena for the electric-car maker (paywall) comes a week after the regulator made initial inquiries over CEO Elon Musk’s tweet about taking Tesla private. On Monday, Musk revealed that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund had approached him about taking Tesla private multiple times over the past two years.
The maker of Corona will pour $4 billion into weed. Constellation Brands had already pumped $190 million into Canadian marijuana producer Canopy Growth, but this new investment marks the largest in the cannabis industry yet. Recreational marijuana will become legal in Canada in October, and the sluggish beer industry is hoping to hop on pot’s bandwagon.
Trump revoked a former CIA director’s security clearance. The president cited the “erratic” behavior of John Brennan, a frequent critic of his administration, and the need to protect classified information. The White House is also reviewing the clearances of nine others, including former national intelligence director James Clapper and former FBI director James Comey.
Investors told Uber to nix its money-losing self-driving unit. Uber sunk between $125 million and $200 million (paywall) per quarter into the division over the past 18 months, amounting to 15% to 30% of its quarterly losses. The company, which is gearing up to go public in 2019, revealed that it lost $404 million in the second quarter.
Qatar promised Turkey a $15 billion investment. The lira rose 6% (paywall) after Qatar’s emir announced the decision following a meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey faced a near-economic crisis following escalating sanctions imposed by the US over the detainment of an American pastor Ankara believes was involved in the failed 2016 coup.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Aisha Hassan on how NASA is trying to wake up its Mars rover with a playlist. “NASA engineers played Wham!’s ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ in an attempt to wake up Opportunity, a rover on Mars that has been radio silent for months. But even the lively spirits of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley failed to stir the rover, and NASA has been playing a different song each day ever since, in the hopes that Opportunity will soon say something back.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Man’s best friend is the key to women’s success. Owning a dog helps women stay in touch with the parts of themselves that a sexist society is often determined to strip away.
Companies must be accountable to employees. Thinking solely of shareholders’ returns has widened the wealth gap and ultimately hurts workers.
Students, fragile as ever, need resilience training. Colleges like Harvard and Florida State University hope their programs can help students manage stress.
Surprising discoveries
Doctors found a 28-year-old contact lens in a woman’s eye. The lens was embedded in her eyelid after she got hit in the face playing badminton as a child.
El Chapo is making New York traffic even worse. Authorities must close the Brooklyn Bridge (paywall) each time the drug lord’s motorcade brings him to court.
Climate change has Andean flamingos feeling frisky. Six flamingos laid eggs at a UK reserve for the first time in 15 years, thanks to Europe’s sweltering heat wave.
Too many Americans can’t read well enough to be soldiers. The US Army is having trouble recruiting from a pool of people who are overweight, undereducated, or have criminal records.
Brazilian cops no longer have to be macho. One state has dropped “masculinity” from a list of requirements for prospective police officers.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, found contact lenses, and space tunes 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 Alice Truong and edited by Tripti Lahiri.