Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Tesla holds its annual shareholder meeting. The electric-vehicle company has had a tough year of sinking share prices, missed production quotas, and weak demand. CEO Elon Musk will lay out challenges and plans for future growth.
Botswana decides on decriminalizing gay sex. The country’s high court will rule in a landmark case on whether to change a law that currently makes oral and anal sex a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison. LGBTQ advocates hope the nation follows Angola’s example, not Kenya’s.
The US House votes to hold the attorney general in civil contempt. Democrats want William Barr to hand over an unredacted copy of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his Russia investigation. However, House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler will put off legal action after he struck a deal with the justice department yesterday to give committee members access to Mueller’s “most important files.”
E3 kicks off in Los Angeles. The Electronic Entertainment Expo, the world’s premier computer and video games event, brings together some of the biggest gaming companies around, including Microsoft and Sony as well as Chinese juggernauts like TikTok and Sina Games.
While you were sleeping
The list of would-be PMs in the UK was announced. The number of contenders was whittled down to 10, and the candidates will now face a series of votes that will reduce the playing field to just two.
Kim Jong Nam was reportedly a CIA source. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother, who was killed in a 2017 attack in Malaysia, had met with agency operatives, the Wall Street Journal reported (paywall). He was also reported to have been in contact with security services of other countries, particularly China’s.
Travellers’ photos were exposed in a hack against the US border agency. Tens of thousands of images of travellers and license plates were stolen from the US Customs and Border Protection agency in a data breach that targeted a subcontractor. The cyber-attack comes as the agency seeks to expand its collection of sensitive data from travellers, raising concerns about its data practices.
Brazil’s justice minister denied conspiring against former president Lula. Leaked cellphone chats published by the Intercept on Sunday appeared to show Sérgio Moro collaborating with prosecutors during a corruption investigation against former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Moro denied improper conduct and said the messages had been taken out of context.
The Vatican rejected gender theory as a “confused concept.” Titled “Male and Female He Created Them,” a 31-page-document that lays down the official line for Roman Catholic educational institutions denounced the scientifically accepted idea of gender fluidity as a threat to “the concept of nature.”
Membership
The future of food lies in Israel. Hundreds of tech startups are housed in Israel, a veritable Silicon Valley on the Mediterranean. But a fascinating subset of that industry is the panoply of food-tech startups calling the Holy Land their home. In this week’s field guide, starting with today’s state of play memo, Quartz’s science reporter Chase Purdy explains how Israel is already dealing with issues related to food and climate that the rest of the world is only starting to address.
Quartz Obsession
Your smellscape is how your nose knows the world. A combination of 400 kinds of olfactory receptors means each person smells things a little (or a lot) differently from the next, which is why we can’t always agree on whether our wine is woody or if our pee smells weird after we eat asparagus. But scientists are hoping those unique prints can make connections between the sense and a range of ailments. Don’t turn up your nose at the Quartz Obsession.
Matters of debate
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Supermarkets should take charge of the war on plastic. They need to cut back on the amount of plastic on their shelves.
The Raptors’ approach to competition is worth emulating. The Toronto-based basketball team takes their rivals seriously.
Men in ballgowns is this year’s best red-carpet trend. Long defined by drab suits and bowties, men’s fashion is getting a much needed refresh.
Surprising discoveries
Egypt wants to take a King Tut statue off the market. Egyptian officials argue that the 3,000-year-old bust was likely stolen, and Christie’s auction house should return it.
A missing $450-million painting could be on Saudi crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s yacht. The whereabouts of Salvator Mundi—which may or may not be by Da Vinci—has been a mystery.
A Japanese town hosted an office chair Grand Prix. Racers seated in regular office furniture scooted through city streets for two straight hours.
Nancy Pelosi and Justin Trudeau are sports gamblers. The San Franciscan congresswoman and Canadian prime minister made a friendly wager on the NBA finals.
Kylie Jenner’s Handmaid’s Tale-themed party got some flak. Critics said that the persecution of women is not something to celebrate.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, appropriate party themes, and missing paintings to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Mary Hui and edited by Isabella Steger.