Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
A transit strike hits Mumbai. Taxi and autorickshaw drivers are expected to go on indefinite strike in protest of app-based ride-hailing companies like Uber and Ola. The latter are eating into their profits, they complain, and authorities should do more to regulate their operations.
Colombia begins a ceasefire with the rebel group FARC. The government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia agreed to a ceasefire that started at midnight Sunday local time. It marks the first time both sides have committed to a definitive end to the fighting, which has lasted over five decades and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Estonia holds presidential elections. The country’s parliament will vote on a replacement for current president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who is wrapping up his second five-year term and is an outspoken critic of US presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Over the weekend
Germany’s vice-chancellor spoke out. Sigmar Gabriel described US-EU talks on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership as “failed” in an interview. He also said that the EU would “go down the drain” if the UK’s exit from the body wasn’t properly handled.
China maintained the status quo in Tibet. The communist party appointed a longtime official to run the region, which experiences frequent periods of anti-Chinese unrest. Like his predecessor, Wu Yingjie is a member of China’s majority Han ethnic group.
Turkey pushed deeper into Syria. A British monitoring group said at least 35 villagers have been killed in Turkey’s campaign to seize territory held by Kurdish rebels in war-torn Syria. The intense cross-border operation began last week.
Trump tried to manage his immigration message. Speaking at a campaign stop in Iowa, US presidential nominee Donald Trump said he would deport “criminal illegal immigrants” if elected, and blamed the media (paywall) for misinterpreting his immigration policies.
A crew ended life on Mars. A NASA-funded, year-long experiment in Hawaii to mimic life on Mars came to an end, part of a series of missions to test the resources, crew makeup, and conditions that would support a trip to the red planet. NASA hopes to send humans there by 2030.
Quartz obsession interlude
Caitlin Hu on ancient Egyptians’ workplace strategies. “Patience is a virtue. Don’t bug your partner about their weight. Try not to vex your boss. As a new translation of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs reveals, the fundamental rules of human behavior have changed little in the last 4,000 years—and wisdom from the times of the pharaohs still rings wry and insightful today.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Fearing your boss is bad motivation. Truly great leaders command respect, not terror.
Stop judging parents for leaving their kids alone. There’s nothing immoral about letting kids learn to problem-solve on their own.
Pope Francis is being naive in his pursuit of a thaw with Beijing. Some Catholics are deeply disturbed that the Vatican is cozying up to China’s repressive regime.
Surprising discoveries
Fruits and vegetables are getting sweeter. Food producers are using technology to make fruits and vegetables taste less bitter, making them worse for us in the process.
The munchkins in The Wizard of Oz cost less than Dorothy’s dog. The actors received $50 a week, compared with the $125 paid out to Toto’s owner and trainer.
There’s a bird that understands humans. The Greater Honeyguide, found in the African savanna, exhibits ”a level of complex communication [with humans] unheard of in nature.”
Pregnancy-related deaths are rising in the US. America is one of only eight countries where average maternal mortality rates have gone up instead of down in the past few decades. Rates have nearly doubled in Texas.
A 4,000-year-old idea could disrupt refrigeration. Food-storage containers using the age-old technique of ‘evaporative cooling’ could solve the problem of keeping food fresh in areas without electricity.
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