Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Theresa May’s pre-Brexit tour. The British prime minister will meet first minister Nicola Sturgeon as part of her UK Brexit tour before triggering Article 50 to formally begin leaving the EU later this week. Sturgeon wants a second independence referendum; May rejected that option until things are clearer on the Brexit deal.
US-led airstrikes could prompt floods in Syria. Raqqa is 40 km (25 miles) downriver from a dam on the Euphrates that ISIL says is at risk of collapse because of US-led airstrikes in the region. The UN says some of the damage was due to deliberate sabotage by the militant group. ISIL ordered civilians to evacuate the city, which it considers the capital of its self-styled caliphate.
Cyclone Debbie hits the northeast coast of Australia. It’s expected to cross the coast of north Queensland as a Category 4 storm packing winds of up to 260 km per hour (160 miles per hour), making landfall early on Tuesday. Around 25,000 people in northern Queensland have been told to evacuate.
Over the weekend
Beijing won Hong Kong’s election. Carrie Lam, viewed as Beijing’s favorite, became Hong Kong’s first female chief executive, despite her opponent John Tsang’s strong lead in public polls. So how did he lose? In Hong Kong’s leadership elections, 1,194 electors cast their lot on behalf of 3.8 million registered voters to determine the winner. On Monday, Hong Kong police charged nine people over their involvement in pro-democracy protests in 2014.
Anti-Putin rallies erupted in Russia. Thousands gathered in central Moscow and other cities to protest corruption in president Vladimir Putin’s government. Police responded by arresting hundreds—including Alexei Navalny, who had planned to run for president in 2018, but has been banned from doing so after being found guilty in a case he says was rigged.
The US Republican party splintered over healthcare. Immediately after the GOP healthcare bill in the House of Representatives collapsed, US president Donald Trump blamed Democrats. But over the weekend, he lashed out at leaders of his own Republican party, which has proven it has no governing coalition. Even the factions within the party are splintering.
Uber hit the brakes on self-driving vehicles. The ride-hailing giant suspended its pilot program for autonomous cars following a crash in Arizona, which happened when the driver of a second vehicle didn’t yield to the self-driving Uber vehicle while making a turn. There were no serious injuries.
Angela Merkel’s party triumphed in a state election. Voters in Saarland (population one million) handed Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats a clear win over the Social Democrats (SPD) on Sunday, in an election considered a bellwether for September’s national vote. SDP chancellor candidate Martin Schulz, a former European Parliament president, has re-energized the party, putting it on par with the CDU in the polls, but not enough in Saarland.
American Airlines and China Southern announced a hook up. The US carrier could take a stake in China’s largest airline, allowing the companies to pool resources and increase routes between the world’s two biggest travel markets. In another US-China airline tie-up in 2015, Delta bought a small stake in China Eastern.
Quartz obsession interlude
Echo Huang on China’s epidemic of fake food news: “Fears about the safety of food products made in China have been deep-seated in the wake of major cases of food contamination, and constant exposés of fake food. But now, some of the exposés too are turning out to be fake, creating an ever more uncertain climate for consumers, and the manufacturers who cater to them.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Video games can be valuable teaching tools. They engage students with history in a way books alone can’t.
There’s no such thing as an offensive joke. The only real taboo in comedy is not being funny.
US stores are in a terrible way. They’re boring, expensive, and out of touch with customer preferences.
Surprising discoveries
A Dutch town put traffic lights on the pavement. They’re for pedestrians staring at their phones.
Dishonest governments produce dishonest citizens. People from corrupt countries were more likely to cheat in an experiment.
A Canadian province revoked a man’s offensive-looking license plate. Lorne Grabher registered a personalized plate with his last name 26 years ago.
Former communists are embracing capitalism. Management guru Peter Drucker has fans among ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers (paywall).
Scientists turned a spinach leaf into beating heart tissue. They grew human cells on the plant’s vascular system.
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