Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
G20 health ministers gather in Berlin. In their first such meeting, they’ll discuss epidemic response and antimicrobial resistance, among other topics. Germany, hosting a range of G20 events this year, made a point of adding health issues to an agenda typically dominated by finance and economics.
Donald Trump goes on tour. The US president touches down today in Saudi Arabia in the midst of a power struggle between two princes eying King Salman’s throne. Trump will deliver a potentially fraught speech about Islam before visiting the centers of two other great world religions, Israel and Rome.
Iranians elect a president. The 2015 nuclear deal with the West is hanging in the balance as incumbent Hassan Rouhani faces hardline challenger Ebrahim Raisi in Friday’s election. Rouhani leads narrowly in the polls.
While you were sleeping
Sweden dropped its rape investigation against Julian Assange. Swedish prosecutors have been investigating a rape allegation against the WikiLeaks founder for the past seven years. Assange has been holed up at Ecuador’s embassy in London since 2012 to avoid extradition, fearing that Sweden might in turn extradite him to the US to face charges related to leaks of classified military and diplomatic documents (which still might happen, just not via Sweden).
Uber threatened to fire the engineer at the center of its Waymo woes. Waymo is suing Uber for the alleged theft of trade secrets by its former executive Anthony Levandowski, who left to join Uber. A judge last week ordered Uber to stop Levandowski working on self-driving technology; the engineer’s lawyers now say Uber told him to give back Waymo documents or face being fired.
Investors took flight after Singapore Airline’s bumpy quarter. After the national carrier reported its first quarterly loss in seven years, its shares suffered their biggest one-day drop since the financial crisis (paywall). The airline blamed rising costs and a big fine for anticompetitive behavior in Europe—it was penalized for its part in a cargo price-fixing cartel that dates back to 1999.
Beijing reported progress on a South China Sea ”code of conduct.” China and the ASEAN bloc merely concurred about how such an agreement might be structured, with Beijing insisting the details remain confidential. Some diplomats from ASEAN doubted Beijing’s sincerity, given that talks about the disputed waterways have dragged on for years.
A Basquiat painting sold for $110 million. Yusaku Maezawa, an online-retail magnate from Japan, acquired the untitled 1982 portrait by Jean Michel-Basquiat at Sotheby’s in New York. The sale set a new record for a work by an American artist. The painting was purchased in 1984 for $19,000.
Quartz obsession interlude
Keila Guimarães on the drug shortages that are bringing back old diseases. “Penicillin was one of the great achievements of modern medicine… Over the years though, penicillin descended from a wonder drug used on everything to a cheap, old antibiotic that pharmaceutical companies decided was no longer worth their while to produce.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Roger Ailes is dead, but his damage to American democracy lives on. Trump regurgitates Fox News talking points almost every morning.
Are bombs or batteries a bigger threat to planes? Either way, officials agree that laptops on flights are dangerous.
Trump won’t say how he’ll improve on “the worst trade deal ever.” His “massive” plan for NAFTA is notably short on details.
Surprising discoveries
Komodo dragon blood could battle superbugs. The highly toxic blood of the world’s largest lizard is impervious to disease and rich in compounds that could be used as antibiotics.
Food companies are fighting in court over the shape of Kit Kat bars. Does candy design meet the threshold for trademark protection?
Cancer drug price gouger Martin Shkreli is the subject of a musical. PharmaBro: An American Douchical is currently playing off-Broadway.
Radio waves have formed a protective bubble around the Earth. They shield us from solar flares and other “space weather.”
An ancient contraceptive may offer an alternative to birth-control pills. The plant is evocatively called “thunder god vine.”
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, NAFTA alternatives, and show tunes about pharmaceutical clinical trials to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android.