The head of an informal union of Uber Eats drivers warned of protests or legal action in South Africa and the secretary-general of another union protested alone Wednesday after French police refused to grant permission for a protest in Paris. (Reuters)

Talking point: The driver protests come after an investigation by The Guardian based on more than 124,000 leaked documents from 2013-17 found the ride-hail app broke laws and exploited violence against its drivers. As my colleague Martin reported, Uber has struggled to retain drivers, spurring a Montreal startup that focused on putting its advertising screens into Ubers to shift almost exclusively to taxis. Also this week, a lawsuitwas filed against Uber on behalf of 550 clients, “alleging that women passengers in multiple states were kidnapped, sexually assaulted, sexually battered, raped, falsely imprisoned, stalked, harassed, or otherwise attacked by Uber drivers.”