Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
Donald Trump turns back the clock on US-Cuba relations. The US president is expected to at least partly reverse the Obama-era measures that opened the country to US trade and travel in 2014.
The Dalai Lama gives a contentious speech in California. Chinese students, who account for 14% of the University of California San Diego’s student body, say the school was insensitive to invite the exiled Tibetan leader to give a commencement address.
Yahoo ceases to exist. Board member Thomas McInerney will become CEO of the newly renamed Altaba, a holding company with stakes in Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan.
While you were sleeping
Greece and the EU agreed on yet another bailout. Euro zone finance ministers agreed to extend another €8.5 billion ($9.5 billion) in funds, which will go toward servicing previous debt—essentially a loan to repay a previous loan.
Mike Pence lawyered up. The US vice president hired Richard Cullen as his outside counsel. Known for defending officials in high-profile investigations, Cullen will represent Pence during probes into whether there were ties between Russia and the election campaign of president Donald Trump.
The US student freed by North Korea has a severe neurological injury. Otto Warmbier returned to his home state of Ohio this week in a state of “unresponsive wakefulness,” his doctors said. That’s not a coma, but a persistent vegetative state. Warmbier spent more than a year in North Korean prison for stealing a propaganda poster.
A woman who was raped by an Uber driver in India is suing the company. The unnamed woman, who lives in Texas, filed a US lawsuit against CEO Travis Kalanick and two former executives who allegedly obtained her medical records.
The Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy steady. As expected the central bank left short-term interest rates at -0.1%. It also expressed confidence that the economic recovery, led by strong exports, was broadening and gaining momentum.
Quartz obsession interlude
Thu-Huong Ha and Nikhil Sonnad on what we reveal when we draw a circle. “Americans tend to draw circles counterclockwise. Of nearly 50,000 circles drawn in the US, 86% were drawn this way. People in Japan, on the other hand, tend to draw circles in the opposite direction. Of 800 circles drawn in Japan, 80% went clockwise.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Hedge funds need to stop naming themselves after Greek gods. Medea slaughtered her sons, Hermes was the patron of swindlers, and don’t even start with Icarus.
Instagram is rendering record labels obsolete. Through social media, musicians can finally be their own bosses.
Extremists aren’t always criminals. Engaging with people who are moving toward political violence is essential to preventing terrorism.
Surprising discoveries
You could be a tree someday. Two Barcelona brothers make biodegradable urns that seed pines, redwoods, maples, and oaks from human ashes.
The secret to AI may be knowing how to say “good job.” New research suggests that humans may be the best at helping machines learn.
Sushi robots could serve up Japan’s economic recovery. Automation is compensating for the nation’s shrinking population, especially in the food and restaurant industry.
Baby sea turtles are baking on the beach. Rising temperatures on Florida’s coasts are killing hatchlings and skewing turtle populations.
The universe has a bruise. An anomalous region of the sky might be the mark left from an ancient collision with another universe.
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