Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The EU and Japan prepare to sign a free-trade deal. Prime minister Shinzo Abe will meet with EU leaders to try and hammer out an agreement to counter the recent US turn toward protectionism. Sticking points include the EU’s desire to keep tariffs on Japanese car imports, and Japan’s concern about European cheese encroaching on its protected dairy industry.
Hamburg braces for more violent demonstrations. Tens of thousands are expected, police said. Overnight, police made arrests and turned water cannons on mainly left-wing activists protesting globalization near the venue of the G20 summit in Germany’s second-largest city.
Donald Trump sits down with Angela Merkel. The German chancellor, who has frequently spoken out against Trump’s actions, will meet the president at 6pm local time. Merkel, known as the “summit chancellor” for her ability to shine at big events, faces the strong-man challenge of Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the G20.
While you were sleeping
Trump made a speech in Warsaw. The president praised Poland for its role in helping to defeat ISIL, adding that it was one of the only countries paying enough into NATO. Trump will make a second speech today in Krasinski Square, the site of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, and attend a meeting of 12 Eastern European nations, where he’s expected to promote US natural gas as an alternative to Russian exports.
Hobby Lobby was fined $3 million for smuggling artifacts from Iraq. The arts-and-crafts chain brought over 5,500 pieces to the US without proper labels, including clay tablets with cuneiform writing, according to the US Department of Justice. Some of the items were simply labeled as “ceramic tiles.”
Social media giants jostled for some World Cup action. Facebook, Twitter, and Snap are bidding tens of millions of dollars for the rights to video highlights from next year’s soccer tournament in Russia. Fox, which holds the US rights to the contest, still hasn’t decided whether or not to sell exclusive rights to one bidder, according to Bloomberg News.
Vladimir Putin scolded Germany. The Russian president, in an editorial in German business daily Handelsblatt, slammed sanctions against his country and demanded an end to trade protectionism. The US and EU imposed sanctions against Russia for annexing Crimea in 2014 and backing pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
Benghazi was “liberated” from Islamic militants. The self-styled Libyan National Army said the country’s second-largest city will now enter a period of “security, peace and reconciliation” after years of fighting. The LNA, which controls the eastern part of Libya, is not recognized by the UN-backed government in the capital Tripoli.
Quartz obsession interlude
Anne Quito on how Donald Trump has reawakened American “craftivism.” “In the 1760s, women revolted against British taxation on textiles by spinning their own yarn and sewing their family’s clothes. Famous spy Molly ‘Old Mom’ Rinker smuggled messages to George Washington’s troops through balls of yarn.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
ISIL’s defeat won’t bring peace to Syria and Iraq. The fight to save both countries can only be won by addressing political turmoil.
The only thing to do about North Korea is wait. The US has a series of strategic options, all of them bad.
The American revolution was a mistake. Slavery would have ended more quickly and Native Americans would have fared better had the US stuck with Britain.
Surprising discoveries
Amelia Earhart may have survived her 1937 plane crash. A newly uncovered photograph appears to show the lost aviator, her navigator, and perhaps the wreckage of her plane.
Kim Jong-un is a landlord in Europe. North Korean embassies lease out property in cities like Berlin and Sofia, providing much-needed cash for the Pyongyang regime.
An Indian court ruled that a guru’s body can stay in the freezer. Ashutosh Maharaj, founder of the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan sect , died in 2014, but his followers believe he is only meditating and will one day come back to life.
A fierce ancestor to the crocodile ruled prehistoric Madagascar. Razanandrongobe sakalavae was so fearsome that it preyed on dinosaurs.
Inhalable chocolate is now a thing. Coco Loko bills itself as a pick-me-up, but scientists doubt the powder will do anything but plug your nostrils.
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