Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
Donald Trump discusses Afghanistan strategy. The US president will meet with national security advisors at Camp David to flesh out a new “South Asia strategy” and reevaluate US involvement in the region. Currently about 8,400 US troops are deployed there.
US pro-wrestling launches in China. Chinese viewers will be able to subscribe to a video-on-demand service for all World Wrestling Entertainment events, exclusively through local partner PPTV.
Infosys considers a share buyback. The Indian tech giant’s board will meet on Saturday to discuss a possible purchase of its stock, following similar moves by Wipro and Tata Consulting Services.
Taiwan hosts a major sporting event. The Universiade, the university version of the Olympics, will kick off on Saturday in the capital Taipei. Long squeezed by China in the international arena, the games are seen as a coming out moment for Taiwan—but it still has to host them under the unpopular moniker Chinese Taipei.
While you were sleeping
A terrorist attack killed 13 people in Barcelona. A van drove into a crowd in the shopping street Las Ramblas in the heart of the city’s tourist district, in an attack claimed by ISIL. Spanish police later killed five people in the town of Cambrils, south of Barcelona, to thwart a potential second attack.
Charities distanced themselves from Mar-a-Lago… The American Cancer Society, the American Friends of Magen David Adom, and the Cleveland Clinic pulled fundraising events from Trump’s Florida resort, as the fallout from Trump’s handling of Charlottesville continues.
…And Rupert Murdoch’s son will donate $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League. James Murdoch, CEO of Twenty-First Century Fox, said in an email: “I can’t even believe I have to write this: standing up to Nazis is essential; there are no good Nazis. Or Klansmen, or terrorists.”
The ACLU will no longer defend hate groups marching with firearms. The American Civil Liberties Union Virginia branch had defended the right (paywall) of white-supremacist groups to protest against the removal of a Confederate statue. “The events of Charlottesville require any… legal group to look at the facts of any white-supremacy protests with a much finer comb,” said the ACLU’s executive director Anthony Romero.
Quartz obsession interlude
Zheping Huang and Joon Ian Wong on bitcoin mines in Inner Mongolia. ”Each building is surrounded by two fine-wire mesh fences. They are designed to keep out the dust of Inner Mongolia, which can, and often does, cause the machines to break down… In the spring, the fences also guard against a flurry of fuzzy, bullet-sized catkins, shed by the willow trees common across China.” Read more here.
Markets haiku
The world of business / awaits his conscience. This is / Gary Cohn’s crisis
Matters of debate
Renewable energy is paying for itself. The widely criticized government subsidies have saved up to $220 billion in health care and climate costs.
Robots are already changing childhood. The benefits of having “computers as servants” will probably outweigh the negatives.
Surgeons may be psychopaths, but in a good way. Emotional detachment leads to better choices in life-and-death scenarios.
Surprising discoveries
Alien cults are making a comeback in France. Despite a 1995 government crackdown, more than 600 sects exist today.
In the US, you’re never far from a Confederate monument. Click here to find out just how close you are.
Some AI systems can’t understand African-Americans. One popular algorithm concluded that common slang and vernacular was actually Danish.
In the future, dead bodies will be turned to goo. A chemical mixture is being used to dissolve the corpses, which smell like “steamed clams” when liquified.
Polish doctors used science to hoodwink Nazis. They gave patients injections that created a false positive for a deadly infectious disease.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, futuristic burial techniques, and emotionally detached doctors to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android.