Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
Donald Trump discusses Afghanistan strategy. The 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 American 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.
Taiwan hosts a major sporting event. The Universiade, the university version of the Olympics, will kick off on Saturday in Taipei. Long squeezed by China in the international arena, the games are seen as a coming-out moment for Taiwan—but it still must host them under the unpopular moniker Chinese Taipei.
While you were sleeping
Police searched for the Barcelona attacker. A huge manhunt is still underway for the man who drove a van into crowds in the Ramblas area of the city’s tourist district on Thursday, killing 13 and injuring dozens. The attack was claimed by ISIL. Spanish police also killed five people in Cambrils, south of Barcelona, to thwart a second attack.
The head of Infosys suddenly quit. Vishal Sikka, who became the first non-founder CEO of the Indian tech giant in 2014, cited a “continuous drumbeat of distractions and negativity” for his decision. The company’s shares dropped by 8% on the news.
Heineken got the go-ahead to buy 1,900 pubs. The brewer will become the biggest pub group in Britain, after offering to acquire Punch Taverns earlier this year. The UK competition watchdog’s fears that the takeover would reduce the range of booze on offer have been allayed and the deal approved (paywall).
The ACLU will stop defending hate groups marching with firearms. The American Civil Liberties Union Virginia branch previously 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 an ACLU exec.
Rupert Murdoch’s son pledged $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.” It represents a break with his father Rupert Murdoch, who is a Trump ally.
Quartz obsession interlude
Zheping Huang and Joon Ian Wong visit the world’s largest bitcoin mine 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.
Matters of debate
Does renewable energy pay for itself? The widely criticized government subsidies have saved up to $220 billion in health care and climate costs.
Without Donald Trump, Twitter is doomed. An analyst says there’s no better free advertising than the US president.
Surgeons may be psychopaths, 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. Use our tool 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 corpses, which smell like “steamed clams” when liquefied.
Polish doctors used science to hoodwink Nazis. They gave patients injections that created a false positive for a deadly infectious disease.
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