Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
China votes to change its constitution. On Sunday, the National People’s Congress will decide on the measure (paywall) that could keep Xi Jinping in power indefinitely. A 1982 rule restricted presidential terms to two five-year stints.
Cuba holds its legislative elections. Interest in the polls is high given that the new parliament will convene next month to elect president Raul Castro’s successor, who will be the first in the position not to belong to the Castro family in decades. Castro announced last year that he wouldn’t seek a third term.
North Korea and South Korea march separately at the Paralympics. The two countries haven’t been able to agree on a unified flag for the opening ceremony today. Japan complained about the flag imagery at the Winter Olympics, which showed disputed islands on a map.
While you were sleeping
Donald Trump accepted an invitation to meet with Kim Jong-un. It would be the first time a sitting US president has met with a North Korean leader. South Korean officials, speaking at the White House, announced the summit would take place by May. They added that Kim had agreed to halt nuclear and missile tests and was committed to denuclearization.
Trump signed a metals tariff taking aim at China especially… NAFTA partners Canada and Mexico were exempted at the last minute from a 25% duty on imported steel and a 10% duty on aluminum. Other US allies like Australia could potentially get a pass in the 15 days before the order takes effect.
… and Elon Musk pestered Trump to change car-trade rules with China. The Tesla CEO tweeted at the US president about the unfairness of the rules governing the car trade between China and the US, including high import duties and a requirement to partner with a Chinese company. Trump read from the tweets while announcing the steel tariffs.
Eleven countries signed an Asia-Pacific trade pact. The signatories of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership forged ahead with the deal despite the US pulling out. Officials from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam attended a ceremony in Santiago.
Quartz obsession interlude
Tim Fernholz on why spies should stay off LinkedIn. “If your business intelligence work involves meeting former double agents to hoover up info about Russian national security operations, maybe keep a lower profile. Especially if you live in the United Kingdom, which Russia’s intelligence services treat as kind of a sporting field for targeted murder.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Donald Trump’s trade threats are just bluster. Much like the Muslim ban and the US-Mexico border wall, the US president is writing checks he can’t cash.
To-do lists try to do too much. We often over-expand the simple checklist with tasks that we should leave to other modern tools (paywall).
Bragging can help women close the gender gap. Being their own cheerleaders makes it more likely their achievements will be noticed and recognized.
Surprising discoveries
NASA found mega-cyclones on Jupiter. The massive polar storms form steady, synchronized patterns across the planet’s surface.
Pedestrians are attacking self-driving cars. Two autonomous vehicles were hit by humans in San Francisco, adding to the Bay Area’s growing list of human-robot conflicts.
Leopards are solving a stray-dog problem in Mumbai. Researchers believe the leopards keep rabies in check since dogs make up 40% of their diet.
Two crooks are stealing New York City’s trash bins. The thieves are allegedly getting thousands of dollars by selling them to shady out-of-state buyers.
The US is starting to lose tubas. Criminals across the nation are regularly pilfering the large instruments—worth $2,000 to $20,000 (paywall)—from schools and homes.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, found tubas, and iconic trash bins to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Steve Mollman and edited by Alice Truong.