Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Washington’s trade crackdown on China. The White House will announce new tariffs designed to punish China for intellectual property theft, CNBC reports. The move will not include restrictions on Chinese-US investments or student visas.
EU leaders convene in Brussels. The two-day European Council summit will focus on the post-Brexit transition deal. UK prime minister Theresa May will be in attendance, with the goal of persuading businesses to remain in Britain after its departure in 2019.
Next and Nike report earnings. The high-end retailer (paywall) is forecast to post a 4% drop in share price, with a slight uptick in revenue, while sneaker giant Nike (paywall) is expected to see the effects of US tax law changes and competition from Adidas in its third quarter.
While you were sleeping
The Federal Reserve hiked the interest rate. The US central bank lifted its interest rate from 1.5% to 1.75% in the highest move in a decade (paywall). It’s the first big decision by new Fed chairman Jerome Powell, and was expected amid a strong US economy.
Politicians in Kosovo tear-gassed their own parliament. The two Vetevendosje members disrupted a potential vote on a border agreement made with Montenegro in 2015. The opposition party is against the deal because it relinquishes land to Montenegro, but it’s necessary if Kosovo wants to gain visa-free access to the EU.
Mark Zuckerberg finally addressed Facebook fallout. The CEO’s note fell short of an apology, but explained that Cambridge Analytica’s misdeeds were the result of his own company’s flaws that have since been patched. COO Sheryl Sandberg also made a statement, and Facebook promised new steps to curb user-data abuse.
Boko Haram returned more than 100 schoolgirls. The girls were kidnapped mid-February by armed militants. Four of the schoolgirls are still thought to be missing; the rest were returned to their village in northeast Nigeria.
Israel confirmed it bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007. The military’s announcement ended a 10-year mystery over the airstrike, which they said should have been a clear warning to Iran that it would not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
Quartz obsession interlude
Zoë Schlanger on how we can’t engineer ourselves out of a water scarcity epidemic: “A loss of biodiversity of trees and plants make forests less stable and less resilient to storms and disease, which could ultimately threaten the contribution of forests to distributing the water supply and preventing runoff.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Arizona isn’t prioritizing humans. The state is writing off Uber’s recent pedestrian fatality as the victim’s own error.
White people should have a good reason for using brown or black emojis. Stick to the default yellow, or run the risk of trivializing other people’s experiences.
Americans can’t see past Russian citizenship. Not every Russian-born person living in the US is a spy, or even a fan, of the Kremlin.
Surprising discoveries
Japanese condom-makers are stocking up for the 2020 Olympics. The famously randy Olympic Village could bring global brand awareness to the country’s super-thin prophylactics.
WhatsApp’s co-founders have mixed feelings on Facebook. Brian Acton has called for users to delete their accounts, while Jan Koum is using Facebook for pro-Trump posts.
A volcanic eruption may have ended Icelandic paganism. The country’s medieval lore describes a fiery apocalypse—and it sounds a lot like the similarly timed Eldgjá explosion.
Training a dog to salute Hitler got a man arrested. A video of Buddha the pug went viral (paywall), but his owner’s boyfriend went to court claiming satire.
Women claim far fewer expenses than men. A UK report showed 58% of employees don’t file expense reports at all.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, uncorrupted pugs, and expense reports 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 and edited by Susan Howson and Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz.