Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Emmanuel Macron begins a three-day trip to Washington. The French president, whose close friendship with Donald Trump has earned him the nickname of the “Trump whisperer,” is expected to discuss topics such as Iran and trade with the president.
Alphabet posts its earnings. A change to Alphabet’s accounting rules will give investors insight into the company’s Uber investment—a stake that could be valued at around $3 billion.
How is Hasbro holding up? The liquidation of Toys ‘R’ Us is expected to cast a cloud over the company’s first-quarter results—expected before the market opens today—after it warned that the fallout from the bankruptcy would continue through quarters one and two.
Over the weekend
A suicide bomber killed at least 57 people in Kabul. ISIL claimed credit for the attack, which injured more than 100 people. Since voter registration began one week ago, there have been at least four attacks on voter-registration centers in Afghanistan. Legislative elections are due in October.
A gunman killed four people at a Waffle House in Antioch, Tennessee. A manhunt is underway for the suspect, who police have identified as 29-year-old Travis Reinking. Reinking allegedly opened fire at the Waffle House on Sunday afternoon, and fled the scene on foot after a person wrestled his weapon from him.
North Korea said it would stop testing missiles. Kim Jong-un said that it has completed its nuclear program and does not need to test its weapons capability any further. Trump mistakenly equated the announcement with denuclearization.
UBS reported robust earnings. European earnings season got off to a good start, with the Swiss bank posting a 17% rise in pre-tax profits for the first quarter. It’s the bank’s first earnings report since it merged its US and international wealth-management businesses.
DJ Avicii dominated Spotify’s global charts as fans mourned his death. Thousands of people gathered in Stockholm at the weekend to mourn the 28-year-old Swedish DJ, who was found dead in Muscat, Oman on Friday—police ruled out foul play. Avicii made $28 million at the height of his popularity in 2014.
Quartz obsession interlude
Zoë Schlanger on how
fast a glacier can slip into the sea once it’s destabilized.
”The Columbia Glacier is losing an average of 4 billion metric tons of ice per year, making it a major contributor to the roughly 75 billion metric tons of ice that Alaskan glaciers have lost annually for the past two decades… [That’s]
enough water to cover the state of Alaska in a foot-deep (30 cm) flood every seven years.”
.
Matters of debate
Interest in Earth Day is falling—but it doesn’t matter. Climate change is now a household word.
Women don’t quit as easily as men. The Boston Marathon is a good example (paywall) of “women’s ability to persevere in exceptionally miserable circumstances.”
Arsene Wenger didn’t just change English soccer. The soon-to-depart Arsenal manager changed the African game, too.
Surprising discoveries
You can get a scholarship for playing Fortnite. Ashland University in Ohio is the first to offer scholarships for the popular online shooter game.
The last human who was alive in the 19th century died at 117. Nabi Tajima from Japan was born in 1900 (which is part of the 19th century).
Before Westworld, there was Charles Dickens. The Victorian writer imagined a theme park filled with “automaton figures,” where wealthy young men could run riot without causing a public nuisance.
Karl Marx’s hometown is selling fake banknotes to celebrate his birthday. Products being sold in the communist thinker’s hometown of Trier, Germany, include a zero-euro banknote, which costs €3.
Trees can be saved by IV drips, too. Officials in India inserted hundreds of saline bottles filled with pesticide to save the branches of a 700-year-old banyan tree.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, gaming scholarships, and dystopian futures to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day, or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Jill Petzinger and edited by Lianna Brinded.