Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
The Korea summit wraps up. Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in will close a daylong event that marks the first time the leaders of North and South Korea have met in person since 2007. The two are expected to form an “agreement” of sorts, but it will unlikely be an official peace treaty.
Angela Merkel heads to the White House. The German chancellor will sit down for a 20-minute meeting and a lunch with president Donald Trump, a stark contrast to the flamboyant ceremony held when French president Emmanuel Macron visited Washington last week. Trump has slammed Germany for the trade surplus it holds with the US, and put off a handshake with Merkel when the two met in the White House last year.
Modi and Xi meet in China. The Chinese president and Indian prime minister are convening in Wuhan for an informal two-day session. The meeting marks a sign of improving relations after the two countries were engaged in a military stand-off over a border dispute.
GDP first-quarter numbers for the US come out. The figures will likely show a slowdown—analysts predict a 2% growth rate, down from 2.9% the previous quarter. However, the simultaneous release of the Employment Cost Index could, if the showing is strong, cause investors to push the market upwards.
While you were sleeping
The border dividing North and South Korea briefly came down. At the start of a day-long summit, Kim Jong-un became the first North Korean leader to enter the South when he stepped over the military demarcation line separating the two territories. Kim also went off-script and invited Moon to walk into the northern side. Broadcast news outlets also showed Kim speaking in plain conversation rather than a prepared speech.
Otto Warmbier’s parents sued North Korea. Less than a year after their son’s death, Fred and Cindy Warmbier filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that Otto was “brutally tortured and murdered” (paywall) by the Kim regime. The action, coupled with pushes from Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, might pressure Trump to raise the issue of human rights if he ends up meeting with Kim.
Amazon beat expectations. The number of Prime subscribers soared along with its sales from its cloud-computing services, causing shares to jump 6%. The e-commerce giant also announced it would hike the price of Prime in the US by 20% to $119 per year, reflecting the service’s new features and growing popularity since it first launched.
HNA might ditch its European transportation business. The Chinese conglomerate is reportedly in talks (paywall) to sell Amsterdam-based TIP Trailer Services, which it bought from General Electric in 2013, to New York-based I Squared Capital for over €1 billion ($1.21 billion). Days ago HNA cut its stake in Deutsche Bank from 8.8% to 7.9%, as part of an ongoing effort to offload its overseas assets.
Bill Cosby was declared guilty of sexual assault. The comedian’s retrial ended in a conviction on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault, which could add up to a 30 years in prison for the 80-year-old Cosby.
Quartz obsession interlude
Rosie Spinks on how it’s getting harder to see where the hotel industry ends and Airbnb begins. “Since it announced its new multi-tiered offering in February, Airbnb’s era as a quirky sharing economy startup is quickly coming to a close… If you can book hotel rooms on Airbnb and book a home share via Booking.com or a major hotel brand, is the accommodation industry just turning into one big mega-offering?” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Pie charts will never die. Serious data visualizers may prefer bar charts and line graphs, but it doesn’t change the simple fact that people love circles.
Journalists are losing to Trump. Media members have become locked out of a system in which the US president controls the narrative.
More tech companies should be cutting off Wall Street. Today’s economy is proving that big banks and bloated IPOs aren’t necessary (paywall) for industry success.
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Surprising discoveries, crypto edition
Big financial institutions are getting ready to trade crypto. Thomson Reuters found that 70% of those who plan to trade digital currency will get started in the next three to six months.
Tencent’s newest game merges CryptoKitties and Pokémon Go. Players of “Let’s Hunt Monsters” can catch virtual monsters, while rearing and trading millions of digital kittens stored on a blockchain.
What’s in a crypto name? Crypto-preneurs are racing to grab names from fantasy and sci-fi for their projects, with Lord of the Rings monikers high on the list.
Owning crypto is a conflict of interest for Wikipedia editors. The site notes that “any external relationship—personal, religious, political, academic, legal, or financial (including holding a cryptocurrency)—can trigger a COI.”
Nasdaq could become a digital-currency exchange. CEO Adena Friedman says once regulation is figured out, she’s open to it becoming a crypto-trading platform.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, kittens to trade, and hobbits to honor 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 Josh Horwitz, Isabella Steger, and Steve Mollman.