Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
North Korea prepares to dismantle its nuclear test site. Dozens of Western and Chinese journalists will attend the closure of the Punggye-ri site as soon as Wednesday, though diplomatic uncertainties remain. The demolition may mean little without verification by outside experts.
Marks and Spencer takes a heavy hit from store closures. The UK retailer is reportedly planning to announce up to £300 million ($400 million) in charges as it plans to close more than 100 shops in the UK and abroad.
Japan and China call on Donald Trump. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono will visit the White House to discuss the US-North Korea summit. US president Donald Trump, meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in, warned Tuesday that the meeting could still be delayed.
While you were sleeping
Mark Zuckerberg’s apology tour landed in Brussels. The Facebook CEO received a barrage of questions about the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the social network’s broader business model, but deflected the most pointed queries (paywall).
The US and China made more conciliatory moves on trade. Negotiators are discussing a deal to save Chinese telecom giant ZTE (paywall), which was hit with devastating US sanctions for selling technology to Iran and North Korea. Terms are not yet finalized, but ZTE would be able to purchase US components once again if it makes changes to its management and board, and potentially pays some big fines.
Tesla vowed to fix the Model 3’s brake problems. After a damning report from a consumer group, Elon Musk said the problem—likely due to “anti-lock brake system calibration algorithm”—could be solved with an over-the-air software update.
GE is reportedly ditching its insurance business. Soaring healthcare costs and longer life expectancy have made GE Capital a liability for the struggling conglomerate, which paid a $6.2 billion after-tax charge in January.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Sarah Todd on the most beautiful corn in world: “The rise of industrial agriculture has made the world’s crops increasingly homogenous, which poses risks of everything from food shortages to economic crashes. And so glass gem corn is more than just a sexy social-media star—it’s a way to get people interested in the myriad benefits of cultivating diverse crops.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Incels should blame the economy, not women. A tough job market and rising real estate costs have more people of both genders living with their parents and getting married later.
Watching experts gives people confidence they don’t deserve. You can’t do what they do without years of practice.
ISIL has changed terrorism in Indonesia. With little organization, entire families are making isolated attacks (paywall).
Surprising discoveries
A Ponzi scheme wiped out China’s giant salamanders. A bizarre attempt to encourage farming led people to strip the landscape of wild specimens.
Eight years ago, someone bought two pizzas with 10,000 bitcoins. At current prices, that works out to about $4 million a slice.
A sinkhole has opened on the White House lawn. Washington, DC’s swampy origins and a phenomenon called “forebulge collapse” are to blame.
70% of Saudi Arabia’s electricity goes to air conditioning. The weather is getting hotter in the kingdom, which relies completely on fossil fuels.
Starbucks is beating Apple and Google in mobile payments. More than 23.4 million customers will use the Starbucks app at least once every six months.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, giant salamanders, and crypto-pizza currencies 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 Adam Pasick.