Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
A day of reckoning for Elon Musk. Tesla shareholders will vote to determine whether the electric carmaker’s chairman and chief executive can keep both titles. Some shareholders are pushing for an independent chairman, but Musk will likely keep his titles despite investor concerns.
Benjamin Netanyahu heads to France… The Israeli prime minister is on a three-day tour to meet with European leaders, meeting on Monday with Angela Merkel, as well as Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May later in the week; he plans to lobby leaders on Iran following US withdrawal from the multi-party nuclear deal.
…And Vladimir Putin visits Austria. Ahead of the rare bilateral meeting with a West European country, the Russian president said he has no desire to divide the European Union. Austria’s conservative-far right coalition government was one of the few EU countries not to expel diplomats after the poisoning of a Russian defector in the UK.
Australia’s central bank announces interest rates. The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to keep rates unchanged at 1.5% (paywall) because of stagnant wages and low inflation. But inflation is picking up in other places, like the Philippines, which is due to publish new pricing data.
While you were sleeping
Howard Schultz is retiring from Starbucks, raising speculation about a presidential run. The company’s longtime leader, currently its executive chairman, is retiring at the end of the month (paywall). Asked his political aspirations, he said: “I intend to think about a range of options, and that could include public service.”
Apple declared war on Facebook and Google. The company said its Safari browser will block technologies that its tech rivals use to serve up ads to users, and require users to opt-in for sites to track their browsing behavior. The company is also adding digital well-being tools so people will stop using their iPhones so much.
Donald Trump declared an “absolute right” to pardon himself. The US president is becoming increasingly brazen as he faces a legal showdown with special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump’s statement followed comments from his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who claimed Trump couldn’t be indicted for anything while in office, including murder.
Microsoft agreed to buy GitHub for $7.5 billion. The online code repository will bolster Microsoft’s cloud services and allow it to better compete with Amazon, by giving developers one platform to develop code and host programs.
A Guatemala volcano erupted, killing 33. The death toll from the unexpected eruption of the Volcano of Fire, near Guatemala City, is expected to climb even higher over the following days. The country’s disaster agency failed to warn residents of the impending explosion in areas where most of the victims have been found.
The US Supreme Court sided with a baker who rejected a gay couple’s wedding cake. The narrowly-written opinion doesn’t grant business owners the broad exemptions based on personal views that religious groups had hoped for, and civil rights groups feared, and even defends the rights of gay Americans.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Preeti Varathan on George Soros’ plan to save Europe. “The multi-billionaire thinks a new financial crisis might be on its way. This time, he’s looking to the unsustainable political and social structures brewing in Europe. …Soros’ plan to rescue Europe is both simple and incredibly difficult: Solve the refugee problem. Soros wants the EU to commit to giving €30 billion ($35.4 billion in US dollars) annually to Africa.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Brazil is at risk of a military coup. The leaderless and scandal-ridden country has some arguing that military intervention might be the only answer.
Telephone culture is dying. No one picks up the phone anymore because the bulk of calls are spam.
We learned the wrong lesson from the marshmallow test. The capacity to resist temptation is largely shaped by socio-economic factors.
Surprising discoveries
Guppies’ eyes turn black when they’re mad. Scientists discovered that the silver-eyed fish use their irises to signal aggression.
Most millionaires think they’re middle class. Even among people with more than $5 million, only 11% define themselves as rich or wealthy.
The CEO of Aetna was considering suicide before he found meditation. Mark Bertolini has since hired a “chief mindfulness officer” at the massive health insurer.
GDPR puts people to sleep, in a good way. Meditation app Calm is offering highlights of the legislation as a “bedtime story for grown-ups.”
The EU paid researchers to catalog hundreds of millions of memes. They found that people are often amused by racism, sexism, and genocide.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, angry guppies, and meme research 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 Preeti Varathan and Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz and edited by Adam Pasick.