Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Mike Pompeo heads to China… The US secretary of state will meet with senior Chinese officials to discuss next steps for North Korea following Donald Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un.
…As Donald Trump announces a cessation of military drills with Seoul. The White House is expected to cancel upcoming joint military drills between the US and South Korea scheduled for the fall, after the president—in an apparent surprise to Seoul and the US military in Korea—called such drills “provocative” to North Korea.
The World Cup kicks off in Moscow. The 21st FIFA World Cup will open with a match between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the two lowest-ranked teams in the tournament.
Argentina votes to change its restrictive abortion laws. Currently, women can be imprisoned up to four years for having the procedure. The bill, which would legalize abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, will have to pass in the country’s more conservative senate before going into effect.
While you were sleeping
Comcast made a $65 billion bid for Fox. Disney already offered 21st Century Fox a $52.4 billion all-stock package, but Comcast upped the ante with $35 per share, in cash. With AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner legally approved earlier this week, analysts expect mergers to start accelerating.
Germany fined Volkswagen €1 billion ($1.2 billion) over dieselgate. The fine was imposed for “breaches of supervision” in the auto maker’s engine department, which led to the diesel-emission manipulation of almost 11 million cars from 2007 to 2015. VW won’t appeal the fine, saying in a statement that it’s “committed to its responsibility for the diesel crisis.”
Pompeo clarified US policy toward North Korea. The secretary of state said after meeting with the South Korean president in Seoul that there would be no sanctions relief for Pyongyang until there is complete denuclearization—despite claims by North Korean state media that Trump agreed to lift sanctions on the regime.
San Francisco elected its first ever black female mayor. London Breed, who was raised by her grandmother in public housing, is also the only female mayor among the 15 biggest US cities.
The Fed raised interest rates. In its second hike this year, the US Federal Reserve nudged the federal funds rate to a range of 1.75% to 2%, following low unemployment numbers. The Fed also indicated that it would raise rates four times in 2018, not three, as previously expected.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Akshat Rathi on how billionaires betting on energy storage could help the world achieve its climate goals. “Energy storage can overcome the biggest limitation of modern renewable power: Solar panels and wind turbines can only generate energy when the sun is out or the wind is blowing. With better storage technology, that zero-carbon energy could be stored for cloudy or windless days.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The oil industry should accept its decline. Once demand starts decreasing, oil should stop reinvesting and focus on returning cash (paywall).
Liberal Denmark has a #MeToo problem. Some men think that the movement is out to destroy their deeply cherished freedom.
Wireless earbuds signal a new era. They merge human with machine and isolate people from one another.
Surprising discoveries
Chimpanzees and humans fight over similar things. The bloodiest chimp war ever seen was fought to establish a dominant male.
Domino’s is fixing US infrastructure. The company’s “Paving for Pizza” campaign pays local construction crews to mend damaged roads.
People are kicking robots in California. Starship Technologies’ food-delivery bots are getting bullied by humans.
Only four movies have ever crossed the $2 billion box-office mark. Avengers: Infinity War just became the latest to do so.
The axolotl is on the brink of extinction. Climate change is close to pushing these strange, self-healing salamanders out of their natural habitat.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, axolotls, and wireless earbuds 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 Isabella Steger and edited by Alice Truong.