Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
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.
Donald Trump announces an end to military drills with Seoul. The White House is expected to cancel upcoming joint military drills with American and South Korean troops, after the president—in an apparent surprise to Seoul and the US military in Korea—called such exercises “provocative” to North Korea.
Argentina votes to change its restrictive abortion laws. Currently, women can be imprisoned for 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 conservative senate before going into effect.
While you were sleeping
Elon Musk’s Boring Company won a huge high-speed train bid. The 18-month-old company beat out experienced infrastructure firms for a multibillion-dollar contract to build an express train link from downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport.
Microsoft geared up to fight Amazon in the aisles. The software giant is going up against Amazon Go’s automated stores with tech that will eliminate the need for supermarket cashiers. Microsoft is reportedly in talks with Walmart and others about collaborations.
Mike Pompeo clarified US policy toward North Korea. The secretary of state said in Seoul that there would be no sanctions relief for Pyongyang until there is complete denuclearization—despite claims by North Korean media that Trump agreed to lift sanctions for gradual progress. Pompeo traveled on to China to brief Beijing on the North Korean summit.
San Francisco elected its first black female mayor. London Breed, who was raised by her grandmother in public housing, is also the only woman running one of the US’s 15 biggest cities.
Rolls-Royce is slashing 4,600 jobs. The airplane-engine maker is cutting more than 8% of its 55,000 staff, expecting to save £400 million ($536 million) by 2020, as it grapples with ongoing issues with its Boeing Dreamliner jet engines.
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 to investors (paywall).
Denmark has a #MeToo problem. Some men think that the movement is out to destroy their deeply cherished freedom.
Wireless earbuds have ushered in a new era. They isolate people from one another and merge human with machine.
Surprising discoveries
Japan is lowering the legal age of adulthood to 18 from 22. Young people will be able to apply for credit and a passport—but not drink alcohol.
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.
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 Jill Petzinger and edited by Eshe Nelson.