Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
China faces more US tariffs. The White House is expected to announce levies on another 800 to 900 smaller exports on Friday. China has vowed to unleash its own retaliatory tariffs, stoking fears of a trade war.
Nicaragua tries to end its political crisis. A new round of dialogue, mediated by bishops, will take place between the government and civil society representatives on Friday. Opponents of president Daniel Ortega staged a nationwide strike yesterday, following two months of deadly protests calling for his resignation.
The World Cup heats up. Day two sees 2010 World Cup winner Spain taking on reigning European champ Portugal on Friday, while Egypt faces off with Uruguay. Germany versus Mexico on Sunday will be exciting.
While you were sleeping
McDonald’s started banning plastic straws. The fast food chain will replace plastic straws with paper ones in the UK and Ireland starting in September. It will trial plastic alternatives in US, France, and Norway later in the year. McDonald’s uses 1.8 million straws a day in the UK.
Didi Chuxing hounded Uber in Australia. After driving Uber out of China, the country’s biggest ride-hailing company will battle its US ride-share rival Down Under. Didi is pursuing aggressive global expansion; it launched in Mexico and Brazil this year and has invested in Uber’s EU and Africa rival Taxify.
ZTE’s bad week got worse. The Chinese telecoms firm has lost 30% of its market value after a horrific week of trading. It has applied for a $10 billion credit line from Chinese state banks to pay the US fine—and get the supplier ban lifted—for breaking sanctions by selling equipment with US tech to Iran and North Korea.
House Republicans floated a proposal to stop immigrant children being taken from their parents. It’s part of broader draft legislation aimed at pleasing both moderate and conservative GOP members after this week’s outcry over family separations at the US-Mexico border.
The Bank of Japan held firm. The central bank maintained its ultra-low rates. That means Japan’s monetary policy is increasingly diverging (paywall) from other major central banks, including the US and European Central Bank.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Zheping Huang on a new ideal boyfriend type for Chinese women. “In China, ‘little puppy’… refers to a man who is younger than his girlfriend, whose qualities in the eyes of his lover include being simple, naive, considerate, and caring—and most importantly, loyal and clingy, just like a pet. The rise of little puppies as an ideal type of boyfriend points toward a shift in popular culture in the country.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Business travel is bad for your health. Irregular sleep, bad food, and general stress hamper productivity, performance, and wellness.
Fake meat has a brand problem. Lab-grown cell-cultured burgers face an even tougher sell (paywall) than plant-based products.
Unlimited vacation is a scam. Personal guilt and corporate pressure mean people take far less time than they need.
Surprising discoveries
The Mediterranean diet’s benefits were retracted. Faulty methodology undermined the study on the oil and fish-heavy diet.
The official results predictor for the World Cup is a cat. Achilles accurately forecast Russia’s 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia.
Steve Bannon said he wants to launch his own cryptocurrency. Donald Trump’s former strategist said it would be called the “deplorables coin.”
Amazon taught Alexa how to speak French. It took a ton of work (paywall) and critical partnerships to get her up to speed.
Inventors can’t figure out jetpacks. Boeing asked for functional personal flight devices, but got flying motorcycles instead (paywall).
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, clairvoyant cats, and real jetpacks 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 Lianna Brinded.