Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Trump discusses ZTE with Congress. After he US senate approved legislation to restore sanctions against the Chinese telecom giant, Trump will meet with Republican lawmakers (paywall) in an attempt to reach a compromise.
South Korea’s post-summit assessment. Officials from the ruling Democratic Party will meet with president Moon Jae-in to discuss the recent summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. They’ll also tackle key economic and labor issues, such as reducing the overworked country’s workweek.
21st Century Fox mulls Comcast’s offer. The media giant’s board, which includes Rupert Murdoch and his sons Lachlan and James, will meet to discuss Comcast’s unsolicited $65 billion all-cash bid. Disney is widely expected to sweeten its all-stock $52.4 billion offer with more cash ahead of a July 10 Fox shareholder meeting.
While you were sleeping
Global markets dipped as trade tensions rose. After a week of escalating rhetoric, the US and China are edging closer to a trade war. Investors were spooked, sending major stock indexes down sharply, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped into negative territory for the year.
The US withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo and UN ambassador Nikki Haley cited the group’s bias against Israel, in the latest move by the Trump administration to distance itself from international pacts and institutions. Although Libya was suspended from the council in 2011, no country has ever withdrawn until now.
The US commerce secretary shorted his own stock. Wilbur Ross reportedly placed a bet against the shares of Navigator Holdings, just after he learned that journalists were preparing to disclose his investment in the Russia-linked shipping company. The transaction was valued between $100,000 and $250,000.
Michael Cohen got a new lawyer. Donald Trump’s longtime fixer has reportedly hired Guy Petrillo, a high-profile criminal attorney and former federal prosecutor in New York’s Southern District, which is now investigating Cohen for bank fraud and campaign finance violations. Cohen is expected to face significant pressure to testify against the president.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Ephrat Livni on the physicist who pondered the universe’s most mysterious questions in a comic book: “Johnson’s research explores the “hidden structures” of the universe; what the Earth, the sun, the planets and you and me are made of and how it all works together. It sounds intimidating—yet the physicist says that part of what he wants to show people through the graphic novel is that science is just another way that people communicate, like drawing comics or writing novels.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Solitude is the most important skill. Modern humans are hyperconnected, overstimulated, and not nearly introspective enough.
Pandas should be allowed to go extinct. The cuddly creatures steal conservation resources from more deserving animals.
Trump is right about Europe. Tariffs will rebalance a global system that has long benefited the region at the expense of the US (paywall).
Surprising discoveries
A Paraguayan man showed up at his own wake. His family was grieving over a misidentified corpse.
ASMR videos are now banned in China. The cult-favorite clips are rarely used for sexual purposes, but the government labeled it as porn.
The common cold could soon be history. Scientists believe we can create a cure in the next 10 years.
AIs can debate now. An IBM robot designed to make coherent arguments battled a human opponent to a draw.
Russia’s soccer team could be legally protected from mockery. Lawmaker Vitaly Milonov proposed making it illegal to bad-mouth the country’s national team.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, soft-spoken videos, and wordy robots 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 Susan Howson and David Wexner and edited by Adam Pasick.