Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
Mike Pompeo checks on North Korean denuclearization. The US secretary of state is visiting Kim Jong Un, who hasn’t halted his nuclear program, despite Donald Trump’s claims that he would. Pompeo will discuss the issue with Japanese and South Korean officials on Sunday in Tokyo.
The UK prime minister faces a showdown over Brexit trade options. Theresa May and her cabinet must thrash out a definitive agreement on the type of trade deal they will push for with the EU. The outcome could change how the UK forges a post-Brexit deal with the US.
It’s US jobs report day. Reuters estimates that nonfarm payrolls added 195,000 jobs last month and predicts some wage growth. The minutes from the Fed’s June meeting showed a positive assessment of the labor market.
While you were sleeping
Chinese ports delayed US cargo as the trade war kicked off. US tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods came into effect at midnight, and Beijing is already retaliating. There were major delays clearing US goods at key Chinese ports on Friday, as customs officials said they’re waiting for the government to tell them whether to start collecting new import taxes.
Trump took a swipe at the #MeToo movement. Speaking at a campaign-style rally in Montana, the president mocked state senator Elizabeth Warren’s heritage. He said he would get her to take a DNA test if she runs against him in 2020, but joked that he would be careful because of the “Me Too era.”
Samsung suffered a smartphone slump. The company is facing its first profit decline in seven quarters, due to sluggish global sales—its flagship Galaxy S9 has not sold well (paywall). The world’s largest smartphone maker is struggling to stave off competition from cheaper rivals like Xiaomi.
Divers tried to reach Chinese tourists trapped in a sunken boat. The vessel carrying around 50 tourists capsized Thursday night in rough seas off Thailand’s tourist island of Phuket. Thailand is grappling with relentless monsoon rains that have trapped a boy’s soccer team in a cave; a diver died last night while trying to rescue them.
Japan executed seven members of a doomsday cult. First to be hanged was the group’s leader, Shoko Asahara, who oversaw sarin gas attacks on subway trains during rush hour in 1995. The attack killed 13 and injured at least 5,800 people.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Lila MacLellan on whether sonic weapons could literally blow your mind. “Ultrasonic sound waves can damage a body by causing ‘cavitation’: as the waves travel in the body, pushing and pulling the molecules around them, the pressure can create ‘bubbles’ within human tissue, or within the liquid of the inner ear.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Facebook’s real privacy problem is its targeting system. Big Tech can’t perform automated persuasion, but it can target more credulous users.
Scientists should refocus their search for life. Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, has confirmed oceans, making it more promising than Jupiter’s Europa.
Touchscreens are useless in cars. Quick-glance operability and muscle memory are benefits that only analog tools can provide.
Surprising discoveries
A “Trump baby” balloon will fly over the British parliament. Thousands raised funds to help the inflatable infant take flight during the president’s visit.
Thieves in the Netherlands stole a deadly poison from a museum. They took a safe containing a poison used by South American tribes to lace their hunting arrows.
Facebook removed the US Declaration of Independence. Its review system was likely triggered by the phrase “Indian savages.”
Giving men more testosterone makes them prefer luxury goods. Desire for high-status items appears to increase with the hormone.
Non-stop singing could pay for your taxi ride. The “singalong shuffle”—in which the ride stops when the singing does—will debut at Finland’s Ruisrock music festival.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, inflatable presidents, and poisoned arrows 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.