Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
Protestors rally against Trump’s UK visit. Demonstrations are expected to take place in central London, as well as across Scottish cities, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee. Protestors will also gather outside Trump’s Turnberry golf resort, where he plans to stay.
North Korea offers a DMZ meeting raincheck. On Thursday officials stood up US representatives who were planning to discuss repatriating the remains of American soldiers killed in the Korean War. North Korea has rescheduled for Sunday, but some see the earlier no-show as a definite snub.
World Cup celebrations erupt in Paris or Zagreb. The capital of either France or Croatia, respectively, will be swarmed by revelers rejoicing their team’s victory in the World Cup final, to be held in Moscow at 6pm local time.
While you were sleeping
Trump threatened to kill off a US trade deal with Britain. In an interview with The Sun, the president said that UK prime minister Theresa May had not listened to his advice when it comes to Brexit. He said if she pursues her newly proposed plans, he’ll axe a trade deal with the UK.
Elon Musk may have violated labor laws. According to a complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board, the Tesla CEO reportedly told employees that he would address workplace safety complaints, as long as they stopped trying to unionize. A Tesla spokesperson disputed the allegations.
Apple announced it will launch a $300 million clean energy fund in China. The company hopes to develop projects totaling 1 gigawatt of renewable energy to power some of its suppliers. Aside from Apple’s ambition to reduce its environmental impact, the move is part its charm offensive in China amid a US trade war.
Wilbur Ross said he’ll divest all his stock holdings. The commerce secretary admitted to his inadvertent failure to comply with ethics agreements, which he blamed on his “complex” portfolio. The Office of Government Ethics said these errors “created the potential for a serious criminal violation.”
Twitter started removing dormant accounts. Twitter’s 100 most popular users lost an average of 2% of their followers after Thursday’s removal of tens of millions of accounts. Twitter execs were the hardest hit, with the official @Twitter account losing 12.4% of its followers.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Aisha Hassan on reading between the lines of queuing. “According to University of Melbourne psychology professor Nick Haslam, queuing is a social norm that exists because of an imbalance between supply and demand—when demand exceeds supply, lining up efficiently promotes equality.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The biggest meme is the word “meme” itself. The term, which describes a container for an idea, has connected a global culture.
Amazon Alexa is a terrible doctor. The virtual assistant has the potential to help users, but will need major structural changes to do so.
Women’s workplace contributions aren’t just overlooked—they’re erased. A sexist blunder by NPR shows that female voices are still being ignored.
Surprising discoveries
You can inherit Facebook content like a letter or a diary. At least you can in Germany, per a ruling yesterday by its highest court.
An out-of-print finance book sold for $3,000. Bootleg copies of billionaire Seth Klarman’s investing manifesto have gained a cult following.
An Air China co-pilot’s e-cigarette caused an emergency descent. His electronic spark-up caused oxygen levels in the cabin to drop.
Riders ignore Lin-Manuel Miranda when he sings on the subway. The Grammy winner has been posting videos of his unappreciated performances.
Humans left Africa earlier than we thought. Our ancestors’ trek across the globe began an estimated 2.1 million years ago.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, subway singers, and vaping tips 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 Rosie Spinks and edited by Lianna Brinded.