Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Moon Jae-in visits Pyongyang for a summit with Kim Jong-un. The South Korean leader said he wants to pursue an “irreversible, permanent peace,” while finding a “middle ground between a US request for [North Korea’s] denuclearization and the North’s request for corresponding measures such as ending hostile relations and security assurances.”
Trump unveils new China tariffs, while excluding some Apple products. The latest salvo in the trade war will reportedly include $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, but exclude a product category that encompasses the Apple Watch and AirPods headphones, according to Bloomberg (paywall).
SpaceX announces its first lunar passenger. The identity of the mystery traveler, who has signed up for a trip around the moon on a spacecraft powered by the company’s still-in-development Big Falcon Rocket, will be revealed in a press event ahead of a planned 2019 trip.
While you were sleeping
Coca-Cola is looking into a marijuana soft drink. The world’s biggest soft drink company is reportedly discussing a partnership with Canada’s Aurora Cannabis. Coca-Cola, which once included coca leaves in its flagship beverage, is reportedly interested in a CBD-based drink, without the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana.
The US Air Force requested its largest expansion since the Cold War. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told a conference that the military wants to boost its number of combat squadrons by 25%. The US military is shifting its emphasis from fighting terrorism to a potential war with a great power like China or Russia.
Saudi Arabia invested more than $1 billion in a US electric car firm. The country’s Public Investment Fund agreed to back Lucid Motors, a Silicon Valley startup that is planning to build its Lucid Air electric car for sale in 2020. The news comes a few weeks after the PIF declined to help take Tesla private.
Linus Torvalds apologized for his tirades. The creator of Linux, known for his profane insults and combative attitude, wrote a lengthy open letter to his colleagues. He also vowed to take time off from developing the open-source operating system to “get help on how to behave differently.”
A British cave diver sued Elon Musk for defamation. Vernon Unsworth filed a lawsuit against the Tesla and SpaceX boss in California, seeking at least $75,000. Musk has been embroiled in a Twitter war with the underwater explorer, calling him a “pedo guy” and “child rapist” after Unsworth questioned Musk’s attempt to help rescue a Thai boys soccer team.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Rich Firth-Godbehere on the six emotions Silicon Valley thinks everyone feels: “[Technology is] using an outdated scientific concept stating that all humans, everywhere, experience six basic emotions, and that we each express those emotions in the same way. By building a world filled with gadgets and surveillance systems that take this model as gospel, this obsolete view of emotion could end up becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, as a vast range of human expressions around the world is forced into a narrow set of definable, machine-readable boxes.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Fishing wars will turn into major armed conflicts. Securing more protein will be the new way for great powers to prove themselves.
The US trade war is modernizing China. Manufacturers have to innovate (paywall) in order to compete in the newly hostile market.
Social cohesion won’t happen on its own. Governments have to engineer a more diverse society (paywall) through public policies.
Surprising discoveries
A cyclist pedaled at 184 miles per hour. 45-year-old Denise Mueller-Korenek broke the vehicle-assisted world record on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
All aboard the world’s first hydrogen-powered train. It travels with less noise and none of the emissions of its diesel predecessors.
Ice-age wolf mummies are oddly cute. An eight-week-old pup died 50,000 years ago, and its skin and fur were perfectly preserved.
The elderly do best in Norway. Aging populations flourish only slightly less in Sweden, the US, and the Netherlands.
Toronto can’t stop its uber-raccoons. CA$31 million spent on special waste bins have only resulted in fatter critters.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, fast bikes, and cuddly mummies 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 and edited by Susan Howson and Adam Pasick.