Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un get down to business. Day two of the US-North Korea summit will move beyond the formalities with bilateral meetings, a working lunch, a joint agreement signing ceremony, and a press conference.
India seeks the return of its downed pilot from Pakistan. Tensions are still running high after the two nuclear-armed states carried out aerial attacks across the Line of Control in the disputed territory of Kashmir. The Indian Air Force pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan, is being held by Pakistan’s military as a prisoner of war.
Starbucks opens a palace of coffee in Tokyo. The four-story Reserve Roastery, the company’s biggest cafe in the world, will feature more than 100 different tea and coffee beverages.
While you were sleeping
Michael Cohen assailed Donald Trump in congressional testimony. The president’s former lawyer, who is set to serve a three-year prison sentence, told US lawmakers that Trump was a “racist,” a “con man,” and a “cheat.” Cohen said Trump knew in advance that Wikileaks would release hacked Democratic emails, among many allegations, and offered up evidence that Trump authorized hush-money payments from his family trust after taking office.
TikTok was fined for illegally collecting data on children. The popular app, part of the Chinese tech startup Bytedance, agreed to pay a $5.7 million penalty after failing to obtain parental permission before users under age 13 signed on. The US Federal Trade Commission fine was the largest ever under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
A devastating train crash in Cairo killed at least 25 people. The death toll is expected to climb after a fuel tank exploded while the train was approaching the central Ramses Station. Egypt’s transit system is widely regarded as a national crisis, with more than 1,000 derailments, crashes, and collisions a year.
The US is investigating fund giant Fidelity for concealing hefty fees. The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reports that the company, which has $2.6 trillion under management, has been charging some companies up to 0.15% of their assets as an “infrastructure fee.” An internal document discussing the fee described Fidelity’s business model as “broken” as clients flock to low-cost index funds.
Quartz Obsession
Chatbot therapy: The doctor is online. Some 45 million people live with mental illness in the US alone, but only 43% get the treatment they need. Now there’s an app for that—though it’s not yet clear if chatting online delivers the same life-changing benefits as traditional therapy. Talk it over in today’s Quartz Obsession.
Membership
In today’s Tipping Points column, Allison Schrager examines the looming $78 trillion pension crisis: As liabilities grow and populations age, the payments owed to employees threaten to crowd out spending for things like schools and roads, and could make even reasonable debt levels unsustainable. Plus, in an essay on what will cause the next recession, Gwynn Guilford has her eye on risky corporate debt.
Matters of debate
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Free time correlates with happiness. Working people are happiest when they have 2.5 hours of time a day to themselves; non-working people peak at nearly five hours.
Home decorators should ignore Instagram trends. Choosing décor based on likes often leads to dissatisfaction in real life.
Sumo is cracking down on beards. Japanese officials are now banning facial hair, tattoos, and long nails under new personal grooming rules.
Surprising discoveries
Uber’s electric bikes may be more popular than its cars. Jump cycles are in higher demand than Uber cars in Sacramento.
A French sporting goods company canceled plans for a “running hijab.” Decathlon had already introduced the garment in Morocco and was poised to sell it in 49 countries this spring.
California has a list of criminal cops. But the state attorney general wants to keep it under wraps.
America’s love of soft toilet paper is killing Canada’s forests. A new report takes tissue companies to task for failing to use recycled or alternative materials.
Archaeologists are preserving NSFW graffiti from 1,800 years ago. Roman soldiers’ drawings on Hadrian’s Wall in northern England include a crude phallic scribble.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, sustainable toilet paper, and therapeutic texts to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written and edited by Adam Pasick and Holly Ojalvo.