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What to watch for today
Trump hosts the head of NATO. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visits the White House ahead of two days of talks in DC among the 29 foreign ministers of member states. Trump is a longstanding critic of the defense alliance, which marks its 70th anniversary on Thursday (April 4), and the two are likely to discuss the spending commitments of NATO members.
Theresa May holds a crunch cabinet meeting. After the UK parliament once again failed to find consensus last night on alternative options to the prime minister’s proposed Brexit deal, May summoned her cabinet for a five-hour meeting to try and break the deadlock before the April 12 EU departure deadline.
The Walgreens Boots alliance takes its temperature. Analysts are mixed in their forecast for the retail pharmacy chain’s second-quarter earnings. They will be watching the impact of generic drugs as well as reorganization plans expected to save the company $1 billion over three years.
While you were sleeping
Boeing delayed its software update. The aircraft company has pushed back the timeline for submitting the fix for its grounded 737 Max aircraft to the US Federal Aviation Administration; it was expected as early as this week. All 737 Max jets have been grounded worldwide following two deadly crashes in five months.
Bitcoin had a brief resurgence. The cryptocurrency’s value spiked 20%, hitting the $5,000 mark briefly for the first time since November, before pulling back a bit. The yo-yoing cryptocurrency peaked at $20,000 in December 2017.
NASA rebuked India for its anti-satellite test. The space agency condemned the country’s recent shooting down of a low-orbit satellite as a “terrible” event that created hundreds of pieces of orbital debris, endangering astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
The True North has heated up. A new report commissioned by the Canadian government found that the country is set to continue experiencing temperature increases double the global rate, due to climate change. The report also said that average land temperatures have already increased 1.7˚C since 1948.
Mexico cut its 2019 growth forecast, again. The finance ministry pegged growth between 1.1% to 2.1% for the year, down from a prior forecast of 1.5% to 2.5%. It’s the sixth time Mexico has cut its projection for the year, as austerity and a global economic slowdown hit the country.
Quartz Obsession
“Hmmm. Ugh. Ouch!” Vocal bursts—also called non-word utterances or non-verbal exclamations—can imply dozens of emotions across the spectrum of human language. They’re valuable tools for artists, entertainers, and advertisers—and can even help AI-centric technologies better parse the complexity of human speech. Clear your throat for today’s Quartz Obsession.
Membership
An MIT professor’s quest to solve the world’s battery needs. We continue our deep dive into the battery revolution with an interview with Yet-Ming Chiang, a material-sciences professor who has founded six companies—including three battery startups—two of which have gone on to become “unicorns,” with valuations over $1 billion. Over at Private Key, Matt de Silva discusses the silver lining for bitcoin’s losers: lower taxes.
Matters of debate
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Fascism never died in Italy. The reaction to Jim Carrey’s Mussolini painting is a stark reminder of the ongoing fight against fascism.
The Matrix is a landmark piece of transgender art. Created by two trans women 20 years ago, the film perfectly captures the experience of being a closeted trans person.
Cotton totes aren’t the solution to climate change. Plastic bag bans could do more harm than good.
Surprising discoveries
Naked protesters glued themselves to the UK parliament’s public gallery. Activists from the group Extinction Rebellion “enlivened the existential hell” out of the endless Brexit debate.
Closing the US-Mexico border would cause a dire avocado shortage. Americans could run out of avocados in just three weeks if Trump makes good on his threats to shut the border.
Burger King is testing a plant-based Impossible Whopper. The fast-food chain famous for its beef patties might put a vegan option front-and-center on its menu.
Incendio! A group of Polish priests burned Harry Potter books in a bonfire. The SMS from Heaven Foundation cited a Bible verse to justify its actions.
Banksy is using a low-tech, highly secure method to authenticate his artwork. People who certify their prints receive a torn banknote with a hand-drawn ID number.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, rescued Harry Potter books, and stockpiles of avocados to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Adam Rasmi and edited by Jackie Bischof.