Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Donald Trump meets with Liu He. The US president and Chinese vice premier will meet at the White House as Beijing and Washington near a deal that would end a months-long trade war. Trump may also announce plans for a summit (paywall) with Chinese president Xi Jinping.
Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn continue Brexit talks. The UK prime minister and the opposition leader will carry on their discussions, after lawmakers yesterday narrowly voted in favor of asking the EU for an extension to the Brexit deadline. Meanwhile, German chancellor Angela Merkel meets with Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin to discuss Ireland’s post-Brexit border arrangements.
Elon Musk and the SEC face off in court over a tweet. The US securities regulator accused Tesla’s CEO of breaking a settlement when he tweeted about the company’s 2019 production figures. Separately, Tesla said yesterday that its deliveries dropped by nearly a third in the first quarter of the year.
Tradeweb’s shares start trading. The bond-trading platform raised $1.1 billion (paywall) in the second-largest IPO in the US so far this year, after Lyft. Unlike the ride-sharing company, and many other firms lining up listings, Tradeweb is profitable. Its shares begin trading on Nasdaq today under the symbol “TW.”
A busy day in space. A Russian supply mission to the International Space Station will be followed by the arrival of the first private probe in lunar orbit; the launch of four new communications satellites from French Guiana; the test-firing of a heavy SpaceX rocket; and a NASA spacecraft’s sun fly-by.
While you were sleeping
Ethiopian officials released an official account of last month’s Boeing 737 crash. The country’s transport minister said pilots performed all the recommended procedures to stabilize the plane, but couldn’t correct “the persistence of nose diving.” Meanwhile, the US Federal Aviation Administration formed a team to review the safety of the grounded Boeing aircraft and scrutinize anti-stall software suspected to have played a part in the crash.
Unicredit joined the bidding for Commerzbank. The Italian bank is ready to pounce if a merger between Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank falls through. News of the interest pushed Commerzbank’s stock price up, although the German government seems keen to keep the lender in local hands.
China cut taxes, again. Beijing unveiled sweeping tax cuts to boost flagging consumer demand, on top of similar measures worth some $300 billion introduced last month. Economists expect the stimulus will boost the economy but not reverse a general slowdown in growth.
New Zealand police announced charges against the Christchurch shooter. The gunman accused of killing 50 people in terror attacks at two mosques will face 50 murder and 39 attempted murder charges when he appears in court tomorrow.
Tencent announced a bumper bond sale. The Chinese tech behemoth said it would raise just shy of $6 billion next week, making it the largest bond sale in Asia this year. The company saw $127 billion of its market value erased last year after Chinese censors paused approvals for new video games.
Quartz Obsession
Undersea cables: Data moves better down where it’s wetter. The cloud gets a lot of cred for running today’s internet, but it might be more accurate to call it “the sea”—that’s where you can find the roughly 380 fiber-optic cables that make up the web’s backbone, carrying about 95% of intercontinental voice and data traffic. Dive in here.
Membership
An exclusive look inside the world’s largest car-battery company. Quartz is the first Western publication to go inside the headquarters of Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL). In April 2017, a year before CATL’s public offering, founder Zeng Yuqun sent an internal email laying out his vision for the company. “What happens after the typhoon passes?” he asked. “Can a pig really fly?” Read more here.
Matters of debate
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Apple’s new ad highlights everything wrong with the company. It excels at delivering expensive, over-produced solutions to simple problems.
Millennials are sick of drinking. They’re looking for moderation in a culture that has long treated alcohol as all-or-nothing.
NATO is facing its worst crisis since its founding 70 years ago. It’s not one of relevance or readiness, but of trust and confidence in America’s leadership.
Surprising discoveries
Twitter blocked a campaign by the French government using its own fake-news rules. The #OuiJeVote (“yes I vote”) initiative fell afoul of a law requiring transparency for promoted political tweets.
Patagonia doesn’t think its fleece vests are a good fit for finance bros. The retailer won’t supply co-branded products to companies that don’t share its ethics.
The porn industry is thirsty for crowdfunding. Many users too embarrassed to buy subscriptions are still willing to fund small production companies.
Where are the mothers in children’s books? A new analysis found they are often dead, absent, or nameless.
A Cold War-era Coke rival is fizzing. Heavily caffeinated, herb-infused soda Kofola is enormously popular in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, branded fleeces, and mocktails 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 Jason Karaian.