Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Theresa May meets with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron. Britain’s prime minister will meet with her German and French counterparts in Berlin and Paris a day before an important EU summit where leaders will decide whether to extend Brexit beyond the April 12 deadline.
Israel’s pivotal election. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the right-wing Likud party faces off against centrist Benny Gantz, in a contest that could set the tone of Middle Eastern politics for years to come.
Chinese premier Li Keqiang meets with EU leaders. Li hopes to quell a backlash on various trade issues, including China’s aggressive foreign-investment approach, when he meets Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels.
Algeria picks its interim president. A week after president Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned following weeks of mass protests, the country’s parliament will meet to name a temporary president, who will serve for up to 90 days until elections can be held.
Donald Trump hosts Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Despite Egypt’s unapologetic record of human rights abuses, its president is expected to enjoy a warm White House welcome.
The IMF releases its world economic outlook. The lead-up to the International Monetary Fund’s report (releasing at 2pm UK time) has been tinged with concerns about slowing global growth (paywall).
While you were sleeping
The US threatened Europe with $11 billion in tariffs. Helicopters, aircraft parts, wine, and cheese are among a long list of products that could be slapped with duties (paywall) in retaliation for EU subsidies to Airbus.
Hong Kong’s “Umbrella 9” were all found guilty. Nine citizens who stood trial for their role in the 2014 democracy movement—marked by protesters fending off pepper spray with umbrellas—were convicted of public nuisance charges. Each count carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
Trump fired Secret Service director Randolph Alles. The decision to dismiss the former Marine general appears to be part of a large-scale White House purge of the Department of Homeland Security at the behest of Trump advisor Stephen Miller. Separately, a US judge blocked Trump’s policy of sending asylum-seekers back to Mexico to await their court hearings.
A Chinese woman charged with illegally entering Trump’s Florida resort will remain in custody. Prosecutors said that a search of the hotel room of the Mar-a-Lago intruder, Yujing Zhang, turned up a device to detect hidden cameras, five cellphone SIM cards and over $8,000 in cash.
Brazil and Iran wrangled over Venezuela. The right-wing Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said that he is working with the U.S. government to sow dissent within the Venezuelan army. Meanwhile, an Iranian delegation landed in Caracas to discuss launching direct flights between the two countries, a move that the US government dismissed as a “politically motivated gesture.”
Twitter clamped down on bulk following. In its latest step in its campaign to root out spammers, the social media platform cut the number of accounts users can follow per day from 1,000 to 400.
Quartz Obsession
The world doesn’t have enough capacitors. The tiny components known as multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) are simple and cheap—an iPhone contains about a thousand, a Tesla nearly 10 times more. But in our energy-hungry economy, there won’t be enough to go around for many years to come. Find out why in our Quartz Obsession.
Membership
It’s tech IPO season, and Alison Griswold has everything you need to know. We also have the battery breakthroughs we’re going to need for a carbon-free future; a dive into Hollywood’s risky business; and a new members-only video series, Because China, that looks at the world’s newest superpower—starting with its recent disruption of global recycling.
Matters of debate
Join the conversation with the new Quartz app!
YouTube’s golden age of indie creators is drawing to a close. The site’s algorithms increasingly favor big brands and content makers.
The on-demand economy keep us from growing up. Conveniences like Uber and TaskRabbit mean that we’re increasingly outsourcing adulthood.
Robocallers will never be defeated. Even the most ambitious plans only aim to get the nuisance spam calls to a “manageable level.”
Surprising discoveries
The complex anatomy of dolphins is the key to their sex lives. New research supports the theory that they get it on purely for pleasure.
A common food additive might help the flu spread. A preservative called Tert-butylhydroquinone makes infection-fighting T cells more sluggish.
A planet fragment orbiting a dying star offers a glimpse of Earth’s grim future. In a mere 5 billion years, our solar system could be a white dwarf orbited by Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the outer planets.
Burger King stumbled on a chopstick ad. In trying to promote an Asian-inspired burger, the fast-food giant ended up being accused of racism.
Scientists have identified a form of matter that’s liquid and solid at the same time. The team used AI to isolate potassium atoms that exhibit properties of both.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, flu-fighting tips, and planet fragments 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 Mary Hui and edited by Tripti Lahiri.