Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
The US-China trade war ratchets up yet another notch. It’s Beijing’s turn to add another layer of pressure by possibly making good on a threat to slap higher tariffs (paywall) on some imported US goods tomorrow. The escalating tensions are fueling fears of an impending global recession.
Mike Pompeo tours Europe. The secretary of state begins the five-day trip in Berlin, where he is expected to press Angela Merkel to meet Germany’s NATO spending pledges and shy away from business deals with Huawei, among other issues. Pompeo will later travel to the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK.
Missouri’s last abortion clinic may lose its license. A judge is expected to rule on whether to renew the license for Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis clinic when it expires today, possibly making Missouri the first state in the US to no longer offer abortions since the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.
Major regional summits kick off. Saudi Arabia hosts the 14th summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, an inter-government body second only to the UN in size, amid ongoing tensions between Tehran and Riyadh. Meanwhile, officials from the Asia-Pacific region will gather in Singapore to talk security cooperation at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue.
While you were sleeping
Donald Trump vowed to impose a tariff on all Mexican imports. Furious about what he regards as a migration crisis on the country’s southern border, the US president announced a tariff starting at 5% on June 10 and increasing by 5% each month, to reach 25%, until the tide of illegal immigrants stops.
North Korea may have executed its top nuclear negotiators. South Korea’s largest daily newspaper reported that North Korea’s special envoy to the US and four other foreign-ministry officials were executed as punishment for the breakdown in talks at the Hanoi summit in February. The report should be read with caution.
Tesla began taking pre-orders at its first non-US factory. In a big move toward catching up with rival Chinese electric-vehicle brands, the US automaker priced the Model 3s it will be making at its new Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai at around $7,000 less than the cheapest American version on the market.
China’s May factory activity shrank more than expected. The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 49.4 from 50.1 in April, dipping further below the 50-point contraction mark than analysts had forecast. The weak numbers will add pressure on Chinese authorities to boost stimulus measures.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee ended in a record eight-way tie. The “octochamps” were still standing after 20 rounds of correctly spelling a dizzying array of words—including aiguillette, bougainvillea, and pendeloque. The victors, ranging in age from 12 to 14, were each awarded $50,000 and a trophy.
Membership
We dove this week into the world of social media influencers, examining how much harder of a job it is than it appears, and why it’s such a crowded industry. We round out the week by unpacking the challenge for influencers of proving “authenticity.” Meanwhile, Private Key offered a look at the questions the SEC has for social media company Kik, as well as the state of Tether. And in a series of members-only videos, we got parenting tips from Esther Wojcicki, teacher and mother of two Silicon Valley CEOs.
Quartz Obsession
Climate anxiety is going around. And it’s not just the dire and increasingly well-understood effects of living through related catastrophes like fire and drought. The American Psychological Association has recognized that being inundated by the bad news of a slow-moving disaster, delivered 24/7 by news and social media, could be wearing us down.
Matters of debate
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Bike and car horns are useless. They’re profoundly antisocial and a blight on the cityscape.
Young climate strikers should unionize. It would amplify their collective voice in the face of crisis.
Fox News is the real misinformation machine. The wide reach of the network’s doctored storytelling makes Facebook’s fake-news problem look like no big deal.
Surprising discoveries
Australian firefighters hauled ass. A miniature donkey had to be rescued after tumbling into a septic tank and getting stuck.
People in Hawaii are contracting “rat lungworm” disease from unwashed produce. The parasite originates in rodents but is passed to plants by snails and slugs.
AI is learning teamwork. Researchers have managed to train AI bots to work as a team in a deadly game of capture the flag.
Hydrogen-powered hovercrafts could solve gridlock and pollution. A prototype exists for an autonomous aircraft that, its maker says, could revolutionize urban transport.
Nonprofit jobs can pay off. Average compensation at a nonprofit is almost $8 per hour higher than what for-profit workers earn in some sectors.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, clean hovercrafts, and washed produce 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.