Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. World leaders and veterans will gather on the shores of northern France this morning to commemorate the Allied amphibious assault that marked the beginning of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied northwest Europe. Later in the day, UK prime minister Theresa May and French president Emmanuel Macron will attend an inauguration ceremony for a memorial to honor the British troops who died in the Battle of Normandy, while US president Donald Trump will attend an event with Macron at a US war cemetery on Omaha Beach.
The UK might get its first Brexit party member of parliament. Support for Nigel Farage’s party is high in economically stagnant Peterborough, which was the country’s fastest growing city a decade ago. Residents vote in a by-election today, and a win by the eight-week-old party would continue its momentum from its dominant performance in European elections last month.
The European Central Bank meets in Vilnius. Investors and economists are watching closely for signs of a burst of monetary support, but interest rates are expected to be kept at its present levels. The European Union’s statistics agency is set to release numbers showing a slight fall in inflation and rise in unemployment, which could deal a double blow (paywall) to the ECB.
Russia hosts its answer to Davos. Expect president Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to praise the growing trade between their nations and ink new deals at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Putin said yesterday that Sino-Russian relations were at “an unprecedented level.”
Ford delivers another blow to the UK car industry. The automaker is expected to announce the closure of its long-running engine plant in Bridgend, Wales. Other carmakers have said they’ll close plants or scale back plans in the UK, among them Nissan and Honda.
While you were sleeping
Denmark’s Social Democrats won a general election. The center-left party defeated the ruling Liberal party, taking 25.9% of votes in an election that focused on the climate, welfare, and immigration. Mette Frederiksen, the Social Democrats’ leader, will likely be the country’s next prime minister, but she may struggle to form a coalition as other parties on the left mostly oppose her anti-immigration stance.
The US is preparing a large sale of weapons to Taiwan. According to Reuters, the deal involves over a hundred General Dynamics M1A2 Abrams tanks and is valued at over $2 billion. Such a transaction would anger China, which has long claimed sovereignty over Taiwan.
US-Mexico negotiations got nowhere. Officials from both countries ended their meeting at the White House yesterday with no agreement on how to avert Trump’s threatened tariffs on all Mexican goods, which would kick in next Monday (June 10) and increase gradually unless the flow of migrants into the US is stemmed.
Fiat Chrysler withdrew its Renault merger offer. The Italian-American carmaker reversed its plans to create what could have been the world’s third-largest automaker in a €33 billion ($37 billion) merger deal, saying it was unable to reach an agreement with the French government.
China was accused of hacking into Australian National University. Australian intelligence officials identified China as the key suspect in a massive data breach, stealing 19 years’ worth of personal details from thousands of students and staff that could be used to groom them as informants.
A gay Hong Kong civil servant won the rights to benefits for his spouse. Following multiple legal challenges from the government, the city’s highest court ruled that the husband of Angus Leung, an immigration officer, must be able to receive spousal benefits from the government. The two were married in New Zealand in 2014.
Membership
Where your sneakers are made says a lot about the world. Continuing our week-long look at how sneakers took over fashion, reporter Marc Bain examines how the source of sports footwear has changed in recent years. While China still makes far more of the total footwear imported into the US than any other country, companies are increasingly experimenting with “nearshoring,” where brands make their products near their biggest markets.
Quartz Obsession
The most popular climbing season to date on Mount Everest was also a very deadly one. A viral photo showing the human traffic jam at the summit raised questions about whether the Everest industry has become too big to be safe or sustainable. How it got this way is a story of geopolitics, economic modernization, and something akin to the Streisand effect. Scale the issue in the Quartz Obsession.
Matters of debate
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AirPods can double as shields. The controversial tech helps users ignore—or legitimately pretend to ignore—street harassment.
The war on drugs will center on psychedelics next. Capitalists who want to get in on the microdosing craze will clash with the compassionate culture around mushrooms.
Burnout should not be classified as a disease. Medicalizing everyday stress may cause people to begin disregarding it, which hurts acute sufferers.
Surprising discoveries
A tourist’s lucky guess cracked open a safe. The iron box had sat unopened in a museum for decades, but a Canadian man managed to unlock it on his first try.
India has an entire book village. Bhilar strawberry farmers have transformed portions of their homes into public libraries.
That’s one cool disk. The relatively low-temperature gas ring surrounding the Milky Way’s black hole is helping scientists discover more about the phenomenon.
The deadly teeth of the dragonfish are a mystery no more. The mineral makeup of the protruding chompers keep them virtually invisible to prey.
Chernobyl is becoming a tourist attraction. HBO’s titular series has caused a 40% upswing in tour bookings.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, lucky guesses, and book villages 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 Isabella Steger.