Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
UK prime minister hopefuls head to a second round of voting. Frontrunner Boris Johnson skipped televised debates over the weekend while his Conservative candidate colleagues vied for second place. As the others try to secure the minimum 33 votes to remain in the race, Johnson will likely remain safe and appear at a BBC debate following the vote.
Donald Trump kicks off his re-election campaign. The US president formally launches his bid for a second term at a rally in Orlando, Florida. His campaign fired several pollsters yesterday after a leak of unflattering poll numbers.
EU ministers meet in Luxembourg. The bloc’s 28 states are split over starting membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia. Proponents say any delay would hurt the union’s credibility, while opponents say the two Balkan states are not ready. The EU is also set to threaten Turkey with retaliation (paywall) over its offshore drilling.
Facebook unveils its new cryptocurrency, Libra. The digital currency would allow Facebook users to send money to each other and pay for purchases within its family of apps like Instagram and WhatsApp.
The US-Africa economic summit convenes. A dozen heads of state and government will gather in Maputo, Mozambique to discuss agriculture, energy, health, infrastructure, and finance. In what is seen as a slight, the highest-ranking US representative in attendance will be deputy secretary of commerce Karen Dunn Kelley.
While you were sleeping
The UK’s finance minister is “prepared to resign” over May’s spending plans. Philip Hammond is understood to be so opposed to prime minister Theresa May’s intentions to spend billions of dollars on legacy projects that he is willing to quit, according to British television network ITV.
The US is sending 1,000 troops to the Middle East. Citing “hostile behavior” from Iran, the move further heightens tensions between the two countries and comes as Washington has blamed Tehran for attacks on two oil tankers last week. The new deployment is in addition to the 1,500-troop increase announced last month following earlier tanker bombings.
Matteo Salvini pitched Italy to the US. The far-right Italian prime minister, whose League party became the country’s largest in European parliamentary elections last month, met with top US officials in Washington, where he gushed about his closeness to the Trump administration and criticized the EU’s weaknesses.
A New Zealander was jailed for sharing a Christchurch mosque shooting video. Philip Arps, a self-described white supremacist and the owner of a business that uses neo-Nazi imagery, was handed a 21-month sentence for distributing the livestream of the March terrorist attacks that resulted in 51 deaths. He has already filed an appeal.
Venezuela freed an opposition lawmaker ahead of a UN visit. Gilber Caro was detained in April in what was criticized as a violation of his parliamentary immunity. His release comes days before the UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet travels to the country to meet with president Nicolás Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
Membership
The CBD boom is upon us. The hemp-based wellness serum is showing up in everything from beverages to massage oils, as companies seek to capitalize on changing attitudes toward marijuana and concerns over stress and anxiety. Guiding you through this gold rush is Quartz’s global lifestyle reporter, Jenni Avins. She begins her field guide of CBD with her state of play memo, a comprehensive look at CBD’s past, present, and future.
Quartz Obsession
We can thank the big screen for the little macaron. A current favorite of fashion editors and Instagram influencers, the small French almond cookies owe their recent rise to the 2006 Sofia Coppola film Marie Antoinette, which portrayed them as part of a luxe life (now available at European McDonald’s locations) before social media fell for the brightly colored confections. Have a tiny taste at the Quartz Obsession.
Matters of debate
Join the conversation with the new Quartz app!
Garages are the new affordable houses. They could ease housing shortages in cities around the world.
English should be the official language of post-Brexit Europe. It would be a neutral language for European countries with competing mother tongues.
Driverless cars could kill the airline industry. Autonomous vehicles let you pack anything, leave anytime, and maybe even stretch your legs.
Surprising discoveries
The last Inca rope bridge in Peru has been rebuilt. The handwoven, grass-fiber bridge has been ceremonially replaced annually for the past 600 years.
Dogs evolved puppy eyes to bond with us. They evolved human-like eyebrow muscles, giving them a range of expressions that wolves lack.
Elon Musk did not delete his Twitter account. The Tesla CEO tweeted “Just deleted my Twitter account” from his active, very much not-deleted account.
US sanctions are cramping the Iranian art scene. Cash-only transactions and scarce supplies make life a logistical nightmare for artists and galleries.
Cryptographers have created reliable randomness. It’s surprisingly hard to generate a random number that isn’t vulnerable to miscreant insiders or outside hackers.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, undeleted Twitter accounts, and truly random numbers 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.