Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Talks on denuclearizing North Korea. Stephen Biegun, the top US diplomat on North Korea, will be in Brussels and Berlin for discussions with Lee Do-hoon, South Korea’s special representative on peace and security, on removing nuclear weapons from the peninsula.
Euro zone finance ministers talk top jobs. At a meeting in Brussels, the group will discuss the next steps in the nomination of IMF chief Christine Lagarde as the incoming president of the European Central Bank. And since the IMF presidency typically goes to a European (paywall), they may come up with names for that post too.
Kevin Spacey appears in court. The actor faces a hearing in a Nantucket court room on charges that he groped a teenager three years ago in the Massachusetts town. The victim dropped a civil case against Spacey but the criminal charges will proceed. Separately, financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a New York court on sex-trafficking charges involving underage girls.
Over the weekend
Victory for Greece’s New Democracy party. The last votes in yesterday’s election are still being counted, but it seems clear that the center-right party, in opposition since 2015, is set to win. Prime minister Alexis Tsipras already conceded defeat, making way for Kyriakos Mitsotakis to be sworn in today.
Another mass protest in Hong Kong. Organizers estimated some 230,000 people took to the streets in the Kowloon area, part of a series of protests that began with opposition to an extradition bill, with discontent now encompassing other issues such as police brutality and lack of democracy. Yesterday’s march aimed to take the message to mainland Chinese tourists.
Deutsche bank said it will cut 18,000 jobs. The struggling German giant unveiled a sweeping restructuring plan that will shrink its investment bank, shed assets, and refocus its activities on safer, more stable business lines. The cuts affect one in five employees, and represent “nothing less than a fundamental rebuilding of Deutsche Bank,” according to the CEO.
Unflattering cables by the UK’s ambassador in the US were leaked. In missives to London, Kim Darroch called the Trump administration “uniquely dysfunctional,” among other insults. At the same time, he told colleagues there is a “credible path” to Trump’s re-election. “Do not write him off,” he said.
Iran said it breached uranium enrichment limits. Tehran confirmed it was no longer complying with the nuclear deal it signed in 2015 (which the US withdrew from last year). Iran will boost enrichment levels above the limit agreed in the deal, but still far short of the concentration level needed for weapons-grade nuclear material.
The US won the Women’s World Cup. The defending champions defeated the Netherlands 2-0, taking the trophy for a fourth time. Off the field, the victory will help the squad in its legal battle for pay equal to their male counterparts.
Quartz Obsession
Checkmate: AI is not only better at humans than chess, it plays like us now. It used to be that computers could beat the best human chess players through brute mathematical force. Now they’re playing with intuition, aggression, and verve. But don’t expect them to beat us at poker anytime soon. Play a few moves ahead at the Quartz Obsession.
Matters of debate
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The tech world could solve the sperm crisis. Inventions like home-testing kits and sperm freezing are the answer to stemming a long-term decline in fertility rates among Western men.
To-do lists increase anxiety. Helpful reminders quickly morph into time-consuming chores that restrict freedom.
The “Beijing bikini” should be banned. Men might beat the heat by rolling up their shirts, but it’s uncivilized behavior.
Surprising discoveries
People in Japan are using car-sharing to go nowhere. They’re napping, working, and storing stuff, among other things, in the handy vehicles.
Jeff Bezos lost $38 billion and is still the world’s richest person. His divorce with Mackenzie Bezos did not dethrone him.
Europe is under siege from a plague of hairy, toxic creepy crawlies. Oak processionary caterpillars have forced swimming pools, restaurants, public parks to close down in Germany.
Trump campaign and GOP officials love Uber and shun Lyft. Expenditure filings suggest an avoidance of Lyft, which has publicly opposed the president’s policies.
France is riveted by a lawsuit over a rooster. To many, the case is really about the nation’s rural-urban divide, with city dwellers intolerant of the bird’s morning song.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, friendly caterpillars, and low-volume roosters 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 Isabella Steger and edited by Tripti Lahiri.