šŸŒ Tesla commits to China

Plus: What is the Good Friday Agreement?

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Hereā€™s what you need to know

Tesla is building a new factory in Shanghai. The EV company will make its Megapack batteries at the new facility, deepening its investment in China despite trade tensions with the US.

China ran military drills around Taiwan. The three days of exercises started Saturday after Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen returned from meeting with US lawmakers.

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Joe Biden will visit Ireland to commemorate the Good Friday Agreement. In the first official visit to his ancestral homeland as US president, heā€™ll address lawmakers at the seat of Northern Ireland legislature on Tuesday (more below).

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Leaked Pentagon documents pointed to weaknesses in Ukraineā€™s military. One report indicated the countryā€™s air defense might not hold up its front line against Russia through May.

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Businesses are pouring money into AI

Pop quiz: How much greater was corporate investment in AI last year compared to a decade ago?

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A. 3 times
B. 9 times
C. 13 times
D. 22 times

Find the answer in Clarisa Diazā€™s report, which also tracked the biggest AI deals in 2022.

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What is the Good Friday Agreement?

Image for article titled šŸŒ Tesla commits to China
Photo: Evelyn Hockstein (Reuters)
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The Belfast Agreement, more commonly known as the Good Friday Agreement, was a 1998 peace accord intended to end decades of political violence between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. The conflict was known as the Troubles.

Bidenā€™s trip comes at a turbulent political time in Northern Ireland. The Democratic Unionist Party, the countryā€™s largest pro-British unionist party, is holding fast in the face of proposed reforms that would allow Northern Ireland to maintain a closer trade relationship with the European Union, post-Brexit. London and Brussels reached a preliminary agreement on the new trade rules in February.

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Americaā€™s post-covid economic recovery has been remarkable

3: Years it took for prime-age labor force participation to recover in the US after the pandemic, compared to 12 years after the 2008 financial crisis.

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Itā€™s one of the stats that shows Americans have just lived through the fastest economic recovery in three decades.

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Surprising discoveries

Climate change is increasing the number of baseball homeruns. A warmer planet led to more than 500 out-of-the-park hits since 2010.

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Uranus got a close up. The James Webb Telescope gave us an up-close look at the planetā€™s rings, only the third time theyā€™ve ever been photographed by an instrument in space.

A snake caused an emergency plane landing in South Africa. Samuel L. Jackson wasnā€™t there, but a cape cobra was hanging out under the pilotā€™s seat.

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Ramen sales are still spicy. Sales for Cup Noodles maker Nissin are up 41% year over year as its pandemic growth stays hot.

Tim Cook reads all of his unsolicited emails. Seriously, send him a note.


Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, ballpark hotdogs, and spicy noodles to talk@qz.com. Reader support makes Quartz available to allā€”become a member. Todayā€™s Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner.