Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
A decisive jobs report. Analysts think the US added about 160,000 jobs in May. Any hint of a hiring slowdown could prevent the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates later this month.
Touchy talks over the South China Sea. US defense secretary Ash Carter joins Asian counterparts in Singapore for the annual Shangri-La Dialogue. Beijing is reportedly set to require aircraft in the region to identify themselves to the Chinese military.
Hong Kong commemorates Tiananmen Square. A memorial for the 1989 massacre in Beijing begins at 6pm local time on Saturday. The annual event may expose generational divisions among pro-democracy groups, with younger activists less inclined to seek reforms on the mainland.
While you were sleeping
The cause of Prince’s death was revealed. A medical examiner said that the musician accidentally overdosed on the powerful painkiller fentanyl, which is about 50 times more potent than heroin and is part of a growing epidemic of US opioid deaths. Prince was seeking help from opioid addiction specialists just before his death.
Line is eyeing a $3 billion IPO. The Japanese messaging app is hoping to raise cash in a dual IPO in New York and Tokyo to help it compete with WhatsApp and WeChat. The twice-delayed share offering, now planned for July, comes amid concerns that the company’s rapid growth has slowed.
OPEC disappointed, again. The once-mighty cartel failed to dispel fears of its growing irrelevance, as members declined to vote on joint action at a meeting in Vienna. The inaction sent prices plummeting below $49 a barrel.
Germany infuriated Turkey by condemning the Armenian genocide. Lawmakers passed a resolution on the killing of 1.5 million Armenians during World War I, prompting Turkey to recall its ambassador. The vote will exacerbate tensions at a time when Germany badly needs Turkey’s help with the refugee crisis.
The US subpoenaed Huawei. Officials are investigating whether the Chinese telecom equipment giant company broke export controls in its transactions with Syria, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and Sudan. The company is already barred from doing business in the US, but could still lose its access to critical US suppliers.
Quartz markets haiku
Jobs Friday up next
The US economy
Is in decent shape
Quartz obsession interlude
Josh Horowitz on startups’ meaningless jargon: “‘Content.’ ‘Platforms.’ ‘Synergy.’ ‘End-to-end’ … These words sound technical and informed. But they mean nothing, and they make it difficult for ordinary people to understand what a company actually does. In an effort to either sound smart and attract investors, or to simply dress up an otherwise boring product, startups that rely too much on jargon end up alienating the users they want to attract.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
China’s tech companies are the future of banking. They’re using their online payment systems to steal business from traditional banks.
A Donald Trump presidency carries some extreme risks. Voters aren’t fully considering the dangers of, say, a global nuclear war.
The world’s biggest beer merger could destroy craft brewers. The combined AB InBev and SABMiller would have a death grip on distribution.
Surprising discoveries
The Kremlin blames condoms for the spread of HIV. The “Russian model” of prevention relies on heterosexual, monogamous relationships.
King Tut’s dagger came from outer space. Scientists confirmed that the iron in his blade is from a meteorite.
The rich get to design their own luxury jail cells. US courts are allowing defendants to arrange the terms of their own confinement.
Elon Musk thinks we’re almost certainly living in someone’s video game. The odds are “billions to 1” that we’re in “base reality.”
The number of Americans who’ve had a same-sex experience has doubled since the 1990s. It’s now 8.7% for women and 8.2% for men.
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