Good morning Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
More fallout from a massive global cyberattack. At least 200,000 people in 150 countries were hit over the weekend by a virus that holds files hostage for $300 in bitcoin. A security researcher stumbled into a way to slow the malware (dubbed “WannaCry”), but cybersecurity experts are worried about what will happen when people get to work on Monday.
Macron gets to work. Newly inaugurated French president Emmanuel Macron will name his pick for prime minister and travel to Berlin to meet with German chancellor Angela Merkel. In his first speech as president on Sunday (link in French), Macron said “the world and Europe need France more than ever.”
Trump’s travel ban gets (another) day in court. Seattle’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the Trump administration’s appeal of a Hawaii judge’s injunction against a revised executive order that suspended visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries.
Over the weekend
Waymo teamed up with Lyft to test autonomous cars. The specialist in self-driving-car technology signed a deal with the ride-hailing startup for trials that could bring autonomous vehicles into the mainstream. The deal may hurt Lyft rival Uber, which Waymo—part of Google parent Alphabet—is suing for allegedly stealing its trade secrets.
Angela Merkel’s party won big in a key regional election. On Sunday the German chancellor’s Christian Democratic Union notched a victory over the Social Democrats in North Rhine-Westphalia. It bodes well for Merkel winning a fourth term in the federal election in September, and badly for her Social Democrat challenger Martin Schulz, who is not delivering the votes expected when he took over.
Apple invested $200 million in Corning. The 166-year-old glassmaker was chosen as the first recipient of money from Apple’s $1 billion Advanced Manufacturing Fund, which aims to bring factory jobs back to the US. The funds will go to research, equipment, and glass processing, though analysts say they could also lead to developments in augmented reality and wireless charging.
China kicked off its two-day “Silk Road” summit. Nearly 30 heads of state gathered in Beijing on Sunday to discuss China’s Belt and Road initiative, a plan to improve infrastructure connectivity and free trade across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Chinese president Xi Jinping pledged $124 billion to the effort and called on attendees to reject protectionism and unite like a “flock of geese.”
North Korea launched another ballistic missile. The projectile flew 700 km (430 miles) in 30 minutes, before dropping into the sea between Japan and Russia on Sunday. The provocation came just days after Moon Jae-in was sworn in as president of South Korea, vowing improved relations with Pyongyang. North Korea’s delegation at the Silk Road summit, meanwhile, is laying low.
Portugal won the Eurovision Song Contest. Salvador Sobral’s performance (video) of “Amar Pelos Dois” (Love for Both of Us) was considerably less flashy than the other acts. Sobral later told reporters he wasn’t sure how the voting worked: “I think that you have to be a mathematician or something to know what’s going on.”
Quartz obsession interlude
Gideon Lichfield provides a guide to 21st-century propaganda. “What’s changed, of course, is the internet, and the many new ways it creates for falsehoods to reach us. The power of populism today lies in its ability to combine 20th-century propaganda techniques with 21st-century technology, putting propaganda on steroids.” Read more here.
(And read more here about Quartz’s new propaganda obsession.)
Matters of debate
The American prom will never die. Teens continue to subvert and enrich some of its more unsavory traditions.
Trump was right to fire James Comey. No administration wants an FBI director who doesn’t recognize (paywall) the limits on the bureau’s power.
Apple can’t dominate forever. Even if its market cap breaks $1 trillion, as a hardware maker it is vulnerable to challengers.
Surprising discoveries
God accepts digital payments in Sweden. Many churches now take donations via mobile app in the all-but-cashless country.
A dinosaur fossil found in Canada still has visible scales. The nodosaur specimen, which features 20-inch shoulder spikes used to deter predators, has been called “the Rosetta stone for armor.”
“Michael” is losing favor in America. Fewer than 14,000 babies were named Michael (paywall) last year, the lowest level since 1940.
The Russian embassy in the US serves Costco-brand vodka. When hosting at home, though, ambassador Sergey Kislyak offers his guests Ukrainian pepper vodka.
Barbers used to pull teeth. That’s one reason why dental insurance in the US is still generally separate (paywall) from health insurance.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, pepper vodka, and cringeworthy prom memories to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android.