Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
G20 health ministers gather in Berlin. In the first such meeting, they’ll discuss epidemic response and antimicrobial resistance, among other topics, plus prepare recommendations for the G20 leaders’ summit in July. Germany, hosting G20 events this year, made a point of adding health issues to an agenda typically dominated by finance and economics.
Donald Trump kicks off a pivotal international trip. The US president touches down today in Saudi Arabia in the midst of a power struggle between two princes eying King Salman’s throne. Trump will also give a potentially fraught speech about Islam before continuing on to Israel, Rome, and meetings with NATO leaders in Brussels and the G7 in Sicily.
Iranians elect a president. The 2015 nuclear deal with the West is hanging in the balance as incumbent Hassan Rouhani faces hardline challenger Ebrahim Raisi in Friday’s election. Rouhani leads slightly in the polls.
While you were sleeping
Beijing reported progress toward a South China Sea ”code of conduct” agreement with ASEAN. But it wasn’t much, with the two sides merely concurring on how such an agreement might be structured. China insisted the details discussed remain confidential. Some diplomats from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations doubted Beijing’s sincerity. Such talks have dragged on for years.
A driver struck over 20 people in Times Square. One person died and at least 22 were injured when a car driving the wrong way ran onto the sidewalk and crashed in the bustling tourist destination. Authorities arrested the driver at the scene, and do not believe the incident was an act of terror.
Brazil’s president said he won’t resign over corruption allegations. Michel Temer was accused of obstruction of justice after a tape revealed him encouraging hush money payoffs to a former associate. Brazil’s stock market fell 10% amid calls for Temer’s impeachment, wiping out nearly all of the year’s gains—and costing the country’s 16 richest people over $6 billion.
A Basquiat painting sold for $110 million. Yusaku Maezawa, an online-retail magnate from Japan, acquired the untitled 1982 portrait by Jean Michel-Basquiat at Sotheby’s in New York. The gasp-inducing amount set a new record for a work by an American artist. The painting had been purchased in 1984 by the late collectors Jerry and Emily Spiegel for $19,000.
Quartz obsession interlude
Keila Guimarães on the drug shortages that are bringing back old diseases. “Penicillin was one of the great achievements of modern medicine… Over the years though, penicillin descended from a wonder drug used on everything to a cheap, old antibiotic that pharmaceutical companies decided was no longer worth their while to produce.” Read more here.
Markets haiku
Brazil is going / from bad to worse. It looks like / It’s getting Real
Matters of debate
Roger Ailes is dead, but his damage to American democracy lives on. Trump regurgitates Fox News talking points almost every morning.
Are bombs or batteries a bigger threat to planes? Either way, officials agree that laptops on flights are dangerous.
Trump won’t say how he’ll improve on “the worst trade deal ever.” His “massive” plan for NAFTA is notably short on details.
Surprising discoveries
Cancer drug price gouger Martin Shkreli is the subject of a musical. PharmaBro: An American Douchical is currently playing off-Broadway.
Nestle and Mondelez have spent years in court fighting over the shape of Kit Kat bars. Does candy design meet the threshold for trademark protection?
Radio waves have formed a protective bubble around the Earth. They shield us from solar flares and other “space weather.”
A Kentucky woman is being charged with Girl Scout cookie larceny. She absconded with $15,000 worth of Thin Mints and other confections.
An ancient contraceptive could create an alternative to birth-control pills. It’s from a plant evocatively called “thunder god vine.”
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