Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Donald Trump meets with NATO leaders in Brussels. The organization that the US president once called “obsolete” is pulling out all the stops with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new headquarters, followed by a ceremonial dinner. Trump earlier today participated in a European Union meet-and-greet.
Aboriginal Australians discuss constitutional recognition. During a three-day meeting at the sacred landmark of Uluru, leaders will hammer out a plan to be presented to prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. That could lead to a referendum to make changes to Australia’s constitution.
OPEC meets to discuss its production-cut agreement. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is expected to recommend (paywall) a nine-month extension to an agreement that expires in June. US shale drillers in places like North Dakota will be watching: Higher oil prices brought on by the OPEC cuts have fueled their turnaround.
While you were sleeping
The US challenged Beijing’s claim in the South China Sea. In the first such action under Trump, the US sent a warship within 12 nautical miles of the Spratly archipelago’s Mischief Reef, atop of which China has built one of its militarized artificial islands. The move was long expected. Going against international law and norms, China claims nearly all of the sea as its own.
UK police stopped sharing information with the US. Investigators working on the Manchester Arena attack were furious after the bomber’s name and photos from the crime scene quickly appeared in US media outlets, and described the unauthorized disclosure as a breach of trust. Prime minister Theresa May is expected to raise the issue with Trump.
A Republican candidate for Congress was charged for body-slamming a reporter. Greg Gianforte, running for Montana’s lone House seat in a special election, allegedly attacked Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs during a final rally on the eve of today’s vote. An audio recording reveals the nominee saying “I’m sick and tired of you guys!” followed by the sounds of a physical struggle.
Artificial intelligence officially defeated the world’s top-ranked Go player. AlphaGo defeated Chinese prodigy Ke Jie in the second match of a three-game series in China. Ke declared the program a “god” of the game after his first loss to it. Google parent Alphabet—the company behind the program—scored a victory as well, as it promotes the potential of AI.
Quartz obsession interlude
Tim Fernholz explains Trump’s $2 trillion accounting error. “Here’s the problem. You’re counting on the tax cuts generating $2 trillion in extra revenues to compensate for the cost of the tax cuts. You’re also counting on them generating $2 trillion in extra revenues to help close the deficit. That $2 trillion can’t do both jobs at once.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
We can’t let ISIL shape the news. Media coverage of terrorist atrocities is playing right into the Islamist group’s hands.
For all the chest-thumping, India cannot win a conflict against Pakistan. “War is a strange game, in which the only winning move is not to play.”
The alt-right is weaponizing irony to support its fascist agenda. Humor and ambiguity are some of the movement’s favorite tactics.
Surprising discoveries
A German heavy-metal festival is building its own beer pipeline. The 75,000 Wacken Open Air attendees are expected to drink about 5.3 liters of beer each.
A Swedish mining company is moving an entire town to a new location. Kiruna (population: 18,000) is built around Europe’s largest underground iron-ore mine.
Psychedelic mushrooms are the safest drugs for getting high. Just 0.2% of users needed medical attention in a recent survey.
Norway’s central bank has created an ode to cod. The ridiculously catchy music video promotes a new cod-themed banknote.
A Chinese company is offering free training for US coal miners to become wind farmers. In the fittingly named Carbon County, Wyoming, no less.
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