Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
China and the EU hold a timely summit in Brussels. Premier Li Keqiang and top EU officials will underscore their commitment to the Paris climate agreement. Also on the agenda: North Korean missile tests and global steel production.
Vladimir Putin chats with Western business execs. The Russian president is expected to drop in on a roundtable with the heads of BP, Boeing, and Total at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.
Ireland may elect a gay prime minister. Leo Varadkar would be the youngest politician to become Taoiseach, and the first of ethnic minority heritage—his father is from India. Varadkar is up against housing minister Simon Coveney for the leadership of the Fine Gael party.
While you were sleeping
Donald Trump confirmed the US exit from the Paris Climate Agreement… The president said he would follow the accord’s withdrawal process (paywall) which will take a minimum of four years to complete. Trump vowed to renegotiate the deal to obtain better terms for the United States, but legal experts and the leaders of France, Germany, and Italy called that an impossibility.
…and asked the US Supreme Court to reinstate the “travel ban.” Lawyers from the Department of Justice asked the court to overturn last week’s ruling (paywall) from the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which called for a freeze on Trump’s initiative. The move will test how the nation’s highest judicial body receives the controversial order.
Dozens died after a lone gunman set a Manila casino ablaze. While authorities believe the perpetrator didn’t shoot any civilians, 34 people died (paywall) after suffocating from smoke fumes, and 70 people were injured. The individual was found dead in an apparent suicide. While a Filipino Islamic State operative has claimed responsibility for the attack, police have yet to link the incident to organized terrorism.
Walmart is asking employees to deliver packages on their way home from work. The US retail giant began a pilot program that tries to take advantage of its huge footprint as it competes with Amazon. It’s not clear how the employees would be compensated.
A food delivery startup for filed for an IPO. Blue Apron, a New York-based company that ships ready-to-cook meal kits to apartment dwellers, is preparing to list just as several other food delivery startups go under. The company’s prospectus reveals strong revenue growth between 2015 and 2016, but like its on-demand brethren, it’s saddled by heavy marketing costs.
Quartz obsession interlude
Akshat Rathi on the gravitational waves created when two black holes merge. “In a sense, such an event is like what happens when a stone is thrown in a still pool: the stone disrupts the water, creating waves of water carrying energy away from the spot where it hit; the most violent processes in the universe can disrupt space-time in the same way, radiating waves of distorted space-time.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Climate change is a problem for every income bracket. Some billionaires are fighting global warming, but the poor will suffer the most.
The US and UK are no longer global leaders. Both countries are experiencing the slowest economic growth of any G7 member.
AI could decide the next superpowers. Venture capitalist Kai-fu Lee believes technological change will lead to the emergence of at least two in the next 50 years.
Surprising discoveries
Uber drivers are sharing passenger antics on social media. The dash-cam videos are designed to guard against bad reviews or false accusations.
A startup is charging $8,000 for blood transfusions from young people. It’s part of a clinical trial, but there’s no evidence that it prevents disease.
An ice shelf half the size of Lebanon is on the verge of collapse. The ancient Larsen C formation is hanging by a thread, with just 13 km (8 miles) of ice attaching it to Antarctica.
A French winery may have unearthed the world’s oldest bottle of Bordeaux. It dates back to the 1700s and was packaged in a specially sealed bottle with a green-heart stopper.
Canada is urging teens to swap naked mole rats instead of nude selfies. A child protection agency launched an ad campaign featuring one of world’s ugliest rodents.
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