Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The British will carry on with Parliamentary elections. UK Prime Minister Theresa May on June 4 called for a stronger response to terrorism after Saturday’s London Bridge attack, saying, “Enough is enough.” But some business will continue as usual, like Thursday’s parliamentary election. Campaigning, halted briefly this weekend, resumes today.
Ex-FBI chief James Comey faces interrogation. Comey will be in the hot seat this week. The former US intelligence chief, who got fired last month, will answer questions from Senators on Thursday about an investigation he led into the president’s ties to Russia and whether Trump told him to back off.
Americans will work on climate change without their president. Pledge America, a group of US states, cities, universities, and businesses, is vowing to work on climate change in defiance of president Donald Trump’s decision last week to pull out of the Paris agreement. Based on precedent, the green secession could succeed.
Over the weekend
In Hong Kong, over 100,000 gathered to remember Tiananmen Square. An estimated 110,000 people met in Victoria Square to remember the Chinese Communist Party’s attack on pro-democracy students protesting government policy in Beijing 28 years ago. Meanwhile in China, an activist who tweeted a photo of herself from the square on June 4, was arrested, according to Amnesty International.
Wonder Woman is a movie heroine at opening, collecting $223 million. It seems there is no glass ceiling for some female super heroes at least. In its first weekend of release in movie theaters globally, Wonder Woman earned $223 million. In the US, the movie earned $130.5 million—more than Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Thor when they opened.
A billion people watched India play Pakistan in a cricket championship. India beat Pakistan in the Champions Trophy, a cricket competition held on June 4 in Birmingham, England. The game drew a billion television viewers, though sport was just an aside to politics. The rival nations have not had teams face each other on a playing field since the 2015 World Cup.
Explosions kill 18 and injure 90 at a high profile Kabul funeral. Three explosions went off on June 3 in Kabul, Afghanistan during the funeral of Salim Ezadyar, the son of a senior Afghan senator. Ezadyar was killed at a protest the previous day, along with 89 others, after police opened fire on demonstrators. It appears that no officials were killed at the funeral.
A rare occurrence for Brits—cops with guns—may become common. Scotland Yard warned Londoners who are unaccustomed to guns, that they will see more armed police on the streets after an attack on London Bridge left seven dead. Donald Trump tweeted at London’s mayor Sadiq Khan that he was wrong to tell Londoners to stay calm; his office called the president’s message ill-informed (paywall).
Quartz obsession interlude
Lily Kuo on a new rail line and the old story of China in Kenya. ”The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), built and funded by the Chinese, officially opened to the public on Madaraka Day, the anniversary of Kenya gaining the right of self-rule. In a ceremony attended by Kenyan and Chinese officials, a Kenyan orchestra performed Chinese patriotic songs underneath the gaze of a bronze statue of Zheng He, a Chinese admiral who led expeditions to Africa in the 15th century.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Taxing humans for drinking beats taxing robots for taking human jobs. Bill Gates believe robots who replace human workers could be taxed but an EU Commissioner tasked with designing Europe’s digital future says, “No way, no way.“
Machines help people write better sentences. Artificial intelligence can’t make you creative but an algorithmic approach to craft may improve your writing.
The US jobs report was trumped up to make the president look bad. Some conservative pundits are blaming the numbers in the lackluster US Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs figures for May on a deep state conspiracy.
Surprising discoveries
A flying car may light the torch at the 202o Tokyo Olympics. Toyota invested in a futuristic vehicle with wheels and propellors that just had a difficult test run.
Making clothes is just a marketing expense for luxury brands. The biggest names in fashion aren’t making money on clothes—those are just for show.
Egyptian farmers are going back to school to study climate change. Growers along the Nile river are participating in a UN program that teaches them new techniques and expertise to deal with changing terrain.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, super heroine stories, and kooky conspiracy theories to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android.