Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Nikki Haley speaks before the UN body she called “so corrupt.” The US ambassador to the United Nations will join the Human Rights Council’s Geneva meeting to give a speech on how the intergovernmental organization can stop serving (in her words) as “a haven for dictators” (paywall).
Gulf countries ban Qatari flights. Egypt closed its airspace to Qatari planes and Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are expected to follow suit today. A Saudi-led alliance of five countries cut diplomatic ties with Doha yesterday, accusing it of funding terrorism in the region. Qataris are panic-buying groceries after Saudi Arabia shut the country’s only land border.
Results from the US job openings and labor turnover survey for April. A fave of Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, the “JOLTS report” includes jobs open, jobs taken, and jobs people quit. The unemployment rate fell to a 16-year low in May, though growth slowed more than expected. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates next week.
While you were sleeping
The US Justice Department arrested an alleged leaker. Investigators nabbed Reality Leigh Winner about an hour after she allegedly sent a classified National Security Agency document on Russian efforts to hack US voting systems to the Intercept, an online news outlet. The 25-year-old works for federal contractor Pluribus International in Atlanta.
Trump should still visit, Britain’s foreign secretary says. The US president fired off some nasty tweets about London mayor Sadiq Khan after Saturday’s terror attack in the capital, but Boris Johnson said that was no reason to rescind Trump’s invitation to the UK later in the year. He also said Khan was right to reassure Londoners not to be alarmed.
Delivery Hero geared up for its IPO. The food delivery service, founded in Berlin in 2011, hopes to raise €450 million ($506 million) when it floats this year—good news for its big backer Rocket Internet, which is weighed down with money-losing startups. Delivery Hero has 6,000 employees in more than 40 countries and handled 197 million deliveries last year, but still made a loss of €116 million (paywall).
Brexit-bothered Brits cut back on shopping. Retail outlets, car dealerships, and the service sector were all affected in May as the fall in sterling pushed up prices in the UK. People’s uncertainty about the outcome of the general election, which happens Thursday, also had a negative effect on household spending.
The acting US ambassador to China quit. David Rank resigned from his post in Beijing reportedly because of Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. He was slated to serve until the arrival of Trump’s pick for the job, former Iowa governor Terry Branstad. The State Department said Rank had “made a personal decision.”
Quartz obsession interlude
Katherine Foley on why we watch gross videos. “Watching pimple-popping videos on a screen—or even horror movies like those in the Alien or Hostel franchises where you know something gruesome will happen—provides enough distance for disgust and curiosity to exist simultaneously. ‘I think it is about experiencing these things in safe ways,’ says Alexander Skolnick, a psychologist at Saint Joseph’s University. ‘It’s gross, but… you have power over it.’” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Democrats need to stop obsessing over Russia. Instead of courting the voters they failed to attract, the Dems strategy seems to rest on Trump being ousted.
Nobody can “solve” climate change. More political will should be focused on readying for its impact.
The US needs more leaks, not fewer. In a government obsessed with secrecy and over-classification (paywall), whistleblowers are more important than ever.
Surprising discoveries
You can go fishing with a submersible drone. It spots fish, reports their position to the user, and lures them with a light and bait.
A Senegalese duo raps the news. Makhtar “Xuman” Fall and Cheikh “Keyti” Sene use their YouTube show, Journal Rappé, to cover everything from terrorism to the environment.
Being the face of an AI is a human job. The model on whom IPsoft’s Amelia avatar is based had 3D cameras catalog her expressions (including how she’d react to seeing Brad Pitt).
Craig from Craigslist, which sucked all of the classified-ad money from journalism, is now funding journalism. Craig Newmark has donated millions to places like ProPublica.
Liquor ads during US football games can’t reference football. New NFL rules (paywall) also dictate that each game can feature no more than four commercials for spirits.
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