The Daily Dose #024
Your Daily Source of News, Culture, Philosophy, Music & Memes
Quote of the Day
"President Trump sees the world in transactional and zero-sum terms - if something is good for China, it must be bad for the U.S. By contrast, economists see the world in much more nuanced ways: if globalization is well-managed, it can be a positive-sum game, where both the U.S. and China gain; if it is badly managed, it can be negative-sum". - Joseph Stiglitz
Word of the Day
Innocuous - not harmful or offensive.
In the news...
North Korea prepares to dismantle its nuclear test site.Dozens of Western and Chinese journalists will attend the closure of the Punggye-ri site as soon as Wednesday, though diplomatic uncertainties remain. The demolition may mean little without verification by outside experts.
China’s legislature kicks off its annual session. During the two-week gathering it’s expected to scrap (paywall) the two-term limit for the president and vice president, which would allow Xi Jinping, 64, to serve indefinitely. It could also appoint Xi ally Wang Qishan as vice president. Bloomberg has a cheat sheet on what investors should look for.
Marks and Spencer takes a heavy hit from store closures. The UK retailer is reportedly planning to announce up to £300 million ($400 million) in charges as it mulls the closure of more than 100 shops at home and abroad.
Japan and China call on Donald Trump. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono will visit the White House to discuss the US-North Korea summit. Trump, meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in, warned Tuesday that the meeting could still be delayed.
The US and China made more conciliatory moves on trade. Negotiators are discussing a deal to save Chinese telecom giant ZTE (paywall), which was hit with devastating US sanctions for selling technology to Iran and North Korea. Terms are not yet finalized, but ZTE would be able to purchase US components once again if it makes changes to its management and board, and potentially pays some big fines.
Mark Zuckerberg had an awkward hearing at the European Parliament. In one particularly uncomfortable moment, Nigel Farage, former leader of the UK Independence Party, told the Facebook CEO that without social media, Trump and Brexit wouldn’t have happened.
Tesla vowed to fix the Model 3’s brake problems. After a damning report from a consumer group, Elon Musk said the problem—likely due to “anti-lock brake system calibration algorithm”—could be solved with an over-the-air software update.
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