Good morning, Quartz readers! What to watch for today Washington's trade crackdown on China. The White House will announce new tariffs to punish China for intellectual property theft. Robert Lighthizer, the US's top trade official, said yesterday the goal is to inflict maximum harm upon China while limiting the effect on American consumers. Retaliation from Beijing is inevitable, he added, notably with US agricultural exports. EU leaders convene in Brussels. The two-day European Council summit will focus on the Brexit transition deal and ways to approach an increasingly protectionist US. Meanwhile UK leader Theresa May will push for a statement condemning Russia for poisoning a former Russian double agent with a nerve agent on British soil. Nike reports its earnings. The sneaker giant is expected to see the effects (paywall) of US tax law changes and competition from Adidas in its fiscal third quarter. The global rendezvous for startups and leaders to celebrate innovation is back. This year's Viva Technology festival will be the best yet, featuring keynotes from the CEOs of SAP, IBM, Orange, and CISCO, and a hall packed with top startups and immersive experiences. Get your ticket here and join over 80,000 of the world's brightest minds in Paris from May 24-26. While you were sleeping Mark Zuckerberg finally addressed the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Facebook CEO issued a statement explaining that the data-mining firm's misdeeds were the result of flaws in his own company that have since been patched. He also appeared on CNN, saying, "I'm not sure we shouldn't be regulated," while his company promised new steps to curb user-data abuse. Nicolas Sarkozy was placed under formal investigation. The former French president faces an inquiry into whether his 2007 election campaign received illegal financial support from the Libyan government, then led by the late Muammar Gaddafi. Sarkozy had denied any wrongdoing. US Congressional leaders agreed on a $1.3 trillion spending bill. With a deadline looming and funding set to run out this weekend, lawmakers settled on a measure that would boost domestic and military programs and keep the government running through September. The White House said it backed the bill, which has more than 2,200 pages. Best Buy ended its relationship with Huawei. The largest consumer electronics retailer in the US will stop selling the Chinese tech giant's smartphones in the next few weeks, CNET reported. The move is a serious blow for Huawei in the US, where it's struggled to establish a presence and encountered roadblocks related to national security concerns. Quartz obsession interlude Zoë Schlanger on how we can't engineer ourselves out of a water scarcity epidemic. "A loss of biodiversity of trees and plants make forests less stable and less resilient to storms and disease, which could ultimately threaten the contribution of forests to distributing the water supply and preventing runoff." Read more here. Matters of debate Arizona isn't prioritizing humans. The state is writing off Uber's recent pedestrian fatality as the victim's own error. White people should have a good reason for using brown or black emojis. Stick to the default yellow, or run the risk of trivializing other people's experiences. Americans can't see past Russian citizenship. Not every Russian-born person living in the US is a spy, or even a fan, of the Kremlin. Surprising discoveries Japanese condom-makers are revving up for the 2020 Olympics. The famously randy Olympic Village could bring global brand awareness to the country's super-thin prophylactics. WhatsApp's co-founders have mixed feelings about Facebook. Brian Acton has called for users to delete their accounts, while Jan Koum is using Facebook for pro-Trump posts. A volcanic eruption may have ended Icelandic paganism. The country's medieval lore describes a fiery apocalypse—and it sounds a lot like the similarly timed Eldgjá explosion. Training a dog to salute Hitler got a man arrested. A video of Buddha the pug went viral (paywall), but his owner's boyfriend went to court claiming satire. Women claim far fewer expenses than men. A UK report showed 58% of employees don't file expense reports at all. Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, expense reports, and Japanese prophylactics to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today's Daily Brief was written by Steve Mollman and edited by Isabella Steger. | 
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