China’s retaliatory tariffs, Tesla’s woes, bean-sculpture controversy

[Quartz - qz.com]( Sponsored by Good morning, Quartz readers! What to watch for today China’s retaliatory tariffs against the US begin. Responding to Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, Beijing said late on Sunday it would impose a 15% duty on 120 products, including wine and some fruits, and a 25% duty on eight other products, among them pork. The tariffs [go into effect today](. Egypt’s election results are officially announced. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has won—with his main rivals detained or forced out of contention, that was never in doubt. But if official figures show a low turnout, that would be embarrassing and [hurt his legitimacy](. Foreign reporters have [been warned against]( “unprofessional” election coverage, with unspecified consequences. Zimbabwe’s president begins a visit to Beijing. After Emmerson Mnangagwa [took power from]( dictator Robert Mugabe last November, Chinese president Xi Jinping promised to support Zimbabwe no matter what. In his first official trip outside Africa, Mnangagwa [seeks to deepen]( Zimbabwe’s economic relationship with Beijing through Xi’s [Belt and Road Initiative](. Sponsor content by Harvard Business School Lead with bolder vision, passion, and purpose. Harvard Business School’s comprehensive leadership programs accelerate personal and professional transformation, building visionary leaders at every career stage. [Reimagine your future]( and prepare to catapult your career and your company to a new level. Over the weekend Kim Jong-un clapped along to K-pop… For the first time in 10 years, Seoul [sent a music delegation]( to its northern neighbor, with [pop stars like]( Seohyun and girl group Red Velvet performing in Pyongyang. The entertainment precedes a summit [planned for April 27]( between Kim and South Korean president Moon Jae-in. …while the US and South Korea began joint military exercises. The Pentagon has described the drills as defensive in nature, but even so, they are likely to test the sustainability of the region’s diplomatic thawing. While Kim has agreed in principle to meet with Donald Trump, Pyongyang’s response to the exercises could [shape the tone of any meeting]( (paywall). Donald Trump unleashed a tweetstorm against Mexico. The US president [chastised the country]( for not curbing illegal immigration, saying increasingly “dangerous” immigrants were coming in “caravans” toward the US. He also threatened to kill the NAFTA trade pact and pledged “no more DACA deal,” referring to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. China’s falling space lab came down over the central South Pacific. The bus-sized Tiangong-1 mostly [burned up in the atmosphere](. There had been speculation about where it might land given its uncontrolled reentry. The “Heavenly Palace” was a source of national pride and a [key step toward]( China establishing a permanent space station. Pope Francis implored the world to deal with geopolitical conflict. In [an Easter Sunday speech]( he lamented the carnage being wrought in Gaza, Venezuela, Syria, and elsewhere. He also addressed the Korean Peninsula, offering an Easter blessing to, presumably, Kim, Moon, and Trump: “May those who are directly responsible act with wisdom and discernment.” Tesla acknowledged Autopilot was on during a recent fatal crash. Previously, it had said it was unclear whether the collision in California last month was due to driver error or to a malfunction in the car’s self-driving system. The admission capped a [week of bad news]( for Tesla, which included an announcement of its [largest-ever recall]( and a dip in stock price. Quartz obsession interlude Akshat Rathi and David Yanofsky on Saudi Arabia’s proposed 200 GW solar project. “These are eye-popping numbers. If built, that solar-power plant will be about 200 times the size of the biggest solar plant operating today. It would more than triple Saudi Arabia’s capacity to produce electricity, from about 77 GW today.” [Read more here](. Matters of debate There’s an ideological rift opening up in the tech community. Infinite optimism vs. certainty of an inevitable catastrophe. Tech as inherently good vs. tech can be good. In Silicon Valley, it’s becoming the [Mark Zuckerbergs vs. the Elon Musks](. Metaphors are dangerous. They have the power to distort reality and [shape our opinions](. The exclamation mark is the worst! It is “a sign not of emotional exuberance but of aridity,” [contends novelist Elena Ferrante](. Surprising discoveries Scatterplots are the best! Research shows that, of all chart types, [scatter plots]( are the ones people perceive most accurately and quickly. Waymo stress-tests its autonomous-vehicle systems with “pathological situations.” People hiding in bags, lying down on skateboards, and dressed as Elmo have all [jumped in front of its vehicles](. Two major US cities are fighting over bean sculptures. Chicago [is angry about]( Houston displaying a giant, metallic bean because it looks a lot like Chicago’s giant, metallic bean. A car vending machine in China gives free test drives to people with high credit scores. The unstaffed, cat-themed facility is a [collaboration between Alibaba and Ford](. 2001: A Space Odyssey just turned 50. Stanley Kubrick’s [seminal film]( opened doors for George Lucas, [Christopher Nolan]( and others. Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, scatter plots, and Tiangong-1 debris 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 Abdi Latif Dahir and edited by Steve Mollman. Enjoying the Daily Brief? Forward it to a friend! They can [click here to sign up.]( If you click a link to an e-commerce site and make a purchase, we may receive a small cut of the revenue, which helps support our ambitious journalism. See [here]( for more information. To unsubscribe from the Quartz Daily Brief, [click here](.