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Quote of the Day

Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal - E. O. Wilson

Word of the Day

Tempus Fugit - Latin for Time Flies

In the news...

Iran’s foreign minister meets with European leaders in Brussels. Mohammad Javad Zarif will talk about ways to save the Iran nuclear deal with his counterparts from the UK, France, and Germany. He spent Monday in Moscow and Sunday in Beijing discussing the same thing, following Donald Trump leaving the deal on May 8.

China’s vice-premier visits the US for five days of trade talks.President Xi Jinping’s top economic advisor, Liu He, will meet with Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin amid US tariff threats and fears of a full-blown trade war. He might offer easier access for American firms to Chinese markets, or an easing of the rules on forced technology transfers.

Funerals and more protests in Gaza. Those killed by Israeli forces in yesterday’s rallies against the US embassy opening in Jerusalem will be put to rest on the same day Palestinians mark the “Nakba,” when more than 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes in the war surrounding Israel’s creation. More protests are expected.

Ramadan begins. Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim year when observers fast from sunrise to sunset, begins on May 15 and will end on June 14 in many countries, though the dates vary slightly by location depending on the sighting of the moon.

China’s long-anticipated slowdown might finally be setting in.April data clouded the country’s economic outlook, with the pace of retail sales falling to a four-month low, and fixed-asset investment growing the slowest since 1999, while home sales also fell. One bright spot was industrial output, buoyed by the easing of pollution controls.

Gap apologized for selling a t-shirt showing an “incorrect map” of China. A brouhaha erupted after a picture of the shirt, sold in a Canadian store, was posted on Chinese social media. The map omitted Taiwan, south Tibet, and the South China Sea. The US clothing retailer promised it would set up a review process to prevent such incidents.