US-China Trade Standoff Roils Washington, Wall Street

After China retaliated with increased tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods yesterday, the White House said it could slap a 25 percent tax on another $300 billion in Chinese imports. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 both closed down around 2.4 percent, while shares in trade-dependent companies like Apple and Boeing also dipped. Still, President Donald Trump pledged to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of next month’s G-20 summit in Japan.

Who suffers most? Analysts say businesses and consumers in both countries will take a hit, stunting economic growth for Beijing and Washington.

WhatsApp Hit With Surveillance Attack

The Facebook-owned messaging service said it has fixed a vulnerability, discovered this month, that exploited the app’s voice-call feature to remotely install spyware on the device being called. According to the Financial Times, the spyware installed was Pegasus, a tool designed by Israeli cyberintelligence firm NSO Group, which is normally used by governments to snoop on crime suspects. WhatsApp said it has notified the U.S. Department of Justice and human rights organizations of the problem.

Is your phone safe? It’s unknown how many have been compromised, but WhatsApp says all 1.5 billion users worldwide should update their app.

Read OZY’s profile of the man behind the world’s first unhackable chip.

Violence Flares in Sudan as Opposition, Military Talk

Six people are dead after clashes erupted last night between protesters and security forces in Khartoum. The transitional military council, which said it agreed on a new power structure with the opposition, blamed “outlaws” for the violence. Meanwhile, prosecutors said they charged ex-President Omar al-Bashir, ousted in a popular uprising, with the deaths of demonstrators killed during Sudan’s months of protests.

What’s next? Negotiations will continue today, when the two sides are expected to hash out details on the length of the transitional period and the make-up of the future government’s three bodies.

Jury Awards $2 Billion to Couple in Monsanto Suit

California jurors have ruled that the Bayer-owned company, which produces weed-killer Roundup, must pay a couple who claim the product caused their cancer. On top of the $2 billion in punitive damages, Alva and Alberta Pilliod are to receive $55 million in compensation after the Oakland jury found that Bayer, which maintains that its product is safe, acted with negligence.

Is other litigation pending? The company faces more than 13,400 other U.S. lawsuits, with an attorney for the Pilliods saying, “This is the beginning.”

Don’t miss OZY’s Special Briefing on the opioid industry’s Sackler family.

Also Important...

North Korea has demanded that the U.S. return a cargo ship it seized last week for allegedly violating international sanctions. Walmart is challenging Amazon by offering free one-day delivery in a plan that could serve 75 percent of the U.S. population by the end of the year. And the 72nd Cannes Film Festival opens today with Jim Jarmusch’s zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die.

#OZYfact: Six of the world’s top 30 bull riders — 1 in every 5 — are Native American. Read more on OZY.

We’re hiring! OZY is looking for a prolific sports reporter who’s comfortable creating profiles, trend stories, data-driven articles and thought-pieces. Could this be you? Check out the job description for more details … and find all our open jobs right here.

Mexico Is Grappling With Its Own Migrant Crisis

Thousands of Central American migrants made their way into Mexico in the headline-grabbing caravan last year — and now they’re hoping to stay. While President Andrés Manuel López Obrador previously opened his country to new arrivals, strain on Mexico’s immigration infrastructure has cooled that warm welcome, OZY reports. Applicants for humanitarian visas are on track to double within a year, while resources and patience are running out.

How are Mexican towns coping? Facing serious budget restrictions, some municipalities are stoking xenophobia to discourage migrants from making themselves at home.

Study: Moon More Seismically Active Than Assumed

New research on data collected by NASA’s Apollo missions reveals that moonquakes — previously thought to be caused by Earth’s gravitational pull and extreme temperature shifts — are actually powered by internal heat deep inside the moon. Experts say the constant cooling produces cliff-like features, called fault scarps, as the surface of the 4.6 billion-year-old celestial body slowly shrinks.

What does this mean for lunar exploration? Geologists warn that faultlines could complicate the construction of future settlements and research facilities on the moon’s surface.

Read this OZY op-ed about going to the moon … and beyond.

Taiwanese Men Don Skirts to Fight for Gay Marriage

Men in the island state are hitting the streets in skirts in a campaign to bust gender stereotypes and to express support for a long-awaited vote on same-sex marriage. Parliament will consider three bills Friday: One by the pro-marriage-equality government and two, described by LGBT rights activists as discriminatory, by lawmakers. Taiwan’s Supreme Court has imposed a May 24 deadline to legalize same-sex marriage.

What does the public think? Two-thirds of voters nixed gay marriage referendums last year, but approval would make Taiwan the first Asian nation to legalize such unions.

Don’t miss this OZY feature on Taiwan’s despairing millennials.

Doris Day's Legacy Celebrated After Death

Following the Hollywood star’s death yesterday at age 97, observers are reflecting on her complex legacy. Born Doris Kappelhoff in Cincinnati, she began as a dancer and singer before becoming an iconic all-American girl during her post-war film career, thanks to her elegance and vibrant energy. But Day’s conservative “virginal” image belied a life colored by tumultuous relationships and financial and professional turmoil.

How will she be remembered? Although America’s top box office draw in the early ’60s quit the business in 1968, critics say she’ll always represent the classic, near-mythical picture of womanhood from a bygone era.

Check out OZY’s Flashback on the Black actor who changed Hollywood.

Tiger Woods Faces Wrongful Death Suit in Florida

The blood alcohol level of bartender Nicholas Immesberger, 24, was more than three times the legal limit when he crashed his car and was killed in December after allegedly being over-served at The Woods, the golf pro’s restaurant. Florida law could extend liability to both the general manager and the owner — regardless of whether Woods was on the premises. Immesberger’s parents filed the wrongful death suit in Palm Beach County and are looking for more than $15,000.

Is Tiger to blame? The suit claims both he and general manager Erica Herman, Woods’ girlfriend, were aware of Immesberger’s struggle with alcohol addiction.