Trump-Comey drama, Bombardier throws IBM a bone, avocado injuries

[Quartz - qz.com]() Quartz Daily Brief sponsored by Good morning, Quartz readers! What to watch for today NATO military chiefs gather in Brussels. They’ll discuss terrorism, refugees, and ISIL, among other topics. The US [will make its case]( for allies contributing additional forces to Afghanistan, to complement its own [likely surge of troops](. The meeting precedes next week’s NATO summit, where among the heads of state will be, [for the first time]( US president Donald Trump. Europe begs the US to drop its carry-on laptop ban. The EU will [urge the US]( to refrain from unilaterally banning laptops and other electronics in cabins of flights to America from Europe. The US’s plan is reportedly tied to [Israeli intel]( that terrorists plan to work explosives into such devices. Trump apparently shared sensitive details of this [intel with Russian diplomats](. The US releases Chelsea Manning. The transgender soldier imprisoned for giving classified government information to WikiLeaks is [set for release from a military prison]( in Kansas. She has served seven years of a 35-year sentence, and was granted clemency by former president Barack Obama before he left office in January. Google puts on a show. The company’s [annual I/O developer conference]( in Silicon Valley will likely focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Its Google Assistant service is expected to take center stage, including [a possible launch on iPhones](. Sponsor content by EY There’s more to this year’s IPO landscape than SNAP. Past the hype of the latest unicorn, there are fundamental changes happening in how companies are going public—from tech trends to regulatory shifts, the road to IPO doesn’t look like it used to. Tomorrow’s EY-sponsored event offers insights from experts and influencers around what it takes to go public today. Sign up to [watch the livestream](. While you were sleeping Trump allegedly asked James Comey to drop the Michael Flynn probe. “I hope you can let this go,” Comey quoted Trump as saying in a memo he wrote after meeting with the US president in February. The memo, uncovered by the [New York Times]( (paywall), suggests Trump has tried to directly influence investigations into links between his associates—including former national security advisor Flynn—and Russia. Bombardier awarded IBM a $700 million contract. The Canadian maker of snowmobiles, business jets, and subway cars [wants Big Blue]( to streamline its IT operations and cut costs in a six-year deal spanning nearly 50 countries. It’s a welcome score for IBM, whose revenues have fallen [for 20 straight quarters](. Shanghai Pharmaceuticals eyed Germany’s Stada. The Chinese drug company said it is considering [going up against Bain and Civen]( which have made a joint bid of nearly $6 billion for Stada Arzniemittel. Stada, founded in 1895 in Dresden, has suffered recently from German insurers driving down drugs prices with bulk deals. UK taxpayers let go of Lloyds. The British government sold its last stake in the bank it [bailed out eight years ago]( for a £900 million ($1.1 billion) profit—it spent £20 billion of taxpayers’ money to rescue it. The government still owns 73% of its other bailout case, the Royal Bank of Scotland. Volvo’s done with diesel. The Swedish carmaker said it’s[too expensive to reduce nitrous oxide]( emissions, so it won’t develop any next-generation diesel engines and will invest instead in electric and hybrid cars. Geely-owned Volvo currently sells 90% of its diesel XC90 SUVs in Europe. Its first purely electric vehicle is scheduled for launch in 2019. Quartz obsession interlude Eshe Nelson on investors who love to follow the herd. “Snap reported a staggering quarterly loss [and] plummeted by more than 20%. Two days later, Snap’s share price jumped by 8%. What made investors forget about that multibillion-dollar loss so quickly? This is what—a bunch of regulatory filings came out showing hedge funds and other asset managers had bought Snap shares in the first quarter.” [Read more here](. Matters of debate An art degree may save you from automation. VC Kai-Fu Lee says that art and beauty are “[very hard to replicate with AI]( Murphy’s Law is totally misunderstood. “Everything that can go wrong will” is not pessimism, [but a call to excellence](. Pixar has lost its way. After years of unmatched creative excellence, derivative sequels [have taken over](. Quartz announcement The closest humanity's ever gotten to defining what happiness is "to all people, all the time" may be in the crowdsourced history of [the Wikipedia entry for "happiness."]( Find out what Nikhil Sonnad learned when he combed through nearly 6,000 edits to the page, and explore other stories that examine our preoccupation with happiness in [the Happiness Experiment](. Surprising discoveries A Nigerian-American comedian is an unlikely star in Japan. Ike Nwala got a job with Goldman Sachs in Tokyo to [pursue his dream](. Apple’s new $5 billion campus has a 100,000-square-foot gym, but no daycare. No wonder Silicon Valley struggles to [attract and retain women](. Korean companies are forcing employees to use English nicknames. It helps with [breaking down rigid hierarchies]( (paywall) and courting foreign business partners. CEOs are finally getting fired for ethical lapses. The numbers are still relatively small, but [they’re on the rise](. Avocados are delicious but dangerous. Doctors are warning of a surge in [“avocado hand” wounds]( (paywall). Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, CEO lashings, and dangerous avocados to hi@qz.com. You can follow us[on Twitter]( for updates throughout the day or download[our apps for iPhone]( and[Android](. Want to receive the Daily Brief at a different time? 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