Quartz Daily Brief—Athens bailout protests, Apple’s patent woes, Alipay’s IPO plans, dress color schism
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Germany votes on the Greek debt deal. Lawmakers are expected to approve a four-month extension of Greece’s bailout plan, though at least two dozen members of the Bundestag are expected to abstain or vote against the deal.
The UN holds talks in Damascus. Special envoy Staffan de Mistura is expected to meet with Syrian officials to discuss the possibility of a humanitarian ceasefire in Aleppo. The Syrian government would suspend air bombings and rebels would be asked to suspend rocket and mortar fire for six weeks.
US GDP is revised down. Analysts expect that the US economy grew by an annualized 2% in the fourth quarter last year, below the 2.6% initially estimated. But core consumer spending is likely to remain unchanged.
While you were sleeping
Syriza’s honeymoon ended in Athens. Anti-government protesters took to the streets of Greece’s capital for the first time since the leftist party took power last month, looting cars and throwing Molotov cocktails at police. Protesters were angry at a pending deal to extend Greece’s financial bailout package with international creditors.
Apple’s patent troll struck again. One day after a jury in Tyler, Texas, ordered Apple to pay Smartflash $533 million for using its patents without permission, Smartflash sued Apple again. This time it wants damages based on sales of Apple’s newer devices. Apple was also hit with a fresh patent infringement suit from Swedish telecom giant Ericsson.
Alibaba’s payment arm is preparing for an IPO. Ant Financial, controlled by Alibaba executives but separate from the Chinese e-commerce giant, could go public in mainland China as early as 2016, according to the Wall Street Journal (paywall). The company, which owns Alibaba’s massive e-payment service Alipay, is currently worth ”tens of billions of dollars.”
India forecast 8.5% GDP growth. The finance ministry said growth in fiscal 2016 will be well above this year’s predicted 7.4%, due mostly to a new way the government calculates economic growth. Although the methodology is controversial, that would make India the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
Aerospace and airlines took flight. Airbus’ 2014 earnings before one-off items rose 54% to €4 billion ($4.5 billion), as it increased production of its A320 single-aisle plane. And British Airways parent IAG’s annual operating profit soared by 81%, bolstered by cost-cutting, low fuel prices, and strong demand for trans-Atlantic flights. IAG raised its 2015 earnings forecast by over 20%, sending shares to a record high.
Strong growth in Scandinavia. Denmark’s fourth-quarter economic output rose 1.3% from a year earlier, beating expectations thanks to higher exports, domestic consumption, and investments. Sweden’s economy rose 2.7% over the same period.
An atheist blogger was hacked to death in Bangladesh. Avijit Roy, an American of Bangladeshi origin who wrote about liberal secularism, was attacked by men with machetes who also seriously injured his wife. Roy is the second atheist blogger to be killed in Bangladesh in the past two years.
Japanese inflation missed the mark. Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.2% in January from a year earlier, below an expected 2.3% increase. Stripping out the effects of last year’s tax rise, prices rose just 0.2%, which could signal the need for further government stimulus measures this year.
Quartz obsession interlude
Jenni Avins on the historic Supreme Court case about an employer’s rejection of a job applicant wearing a hijab. In some ways, it seems that where Abercrombie & Fitch went wrong was in attempting to sidestep a potentially awkward conversation—by denying Elauf the job. The retailer’s lawyer, Shay Dvoretzky, said that asking Elauf about her headscarf would be “asking employers to treat applicants differently based on stereotypes or assumption about whether something is likely a religious practice.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
No one produces entertaining satire like the British. Americans, meanwhile, take themselves too seriously.
Solitary confinement is torture. Take it from someone who’s been there.
A quick chat is better than any cover letter. Find a way to get on the phone or meet face-to-face with hiring managers.
Fast-growing tech companies shouldn’t delay their IPOs. Staying private only gets more constraining as time goes on.
What color is this dress? The internet’s spasm of disagreement is a lesson in the subjective way we see color. (PS: The dress is blue and black.)
Surprising discoveries
President Obama wrote a thank-you to Redditors for supporting net neutrality. The users of /r/penmanshipporn would approve.
Dark matter could have wiped out the dinosaurs. That could explain the twin occurrence of meteors and volcanic eruptions.
Scientists may have found the gene responsible for conscious thought. ARHGAP11B could also be responsible for language.
A senator threw a snowball to refute climate change. “It’s very, very cold out,” argued environment committee chairman Jim Inhofe.
Snapchat has a new smut problem. The messaging app’s new payment system allows strippers to charge for virtual lap dances (paywall).
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, dress color theories, and Inhofe snowballs to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.