Quartz Daily Brief—Boston marathon, shooting in Ukraine, Korea’s ferry death toll, criminal weed drones
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
More market volatility? Analysts still believe that a significant correction is on its way for major stock indexes, despite a rebound in the markets at the end of last week. The major indexes have not had a drop of over 10% since late 2011, twice as long as is normal.
Netflix reports quarterly earnings. The streaming video company’s shares surged last quarter when it reported huge subscriber growth. The company will offer an update on the first three months of the year after the close of US trading.
Boston runs its marathon. The world’s oldest marathon will be run amid tightened security a year after a bombing at the finish line killed three and injured 264 others.
A rise in China and India tensions. India may call off an annual “youth delegation” trip to China, after China asked that students from Arunachal Pradesh, a northeastern Indian state that shares a disputed border with China, be excluded from the trip.
Over the weekend
Shooting in eastern Ukraine. A shootout at a checkpoint manned by pro-Russian insurgents near the city of Slovyansk left at least three dead. It was apparently the first clash since an international agreement to reduce tensions was reached last week.
Japan’s energy conundrum. Japan recorded a trade deficit in March of 1.4 trillion yen ($14 billion), as continued reliance on energy imports continues to undermine some of the benefits of the weak yen engineered by Abenomics. The figure was worsened by a a sharp fall in the growth of exports.
China opened distressed assets to international investors. A $1 billion distressed asset fund for international investors is in the works, as growth slows and property prices weaken.
Barclays is the latest to leave commodities. The bank is planning to exit trading (paywall) in much of the the metals, agriculture, and energy markets, the FT reported. Increased regulation and lower revenues have made the sectors unfavorable.
Korean ferry death toll rises. Divers recovered more bodies and the confirmed death toll rose to 64. About 240 people are still missing after the ship sunk Wednesday near Korea’s southern coast. The captain, who survived, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of negligence.
A massive mass in Rome. Pope Francis pled for peace in Ukraine and Syria as the head of the world’s largest Christian denomination celebrated Easter mass in Rome.
Quartz obsession interlude
Lily Kuo on how strikes at Chinese shoe manufacturing plants underscore a major shift in social policy. “For the past week, as many as 30,000 workers have been on strike, disrupting work at plants in southern China that make shoes for Nike, Adidas, and Puma. Their grievances are the same as those of many workers across the country: they’ve spent decades working for manufacturing plants and now that they want to retire, they don’t have enough money.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The far right is not just a symptom of patriarchy. Marine Le Pen, among others, is a reminder that women don’t make “kinder and gentler” leaders.
Even with mass youth unemployment, millennials shouldn’t complain. Being in your 20s is still pretty terrific, even in David Cameron’s Britain.
We’re getting fat because we’re not getting enough protein. We overeat because our bodies are trying to maintain a target level of protein intake.
Russia’s diplomats are smarter than America’s. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov—fluent in English, Sinhalese, Dhiveli and French—is a great example.
Top executives shouldn’t write books. They should concentrate on running their companies. After all, that’s what shareholders are paying them to do.
Surprising discoveries
VC’s invest in less than 1% of the companies they see. 10 in every 1,200 startups will be invested in, on average.
Drones are spying on weed farms. So criminals can rob them.
A ticking package shut down part of Pittsburgh. It was a metronome.
An Indian businessman swallowed 12 bars of gold. It was, apparently, a poorly conceived attempt to elude import duties India placed on the precious metal.
Lime does pay. Extortion and violence among Mexico’s criminal cartels are help driving the price of the citrus fruit higher.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, protein supplements, and silent metronomes to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.