Quartz Daily Brief—BP’s Rosneft deal, India’s Ambassador, elections galore, Facebook religion
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
“The chocolate king” becomes Ukraine’s new president. Exit polls showed Petro Poroshenko, the chocolate tycoon, taking 55% of the vote in Ukraine’s general election, meaning there won’t have to be a run-off next month. Violence caused by pro-Russian separatists prevented many in eastern Ukraine from voting, though.
Egyptians head to the polls. The election is former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s to lose, as he faces just one opponent, the leftist veteran dissident Hamdeen Sabbahi. Sisi vows to crack down further on the Muslim Brotherhood—already a banned organization in Egypt—after ousting its leader Mohamed Morsi last year.
India’s new prime minister is inaugurated. Narendra Modi will be sworn in after his Bharatiya Janata Party’s landslide election win. Pakistan confirmed its prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, will attend the ceremony, which will be a first in the history of the two states.
Pfizer’s bid for AstraZeneca fizzles out. Pfizer is expected to walk away from AstraZeneca when it reaches the deadline to “put up or shut up” at 5pm UK time. The Anglo-Swiss drugs company rejected four offers from the US pharma giant, and Pfizer said it can’t go above its most recent £55-a-share informal offer.
Over the weekend
Euroskeptics took over the EU. European voters embraced the extremes on both the right and the left, voting in a record number of MEPs opposed to the EU project. Marine Le Pen’s National Front won the French vote, while the UK Independence Party is expected to have taken the British vote.
BP signed on Russia’s dotted line. The UK-based energy firm agreed to look for shale oil in Russia with Russia’s state-owned Rosneft, in which it owns a 19.7% stake. The deal was agreed at the St Petersburg International Economic forum, which several major companies and corporate leaders boycotted.
A shooting rampage in Santa Barbara. Elliot Rodger, 22, killed six people and himself after posting a video on YouTube in which he talked about getting revenge on all the women who had rejected his sexual advances. Rodger reportedly suffered from mental health problems but bought his guns legally.
Sino-American spy wars escalated. China told its nationalized companies to stop using US-based consulting firms, such as BCG and McKinsey, because they could be spies for the US government (paywall). The order comes days after the US charged five Chinese military officers with cyber espionage.
India slammed the brakes on a historic car. Hindustan Motors has suspended operations at its plant near Kolkata due to shortage of funds, lack of demand and low productivity. The Ambassador, the first car to be made in India and once the only vehicle driven by government officials, has been in production since 1957.
The Pope flew east. Pope Francis called the crisis in the Middle East “increasingly unacceptable” during a visit to the region. In an unprecedented move, he also invited Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli president Shimon Peres to join him in Rome to pray for peace.
Quartz obsession interlude
Steve LeVine on what Ukraine’s election means. “The main message of today’s presidential election in Ukraine is that war with Russia is off the table—at least for now. Russia and Ukrainian separatists tried hard to prevent the vote—and succeeded in swaths of eastern Ukraine—but now that the election has gone ahead, they will turn to other tactics to press their views.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The world needs a new women’s revolution. We are living in a neopatriarchy, which “tolerates girls being astronauts or bankers, but resists genuine reform of the sexual division of labour.”
Did Thomas Piketty’s ground-breaking book on inequality get it wrong? The data aren’t reliable, says the FT’s Chris Giles. Giles doesn’t understand the data, says economist Mike Konzcal.
College degrees are less meaningful than ever. The job market is oversupplied with graduates, who are taking low-paying jobs they could do with a high school diploma.
In the Middle East, democracy does not lead to liberalism. In Egypt, for example, the majority supports sharia law (paywall).
Royal Caribbean wants to make cruisers out of the Chinese. Although most cruise ship passengers are America, its newest ship will dock in Shanghai.
Parents should read the Santa Barbara murderer’s memoir. Elliot Rodger grew up lonely and insecure like millions of other kids.
Surprising discoveries
Doing better than you promised makes no impression on people. They care only if you let them down.
Someone is trying to start the religion of Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg is the main god, and Sheryl Sandberg is his Minerva.
Today’s generation is the best-behaved group of teens ever. Drug use, teen pregnancies and unprotected sex are all on the decline.
Britain wants its kids to study less American literature and more British. To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men are coming off the syllabus.
“LOL” is already 25 years old. ”Laughing out loud,” that is. “Lots of love” is even older.
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