Quartz Daily Brief—Netanyahu’s Iran speech, Google goes cellular, China’s monetary predicament, Buffett’s child-like diet
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Binyamin Netanyahu addresses the US Congress. The Israeli prime minister gives a highly polarizing speech at the invitation of Republicans, arguing that a nuclear deal with Iran must not happen. Support for Netanyahu among US citizens has been going up.
Leaders discuss finishing off Ebola. Officials from Europe, Africa, and aid agencies will meet to discuss the ebbing epidemic—though there’s a worrying resurgence in Sierra Leone).
Italy contemplates its high-speed future. The government is likely approve a plan to inject €6 billion ($6.7 billion) into replacing copper lines with fiber-optic cables, to create a broadband network that will reach 85% of the country’s population in five years.
Tencent trials an Android remix. One of China’s biggest internet companies will launch a beta test of its new mobile operating system (paywall), Tencent OS. The software is based on Google’s Android, and will be a challenger to Alibaba’s own rarely-used OS.
While you were sleeping
Barack Obama called for a halt to Iranian nuclear activity. The US president told Reuters that Iran must agree to verifiably halt sensitive nuclear activity for 10 years if it wants to have western sanctions removed. The US goal is to ensure ”there’s at least a year between us seeing them try to get a nuclear weapon and them actually being able to obtain one,” he said.
South Korean inflation fell to a more-than 15-year low. Consumer prices rose only 0.5% in February from a year earlier, falling short of an expected 0.7% rise. Low fuel prices and weak consumer demand prompted speculation that the central bank may roll out new stimulus measures at its Mar. 12 meeting.
Sharp is raising funds to combat poor sales. The Japanese electronics manufacturer is seeking assistance from its biggest lenders on the back of poorer-than-expected smartphone sales, according to Reuters. Shares fell almost 10% in morning trading, and Sharp said it would announce a new business plan in May (paywall).
Petrobras expanded its asset sale. The Brazilian state-controlled oil giant will sell $13.7 billion of assets in the next two years, up from its previous plan to sell off between $5 billion and $11 billion by 2018. The decision is an attempt to free up cash and cut debt, as the company struggles with limited access to overseas debt markets while it deals with a corruption scandal.
Google definitely wants to be a cellular provider. The internet giant said it will lease capacity from existing US operators and allow users to hop between cellular service and WiFi. The service is due to launch in “the coming months.”
Quartz obsession interlude
Gwynn Guilford on China’s latest monetary predicament. “For decades, China has been the global epicenter of cash inflows, thanks to its huge trade surplus and surging foreign investment. No longer. Rapidly slowing inflation is making it harder and harder for Chinese companies to pay down their huge pile of debts. That disinflation is getting creepily close to deflation, when prices start falling. That’s pushing China closer and closer to a liquidity trap.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Internet friends are real friends. It’s time to stop snickering at digital-only relationships.
Drones will revolutionize Africa. ”Flying donkeys” will be a leap-frog technology similar to mobile phones.
Is Narendra Modi’s budget a triumph that recognizes the need for infrastructure investment? Or a failure that leaves an array of important problems unsolved?
China needs to start thinking about quantitative easing. The central bank needs to take risks to carry out the biggest debt restructuring ever.
American democracy is doomed. The presidential system of governance may be to blame.
Surprising discoveries
Medical marijuana will result in stoned rabbits. That’s what a drug enforcement official argued—unsuccessfully—to the Utah legislature.
“Buy-and-hold” investing really works. A fund that hasn’t changed its stock picks since 1935 is outperforming its peers.
Earth has another moon. The near-Earth asteroid 3753 Cruithne completes one horseshoe orbit around us every 800 years.
Warren Buffett eats like a six-year-old. He drinks five cans of Coca-Cola a day and has ice cream for breakfast.
Beer was banned in Iceland until 1989. The country didn’t want to be like its hedonistic neighbors in Denmark.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, Buffett diets, and super-stoned bunnies to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.