World leader visits, Volkwagen’s swelling scandal, lethal selfies
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Pope Francis visits the White House. The pontifex landed in Washington on Wednesday and met president Barack Obama. Francis is due for a return trip to the White House for a chat in the Oval Office before greeting a diverse (and somewhat contentious) group of guests.
Xi Jinping goes off-script. The Chinese president has convened a technology summit in Seattle, featuring US companies, China’s Internet regulator, and Alibaba boss Jack Ma. The Obama administration, which has encouraged US tech firms to speak up about the difficulties of doing business in China, was reportedly irked by the surprise meeting, which deviated from Xi’s agreed-upon schedule.
Modi goes to Ireland, and Erdogan goes to Moscow. Narendra Modi will meet with Taoiseach Enda Kenny on his way to the United States, in the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Ireland in 60 years. Meanwhile, Turkey’s president will attend the opening of a new mosque in Moscow, along with Palestine’s Mahmoud Abbas, where they are expected to talk about the war in Syria with Vladimir Putin.
Fashion Week moves from London to Milan. Six days of spring 2016 womenswear shows kick off in Milan, beginning with Gucci. The label’s buzzy new creative director, Alessandro Michele, has already given Gucci a new romantic, androgynous look and a kangaroo fur-lined loafer that is this season’s “it” shoe.
While you were sleeping
Volkswagen’s cheating car scandal got even bigger. The carmaker admitted to installing deceptive software in some 11 million cars worlwide to evade emissions standards, and said it will set aside €6.5 billion ($7.3 billion) in the current quarter to “cover the necessary service measures and other efforts to win back the trust of our customers.” The company’s shares have lost nearly a third of their value since the start of the week.
The EU approved a refugee plan that has more questions than answers. Interior ministers approved a plan to apportion 120,000 refugees among the 28 member countries. But four Eastern European nations at the heart of the crisis—Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia—voted against the measure, and it remains unclear how the EU would force them to take refugees against their will.
Goldman Sachs CEO announced he is undergoing treatment for lymphoma. Lloyd Blankfein, 61, said his cancer is “highly curable.” He will continue to lead the company as normal while he receives several months of chemotherapy
IKEA introduced ethical seafood to its restaurants. The furniture giant will now source all 23 of its seafood varieties from certified vendors vetted by the Marine Stewardship Council and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. The change will take place at its cafeterias across 47 countries, which accounted for 5% of its total revenue last year.
Bank of America’s CEO got to keep his chairman role. Brian Moynihan survived a vote to keep his dual roles, even though the bank’s decision to combine the two roles enraged shareholders last year. Some 63% of shareholder voted in favor of the measure, over the opposition of investors including California’s pension giant Calpers.
French natural gas firm Total was accused of price manipulation. The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission accused the company of making “uneconomic” losing trades in the natural gas market in order to influence index prices between 2009 and 2012. A spokesperson for Total denied any wrongdoing.
Quartz obsession interlude
Max Nisen on why no one can stop US drug companies from jacking up prices. “Allowing the government to use its massive purchasing power to negotiate with drug makers—one of the most potentially effective parts of Clinton’s proposal—has been a longtime favorite of Democrats. But it has proved pretty much impossible to make law because of the strength of the pharmaceutical lobby, which spends more to influence lawmakers than any other industry, and due to Republican opposition.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Gender-neutral pronouns are here to stay. Using “they” to stand in for the singular “he” or “she” is no grammatical crime.
Carmakers always blunder just after mastering the market… There’s a Pyrrhic quality to the auto world—once companies get on top, they get dumb.
… And Tesla is not there yet. The electric carmaker could end up as a footnote in a rival’s success story.
Stop treating Pope Francis like a politician. He’s not a progressive or a liberal, he’s a priest.
Any cyber deal between China and the US is bound to be vague and useless. But it’s still worth pursuing.
Surprising discoveries
More people have died from taking selfies than shark attacks this year. So far, no one has fatally combined the two activities.
You can now print your own pound of human flesh. The $10,000 BioBot 3D printer may one day shorten transplant waiting lists.
Even if you don’t follow German football, this is amazing: Reserve Robert Lewandowski scored five goals in nine minutes for Bayern Munich.
Most people can’t tell their toes apart. Subjects with their eyes closed couldn’t identify which ones were being prodded.
A Polish town fooled the Nazis with a fake typhus epidemic. Doctors in Rozwadów produced hundreds of false tests to scare the Germans away.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, 3D flesh, and shark selfies to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.