What to watch for today
US jobs emerge from winter. The ADP non-farm payroll survey is expected to show 195,000 new jobs, which would allow economists to blame February’s poor reading of 139,000 on a particularly brutal winter. The ADP figures will serve as a preview for Friday’s official jobs report.
Striking pilots ground Lufthansa. Hundreds of thousands of passengers could be affected as a three-day strike by Lufthansa pilots begins. Some 3,800 flights have already been cancelled.
Amazon plugs into your TV. The company is set to unveil a streaming device that will let viewers watch Amazon content on their big screens. Rather than another set-top box like Apple TV, rumor-mongers expect an Android-powered dongle that would double as a games console.
While you were sleeping
China bought into Big Agriculture. State-owned grain trader COFCO a consortium of private equity funds agreed to pay $1.5 billion for a 51% stake in Noble Group’s grain sourcing and trading units.
Japan’s inflation target looks shaky. Almost 70% of respondents surveyed by the Bank of Japan plan to cut back on spending as a result of the rise in sales tax that took effect April 1. Companies in Japan also said they believe consumer prices will only be 1.5% higher this time next year, casting doubt on the central bank’s 2% target.
Brits prepared for bad air. Local emissions, airborne pollutants from Europe, and dust from the Sahara will create unhealthy air quality levels in eastern parts of the country.
Marks and Spencer goes global. The British retailer will make Paris its largest market outside of the UK by opening 20 food-only stores there, part of a 250-store global roll-out. M&S has more upscale appeal abroad than at home, where it is a mid-market brand.
Australia lost out to Asia. Cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris will close one Australian production plant and transfer capacity to South Korea, citing restricted export opportunities. Separately, BP will cease production at one of its Australian refineries by 2015, due to competition from larger competitors in Asia.
Virtu Financial delayed its IPO. Michael Lewis’s critical examination of the industry spurred the high-frequency trading firm to push its IPO marketing plans back by several weeks.
Quartz obsession interlude
Gwynn Guilford on how climate change will mean more jellyfish—and less sushi. “Since fish are lousy at adapting to hotter water, they simply move to where it’s cooler. This, says the IPCC report, will hurt commercial fishing in a big way. As fishing populations in the equatorial areas disappear, more fish and marine invertebrates will be pushed toward the poles. That means fishing fleets will have to travel farther, driving up costs. And some species won’t survive these strange new habitats.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Sleep deprivation kills start-ups: A wide-spread lack of sleep is responsible for bad ideas and poor decision-making in the tech industry .
Narenda Modi isn’t necessarily bad for India. The prime ministerial candidate could deliver better economic policies, and fears of an ethnic right-wing takeover are probably overblown.
Sheryl Sandberg could be heading back to politics. She’s sold more than half her Facebook shares since the company went public in 2012.
“Stop-and-frisk” is a tax on African-Americans. If cops applied it more evenly, white people would quickly realize how intolerable it is.
Venezuela is like the old lady who swallowed a fly. The country’s unstoppable attempts to boost its economy are just making things worse.
Surprising discoveries
Gmail is 10 years old. It almost didn’t happen at all.
A town with no running water has some of the world’s fastest internet service. It’s in Earth’s northernmost human dwelling place (paywall), in Norway.
US healthcare workers tend to be less healthy. They also have an unusually high risk of obesity.
Comparing apples and oranges is surprisingly fruitful. Take a look at these juicy trend lines.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, pre-Gmail nostalgia, and apple-orange comparisons to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.