What to watch for today
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.
Japan’s energy conundrum. Japan’s March trade balance should show whether continued reliance on energy imports is still undermining some of the benefits of the weak yen engineered by Abenomics.
Netflix reports quarterly earnings. The streaming-video company’s shares surged last quarter when it reported huge subscriber growth. It is due to offer an update on the first three months of the year after the close of US trading.
While you were sleeping
Shooting in eastern Ukraine. A firefight near the city of Slovyansk left at least three dead. It was apparently the first clash since an international agreement to de-escalate tensions was reached last week.
Korean ferry death toll rises. Divers recovered more bodies, as the confirmed number of deaths from Korea’s Sewol ferry disaster rose to 50. About 250 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
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 better 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
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 metronomes to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.