What to watch for today and over the weekend
The Chinese government releases key data. Retail sales and industrial production figures will come out, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan will discuss financial reform, and three financial watchdogs will hold briefings Saturday, making it a packed day for economy watchers.
Google’s AI tries to topple the world Go champion. Lee Se-Dol lost the first two games in the best-of-five contest, putting the DeepMind software on the verge of conquering one of the last board games where humans are still on top. The matches are at 1pm Korea time (4am GMT) on Saturday and Sunday.
Ben Carson could endorse Donald Trump. Having dropped out of the Republican presidential nomination, the retired neurosurgeon now intends to endorse Trump, reported the Washington Post. During the just-finished debate in Miami, Trump also said Carson would endorse him in the morning.
While you were sleeping
Obama and Trudeau bonded. The two leaders discussed progressive politics, a joint climate-change measure, and hockey in the first official visit by a Canadian prime minister to the US in almost 20 years. By the time of the state dinner, bromance was in the air.
Republicans debated in Miami. Presidential candidates Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich faced off in Miami in the last debate before major contests next week in Florida and Ohio. It was the their most subdued and substantive debate yet.
Apple tried to drum up excitement. The company announced an event on March 21. It’s expected to unveil a smaller iPhone and updated iPad. That will be a welcome distraction from its slowing phone sales and fight with the FBI.
Brazil raised $1.5 billion in a surprise bond sale. The sale came amid a broader rally (paywall) in emerging market assets, and was the first time the country had tapped global markets since 2014. Turkey, Argentina, and Russia also plan to return to the market as investors regain their appetite for risk assets.
Quartz obsession interlude
Alison Griswold on Instacart’s shaky attempt to become the Uber for groceries. “Like many of its Silicon Valley peers, Instacart followed in Uber’s footsteps by betting big on independent contractors and on-demand services. While the ‘Uber-for-X’ model may seem simple, it turns out not to be replicated so easily.” Read more here.
Quartz markets haiku
Mario Draghi’s
Helicopter warming up
Matters of debate
Calling someone a Neanderthal isn’t really insulting. Neanderthals were actually quite smart.
It’s time to break up the Republican party. “True” conservatives need to break away from Trump supporters and build something new.
Frequently changing passwords makes them less safe. The more often people are asked to create new passwords, the lazier they get.
Surprising discoveries
Turkey’s first lady thinks harems were good for women. She said the Ottoman sultans’ harems “prepared women for life.”
A Brazilian man has earned a penguin’s devotion. “Dindim” swims 5,000 miles every year to reunite with the man who rescued him.
There’s an easy way to break into fingerprint-locked smartphones. Copies made on inkjet printers will do the trick.
Someone snuck a baby onto a plane in a carry-on bag. The adult and infant were traveling from Istanbul to Paris on Air France.
Hamas burned 15 tons of Snickers bars in Gaza. That’s one way of dealing with a product recall.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, penguin buddies, and flaming candy bars to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.