Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The Geneva Motor Show opens. This year, the event is expected to be conspicuously less sexed up, as automakers do away with “booth babes” promoting their cars.
The Florida House considers a bill on firearm restrictions. The Florida State Senate narrowly passed a bill yesterday that would raise the age for buying a gun from 18 to 21 and require a three-day waiting period. The House is expected to discuss the measure Tuesday morning.
All eyes are on Target. Analysts are feeling optimistic about the retailer’s fourth-quarter earnings today: It’s expected to report same-store sales growth.
While you were sleeping
The EU mulled tariffs on US steel, t-shirts, and jeans. The European Commission proposed retaliatory tariffs of 25% on certain US products after Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on EU imports. On Monday, Germany’s powerful car lobby warned Trump that taxing EU car imports would create “only losers.”
The Falcon 9 celebrated its 50th lift-off. The SpaceX rocket blasted off early this morning from Cape Canaveral, delivering a huge Hispasat communications satellite to its transfer orbit.
VW’s CEO predicted a “renaissance” for diesel cars. Matthias Mueller—the boss of the firm that brought us Dieselgate—said that he expects to soon see consumers coming back to diesel cars. It’s a strange prediction, considering the ongoing slump in Europe’s diesel sales and Germany’s recent ruling to ban them from city centers.
Lego suffered its first sales decline in 13 years. The Danish toymaker blamed tough retail markets in the US and Europe for its 8% sales drop—and 18% fall in pre-tax profit—last year.
Kobe Steel’s CEO resigned after a data-faking scandal. Hiroya Kawasaki is stepping down in the wake of the revelations last year that the Japanese company shipped products with falsified specifications to hundreds of customers around the world. The scandal dealt a huge blow to Japan’s reputation for manufacturing quality.
Quartz obsession interlude
Zheping Huang on what Xi Jinping wants with all that power. “Xi must accomplish the ‘two centennial goals’ inherited from earlier leaders. The first involves building a ‘moderately prosperous society,’ wiping out poverty and reaching a per capita GDP of $10,000 by 2021, the 100th anniversary of the party’s founding, which is almost certain to be achieved. The second and more challenging goal is to turn China into a ‘fully developed nation’ by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic. If it succeeds, China’s economy would be triple the US’s.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The Oscars showed that Hollywood is still oblivious to the zeitgeist. At a time of gender and racial awakening, Hollywood is still protecting itself from the corruption built into the system.
Biography is a reprehensible genre. It violates privacy, distorts creative achievements, and misrepresents great people.
Silicon Valley is over. Bay Area tech investors think Rust Belt cities could form a tech hub (paywall).
Surprising discoveries
“Dumpster fire” was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Defined as ”an utterly calamitous or mismanaged situation or occurrence,” the phrase was one of the 850 new entries added to the online dictionary.
Discarded chewing gum can be used to make shoe soles. A British designer is on a mission to clean up the streets and recycle used gum.
Norway is using drones to pick up rubbish. There’s a growing problem with trash being dumped in fjords (paywall).
One of the most sought after jobs for rural Chinese women is to become a mistress. Many Chinese men see having a mistress as a sign of wealth and status.
The secret to Amazon logistics is embracing chaos. The company’s vast warehouses organize their inventories randomly.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, sticky sneakers, and the real-life Wall-E to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Jill Petzinger and edited by Lianna Brinded.