Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
Mike Pompeo discusses Libya at a summit in Berlin. On Sunday, officials from the UK, France, Turkey, and several regional stakeholders, are aiming to end months of fighting between rebel forces and the UN-recognized government in Tripoli.
The Women’s March takes place for a fourth year. As the 2020 presidential election appears on the horizon, protesters across the US congregate tomorrow to re-ignite the movement that started the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The New York Times reveals which Democrat it is endorsing. Gone is the closed-door decision-making process, with the editorial board announcing its preferred candidate on Sunday, having already published discussions with contenders. In 2016, it backed Hillary Clinton.
The world’s biggest soccer game kicks off. Historic English rivals Liverpool and Manchester United, both among the global financial elite, and each owned by American sports investors, face each other on Sunday.
While you were sleeping
The US Treasury resorted to 20-year bonds. 50- or 100-year bonds were also considered by officials, as the government tries to reduce deficits that are expected to eclipse the $1 trillion mark each year this decade. The new bond will be available within six months.
China’s economic growth was its slowest for almost 30 years. The rise in GDP last year was 6.1%, its most sluggish since 1990, and down from the 6.6% recorded in 2018.
The Indian government snubbed Amazon’s founder. Despite the company’s “billion-dollar” investment in India, announced yesterday by Jeff Bezos in Delhi, prime minister Narendra Modi’s party today criticized the journalism of the Bezos-owned Washington Post.
India’s richest man got closer to dominating the country’s telecom market. A court ordered Mukesh Ambani’s corporate rivals to pay most of the historical license fees—around $13 billion—owed to the government. Vodafone India, which was hit with a $3.9 billion bill, saw its shares plunge 40%.
Fiat Chrysler and Foxconn talked about building electric cars together. The Italian American automaker might turn to the Chinese iPhone manufacturer as it attempts to catch up with competitors in the EV space. The partnership would be a 50-50 joint venture in China.
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Matters of debate
Canada shouldn’t allow Harry and Meghan to live there. It would upset the delicate balance between the country and the British crown.
Don’t blame bad algorithms for the breakdown in democracy. Instead, figure out why people are so drawn to misinformation.
Doctors over-medicate for back pain. There is usually no clear physical cause, but that doesn’t stop Americans from spending $88 billion a year to treat it.
Surprising discoveries
The FDA is approving record numbers of new drugs. It’s the natural outcome of spending decades easing the approval process for rare and hard-to-treat diseases.
AI is challenging our understanding of mass extinctions. For one thing, it shows that one of the five mass extinctions we know about might not have actually happened.
A terrible ex-partner pleaded guilty to cyberstalking. Quartz’s Justin Rohrlich reported on the case of a man whose harassment of his ex somehow landed her in jail.
Scorpions may have made landfall first. A newly-discovered fossil is thought to be the oldest land creature—and it very closely resembles the stinging arachnid.
Nike’s Vaporfly shoes are too fast. They may be banned from competition because runners are breaking so many records.
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