Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The Bank of England marks a dubious milestone. The UK’s central bank is expected to keep its benchmark rate at 0.5%, which means it has gone seven straight years without doing much of anything. Contrast that with the South African central bank, which is expected to boost rates to 7% today.
EU and Turkey return to the table. In a fresh round of talks, the EU wants Turkey to confirm it will take back all migrants arriving in Greece from Turkey, but it must first meet a series of conditions before it gets the billions in aid and visa-free EU travel for its citizens that it’s demanding.
Adobe posts results. The tech company is expected to post a major quarterly revenue increase thanks to the success of its cloud-computing business, with analysts forecasting a 20% gain to about $1.34 billion.
While you were sleeping
The US issued strong sanctions against North Korea. In the wake of Pyongyang’s recent missile tests, the US imposed harsh trade restrictions, including blacklisting any other countries or individuals doing business with North Korea, which will hurt North Korea’s trade with China and Myanmar.
Lufthansa benefited from low fuel prices. The German flag carrier a 55% reported an increase in year-on-year operating profit to €1.8 billion ($2 billion), despite a fourth-quarter net loss of $56 million (paywall). The airline survived battles with staff, low-cost competitors, and the Eurowings crash in 2015.
A Kurdish militant group took credit for the Ankara bombing. TAK, linked with the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, said the March 13 attack in the Turkish capital that killed 37 people was a response to military operations by the Turkish military in the south-east of Turkey. Germany has closed its embassy in Ankara and a school after being warned of another attack.
Brazil protested the cabinet appointment of its ex-president. Thousands took to the streets demanding the resignation of president Dilma Rousseff after the prosecutor in the corruption probe against former leader Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva released a tapes of phone calls between Lula and the president.
Shell parted ways with Saudi Aramco after 18 years. The Anglo-Dutch company will break up the oil-refining joint venture Motiva, keeping two Gulf Coast refineries, while Saudi Aramco gets the Port Arthur refinery in Texas. Shell is preparing to sell off $30 billion worth of assets; Aramco is getting set for an IPO.
Quartz obsession interlude
Soraya Chomaly on the implications of leaving women out of technological design. “Games, virtual assistants and health trackers may seem trivial, but they reflect the dominant model not just for what we build, technically, but how we know and understand the world; how we frame problems and find solutions.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Donald Trump is a threat to the global economy. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated his potential presidency as one of the top 10 risks to the world.
The only effective weapon against terror is empathy. That means caring about all victims equally.
A cashless society has a lot of benefits, but one massive drawback. The government controls our wallets.
Surprising discoveries
A punk scion is setting $7 million worth of memorabilia on fire. Vivienne Westwood’s son is protesting cultural appropriation by mainstream figures like Queen Elizabeth.
Lush likes to fund pseudo-anarchist leftist groups. The British cosmetics firm commits millions to direct political action.
Our brains have neurons solely devoted to music. The specialized neural circuits only light up when exposed to melody and rhythm.
Americans are ordering Egg McMuffins at lunch and dinner. All-day breakfast is the gift that keeps on giving for McDonald’s.
Russian authorities are investigating a Calvin Klein ad for “gay propaganda.” The commercial shows two men lying on a pink bed.
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