What to watch for today
Toshiba tries to get past a massive accounting scandal. The Japanese tech giant is due to unveil a new strategy, but that’s likely to be overshadowed by a new US fraud investigation. The company announced a $5.9 billion sale of its medical unit on Thursday, and is reportedly considering a writedown on its nuclear power unit.
A new crew heads to the International Space Station. Launching from Kazakhstan, American Jeffrey Williams and Russians Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka will embark on a nine-minute, 17,500 mph (28,000 kph) ride into orbit. Williams will surpass Scott Kelly’s US spaceflight record during his six-month mission.
Tiffany & Co struggles with a strong US dollar. The jeweler is highly dependent on foreign tourists spending euros and yen, which will hurt its fourth-quarter results.
The EU tries to sell Turkey on a migrant deal. Leaders of 28 EU nations meet with Turkey’s prime minister in hopes he will agree that all migrants arriving in Greece be returned to Turkey. In return, the EU has pledged to take Syrian migrants directly from Turkey, and fast-track Turkey’s EU membership.
While you were sleeping
Alphabet is reportedly selling Boston Dynamics. The humanoid robot maker has been put up for sale after Google’s parent company concluded it won’t have a market-ready product for many years, according to Bloomberg. Executives were also concerned that the robots were seen as “terrifying” and “ready to take humans’ jobs.”
US stocks finally got out of the red…briefly. The S&P 500 barely inched into positive territory for the first time in 2016, on investor optimism about the Fed’s decision to keep interest rates low. Alas, the blue-chip index couldn’t hold its scant gains through the close of trading.
Brazil’s political crisis deepened. Soon after leaked wiretaps revealed that Dilma Rousseff planned to appoint former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to her cabinet to shield her from prosecution, a court judge blocked the upcoming ascension. Meanwhile, protests continue throughout the country and Brazilian stocks are surging as investors hope Rousseff will resign.
North Korea fired another ballistic missile. Launched from north of Pyongyang, the missile traveled 800km eastward, meaning it crossed most of the Sea of Japan. The demonstration comes right after the US issued strong sanctions against North Korea.
Trump and Putin are no longer buddies. The Kremlin is not happy about the Republican frontrunner’s attack ad against Hillary Clinton, which describes the Russian president and a terrorist as America’s “toughest opponents.” The ad is a departure from the mutual admiration the two men expressed a few months ago.
Quartz obsession interlude
Allison Schrager on misconceptions about the US prescription drug crisis. “A common explanation for the epidemic is economic conditions—the hollowing out of the middle class and economic malaise has left white Americans so distressed they are turning to opioids, and Donald Trump. But, in both cases, that argument is too simplistic to explain a deeper issue.” Read more here.
Quartz markets haiku
With lungs like balloons
We kick from the murky depths
And strain for the light
Matters of debate
America’s weed boom is only for white people. Minorities who bore the brunt of the “war on drugs” are missing out on the growing legal marijuana industry.
Crying at work should not be shameful. It’s yet another area where women are stigmatized.
Robots need their own pronouns. As science fiction becomes reality, we should add “rhe” or “rer” to our vocabulary.
Surprising discoveries
A newly discovered Viking crucifix could reshape Denmark’s history. It suggests Christianity there is much older than experts thought.
There’s an algorithm that knows if you are tweeting drunk. Keep that in mind the next time you reach for your phone.
North Korea built a massive weapons factory in Namibia. Pyongyang has a string of military investment projects across sub-Saharan Africa.
The “best book written in the Irish language” is finally available in English. It has scared off translators for 70 years.
Scientists uncovered a pregnant T. rex. It had a specialized organ related to egg-laying that’s also found in modern-day birds.
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