Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Tesla unveils its latest model. The Model 3 is a $35,000 sedan that will go at least 200 miles on a single charge. It’s the mass-market electric car that Elon Musk has always promised—and he has essentially bet the company on its success.
Barack Obama hosts his fourth and final nuclear summit. Officials from 56 countries descend on Washington to talk about security issues and the threat of nuclear terrorism. Russian president Vladimir Putin is boycotting the summit in protest of what he sees as Western powers dictating nuclear arms reduction terms. The US president has only one private meeting scheduled, with Chinese president Xi Jinping.
French air-traffic controllers are on strike again. A fifth of the flights from Paris Orly airport and a third of flights from Marseille are set to be cancelled. Paris Charles de Gaulle airport should be unaffected.
While you were sleeping
TUI sales got a boost from terrorism fears. The world’s largest travel company said revenue from its summer programme is up 3% year-on-year and selling prices up 1% thanks to Europeans choosing to holiday closer to home. TUI is confident it will meet its target of growing core earnings by at least 10% this year.
Donald Trump flip-flopped on punishments for illegal abortions. The Republican presidential candidate said during a MSNBC town hall that if abortion were illegal, women who underwent one should get “some form of punishment.” He later retracted his statement (paywall).
The Agricultural Bank of China adds to China fears. The country’s third-largest lender reported a 0.6% rise in 2015 profit to a net income of 180.6 billion yuan ($27.9 billion) as its earnings were dragged down by bad loans. After years of growth, the “Big Four” state-run banks are seeing flat-to-declining profits and high levels of non-performing debt.
Libya’s new government arrived in Tripoli. The new unity government, lead by president designate Fayez Sarraj, arrived in the capital by boat after being blocked from flying in by hardline militias. The UN-backed Presidential Council will try to take control and reconcile a country ravaged by five years of conflict.
The UK’s economic mettle and the economics of metal. The British economy grew by 0.6% in the final quarter of last year, more than the 0.5% initially estimated. Meanwhile, prime minister David Cameron seemed to rule out nationalization of the country’s steel industry after Tata Steel decided to sell off its plants in the country.
Baosteel announced a huge rise in output. China’s biggest steelmaker expects to produce 20% more steel—a total of 27.1 million tonnes—in 2016, despite Beijing’s plan to reduce its bloated steel industry. India’s Tata Steel cited China flooding the market with cheap steel as a key reason why it is pulling out of the British steel industry.
Quartz obsession interlude
Akshat Rathi on the science behind autonomous robots that can repair their own circuits. “Such tiny repairs could help modern electronics have a longer shelf life, but these proof-of-concept, autonomous nanobots have bigger potential. They could one day soon be used for self-healing materials and delivering drugs inside the human body.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The US could have a 10-second tax return. An automated return may sound like a fantasy, but plenty of countries do it.
Political filters on dating apps are a dangerous development. But an exception may be needed for Donald Trump supporters.
Medical marijuana in the US should be governed by science, not politics. Under federal law, it’s illegal for doctors to prescribe it.
Surprising discoveries
Microsoft’s racist AI bot made a bizarre reappearance. “Tay,” deactivated last week, briefly reappeared to tweet about smoking weed.
Mexico City ordered all cars off the road for one day a week. It is the latest big city to use the strategy to tackle air pollution.
Silicon Valley has its own pro soccer team. The Deltas use VR to train their athletes and matching algorithms to pick your seat.
You’re more likely to yawn around people you know. The contagiousness of yawning is a measure of empathy.
Tattooed tourists may soon be allowed into Japanese spas. The tourism association is proposing stickers that people can put over their tattoos so as not to offend locals.
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