Brexit analysis, Singapore feud, eating lionfish

Good morning, Quartz readers!

What to watch for today

The UK treasury will publish its Brexit analysis. A long awaited report calculating the costs and benefits of the UK’s membership in the European Union is due to be released. The UK will hold a referendum on whether to leave the EU on June 23.

Syrian peace talks will resume. A second round of talks will start in Geneva as UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura has returned from a last-minute trip to Damascus and Tehran, where he was consulting with officials. In contrast to the talks concluded on March 24, the next round is expected to be “quite concrete” about a political transition process.

Alcoa reports earnings. US aluminum giant Alcoa is expected to report a third consecutive quarter of declines in earnings and revenue, although estimates of increased global aluminum demand this year might be a bright spot. Alcoa’s earnings are traditionally viewed as the opening of the US corporate earnings season.

Over the weekend

Yahoo extended a deadline to bid for its core assets. The deadline for bids for Yahoo’s core business was supposed to be today (April 11), but the company has pushed it to April 18, according to Re/Code. Verizon is said to be the main contender for Yahoo’s search, web and email assets, amid a field of 40 potential buyers.

Singapore’s premier was attacked on Facebook by his sister. The daughter of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister who died in 2015, has accused her brother, the current prime minister, of abuse of power and of trying to start a “dynasty.” The prime minister called the claims “completely untrue.” Ms. Lee made the accusations as part of a series of public Facebook posts decrying the more than 100 activities marking the anniversary of Lee Sr.’s death in Singapore last month, which she called “hero worship.”

China asked a G7 summit not to focus on maritime security. Foreign ministers of the G7 countries opened summit yesterday (April 10) in Japan to discuss anti-terrorism measures and maritime security. China, which isn’t part of the group, called on summit participants (singling out Japan), not to “hype up” concerns over security in the South China Sea, a source of rising tension in the region.

David Cameron published a summary of tax returns, triggered by the Panama Papers. The UK prime minister took the unprecedented step of publishing information on his tax returns, after his late father’s name appeared in the ‘Panama Papers’ with linkages to offshore funds. The British premier has not been accused of wrongdoing, but opposition politicians want Cameron to be questioned in parliament.

More than 100 were killed in a fire in Kerala, India. More than 100 people have died in a fire at an annual temple festival caused by illegal pyrotechnics. The building storing the fireworks caught fire, causing a massive explosion, local police said. Some 300 people were also injured in the incident.

Quartz obsession interlude

Kevin Delaney on the price of the world becoming less open. “The benefits of more open borders are significant when you consider the reduction of poverty in countries like Vietnam and China. If managed properly, the free movement of goods should be positive even for high-wage nations, making them more efficient and richer. And research suggests that immigrants provide net benefits to the economies of those welcoming them.” Read more here.

Matters of debate

We work so hard because jobs now provide our identity, community and purpose. And besides, life off the treadmill isn’t as fun as it once was.

Secret tax havens threaten the global financial system. Unless governments start to seriously sanction those who misbehave, the problem will not be resolved, argues Thomas Piketty.

Sanders supporters don’t care that the Senator’s details are fuzzy. His campaign is rooted in a narrative of protest, and Clinton will have to reveal her own inner protester to win over his fans.

Surprising discoveries

There’s an ecological push to put lionfish on the menu. The invasive species causes environmental havoc, and eating them could be the best way to control the threat.

Gullible employees have wired $2.3 billion of company funds to criminals. More than 17,000 victims have fallen victims to scams such as an apparent email from the CEO asking for a immediate and secret wire.

Cuckolded fathers are far less common than our cultural obsession suggests. Genetic studies suggest it’s relatively rare for a man to raise a child based on the mistaken belief that he’s the biological father.

Prisoners studying neuroscience are less distracted than Cornell students. When two Cornell instructors took their course to a prison, they found inmates were far more likely to read ahead than their university students.

Denmark’s intelligence services are looking for hackers who can attack hostile networks. But they want to train them, as part of a “hacker academy,” so that the government can protect against cyber threats.

A breed of super-fast spider can snap its jaws shut in a tenth of a second. The ”trap jaw” movement is also very strong - there’s more power output from the spider’s jaws than its muscles.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has discovered he’s the illegitimate son of Sir Winston Churchill’s private secretary. A DNA test has revealed that his father was not the man once briefly married to The Most Reverend Justin Welby’s mother, as the family previously believed.

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