Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Australia’s prime minister lands in China with a big entourage. Malcolm Turnbull and a 1,000-strong contingent of Australian business leaders are flying to Beijing to discuss trade opportunities with Chinese officials. Turnbull disagrees with plenty of Beijing’s policies, but Oz’s economy needs to cultivate China’s growing consumer class.
China braces for a slowing economy. Analysts expect first-quarter GDP growth of 6.7%, which would be the lowest level since 2009. The IMF just raised China’s growth target, but still expects only 6.5% growth for the full year.
The Bank of England holds steady, yet again. Ahead of a June referendum on whether the UK should stay in the EU, the central bank is expected to hold off on changes to its benchmark interest rate, which hasn’t budged since 2009.
While you were sleeping
US health regulators proposed a ban on the controversial health startup Theranos. The formerly high-flying company has allegedly failed to fix major flaws at its laboratory. Officials want to revoke Theranos’s license to conduct blood tests and ban CEO Elizabeth Holmes from the industry for two years.
Five major US banks failed to provide a “living will.” Banks that are “too big to fail” are required to explain how they would enter bankruptcy, but regulators warned their plans were “not credible” or “would not facilitate an orderly resolution.” They have until Oct. 1 to shape up.
It’s poaching season in Silicon Valley. GoPro snagged veteran Apple designer Danny Coster, part of the close-knit team that developed the iPhone and Apple Watch under Jonny Ive. And Facebook hired Google’s Regina Dugan to head up a new research and development group focused on hardware.
A brain chip helped a paralyzed man move his arm again. Equipped with a brain-computer interface and an electrical cuff, Ian Burkhart was able to translate his thoughts into movement of his hands and fingers. The breakthrough technology essentially takes over for a damaged spinal cord.
Quartz markets haiku
China stocking up
For another stimulus?
Stocks climb to year’s high
Quartz obsession interlude
Mike Murphy on the groundbreaking sport of drone racing. “What we may be witnessing is the birth of the first new sport of the internet age: A sport that isn’t bound by time or collective experience, but instead a sport that is atomized and doled out in digital chunks, like so many Snapchats, Instagrams, Facebook links and tweets before them.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Athleisure is stretched to its limits. As cheaper retailers expand in the market, Lululemon and Under Armour’s great run may be coming to an end.
Facebook’s Internet.org has a noble goal and a fatal flaw. It threatens innovation and condemns the poor to a walled garden.
Is polygamy the next gay marriage? Courts may soon be forced to decide whether you can marry more than one person.
Surprising discoveries
A New Zealand octopus escaped from the national aquarium. Is this the opening shot of a cephalopod uprising?
Being married can help cancer patients live longer. White men benefit the most from matrimony.
A Russian jet buzzed a US destroyer like a scene out of “Top Gun.” The Russians were flexing their muscles in front of the Americans and Poles onboard.
Obama gets to watch “Game of Thrones” before everyone else. Valar morghulis, but being commander-in-chief has its privileges.
Outlandish “service animals” are at an all-time high. More than 24,000 were registered in the US last year, including “helper turkeys” and “support pigs.”
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