Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The European Parliament debates the EU-Turkey migrant deal. Under the deal, struck last month, Turkey would take back migrants who arrive in Greece in return for aid money and visa-free travel in the EU for its citizens. The deal hinges upon that last bit, Turkey insists, but the EU’s lawmaking body could veto it.
Amazon looks to the cloud for growth. The online behemoth is expected to post slightly higher revenue for its retail business, while Amazon Web Services could grow by 50% or more. As is the norm for Amazon, analysts think its profit will be relatively modest.
The NFL draft. Round one of American football’s annual draft of college football stars takes place in Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. The newly revived Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles have the first and second picks, respectively.
While you were sleeping
Volkswagen reported a record loss for 2015. The VW car brand’s operating loss of €4.1 billion ($4.7 billion) for 2015 was the biggest annual loss in its 79-year history, after setting aside €16.2 billion in charges following the emissions-rigging scandal. VW still found it within itself to pay the 12 current and former members of its management board €63 million.
Japan’s central bank surprisingly held its course. The Bank of Japan held off on more stimulus and cut its inflation and growth targets. That surprised many economists who thought the strengthening yen would prompt some action, but the bank wants more time to assess the impact of the negative interest rates introduced earlier this year.
Martin Sorrell defended his mammoth salary. After global ad giant WPP reported a 5% jump in quarterly revenues from the same period last year, to $4.5 billion, the chief executive said his $100-million pay package was based on the group’s performance.
The Galaxy S7 boosted Samsung’s bottom line. The South Korean company reported a 14% jump in profits and net income of $4.56 billion in the first quarter, thanks to the early release of its new flagship phone. It came as the global smartphone market shrank annually for the first time ever in the first quarter of this year.
Sanofi offered $9.3 billion in cash for Medivation. The French pharma company’s takeover offer of the San Francisco-based biotech firm is another step in its push to expand its cancer-treatment business and shore up declining sales of its main product, the Lantus diabetes drug.
Quartz obsession interlude
Steve LeVine on Donald Trump’s big foreign policy moment. “His speech was a polished, re-packaged version of his familiar threats and bombast. But they were delivered with uncharacteristic presidential trappings—read from a teleprompter at a non-Trump hotel in Washington, DC.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Trade with China is making US politics insane. Lost manufacturing jobs have pushed voters to ideological extremes.
What online misogynists really want is silence. Men who send rape and death threats to women online don’t just disagree with them, they want them to disappear.
The Theranos debacle isn’t Silicon Valley’s fault. Experienced investors noticed many red flags (paywall) at the health care startup.
Surprising discoveries
The bison is set to be the first “national mammal” of the US. Making it a national symbol will hopefully stop it from going extinct.
People are increasingly identifying themselves as “global citizens.” Everywhere apart from Germany, that is.
In a real lightsaber duel, your body would be vaporized. The Star Wars weapons are not laser swords, but rather blades of plasma.
A third of Italy’s pizza-makers are immigrants. A surprising number hail from Egypt.
McDonald’s is making a more natural McNugget. The current version has 32 ingredients, most of which are not chicken.
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