Good morning, Quartz readers! Apologies for the delay this morning due to a technical snafu. May all the barbecues in the US today go a lot smoother.
What to watch for today
The “final assault” on Falluja begins. Iraqi troops have surrounded the city, which has been held by ISIL since 2014. Around 50,000 civilians are believed to be trapped and starving inside. The BBC reported that the fighting so far has been centered on ISIL’s defenses outside the city, where the militants are responding with suicide attacks and car bombings.
France releases economic data amid more unrest. It will release GDP data for the first quarter, as the country’s unemployment rate remains around 10%. Strikes over reforms to its labor laws will carry on all week, including on the national railroad, the Paris metro and in air traffic control, but prime minister Manuel Valls said he will not back down on the reforms.
Markets are closed in the US and UK. The US is enjoying its Memorial Day long weekend. The UK is closed for a bank holiday.
Over the weekend
Bitcoin’s value spiked. There are various theories as to why the crypto currency has surged to its highest price since August 2014. It spiked at $549 on Monday on the announcement that a large batch of confiscated bitcoin would go on auction (paywall) in June.
France refused to cut a deal with Google. Unlike the UK, which negotiated a tax deal with the internet giant in January, France intends to collect taxes it believes Google evaded. Reuters reports this could amount to €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion) and pave the way for cases against other multinationals—but analysis of the Google data will take years.
The migrant crisis death toll mounted. Up to 700 migrants were feared dead this weekend after a series of shipwrecks in the Mediterranean. Following the EU-Turkey deal that stipulated all “irregular” arrivals from Turkey be turned back or deported, migrants are now resorting to more perilous routes to reach Europe.
The CEO of Noble Group resigned unexpectedly. Former Goldman Sachs banker Yusuf Alireza is stepping down as head of the embattled commodity trading giant because “the time was right for him to move on.” Noble’s stock has fallen 76% since he was appointed in 2013. The company also put its North American business on the block.
And in the exciting world of plane-leasing. Air Asia, Asia’s biggest low-cost airline, said it had received a $1 billion offer for Asia Aviation Capital. Leasing rather than buying planes is becoming increasingly popular in the region. Meanwhile, CIT Group put its aircraft-leasing assets on the block. According to Reuters, the US lender invited more than a dozen entities to bid for the leasing arm, which comprises a fleet of 350 planes and could fetch between $3-4 billion.
Quartz obsession interlude
Steve LeVine on Volkswagen and the advanced-battery arms race. “Judging just by the expense involved—more than twice Tesla’s spending—the VW battery plans are typically of global ambitions… It will be a big gamble, pitting it against incumbents that have worked out the bugs of immensely complex battery manufacturing through years of trial and error. Similarly, it is unlikely to find any commercial-scale lithium-ion chemistry that isn’t produced by one of the Asian giants it wants to avoid.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
A female James Bond is exactly what the franchise needs. Jane Bond is an opportunity to create a better empowerment fantasy—for people of every gender.
It’s over for hedge funds. Competitors, analysts, and even managers can’t deny the industry’s performance is abysmal and it’s due for a reckoning.
America is losing its mojo. The decline of US dynamism is linked to the high cost of housing in the country’s most productive cities.
Surprising discoveries
The pope likes beauty vloggers… “To preach beauty and show beauty helps neutralize aggression,” he said.
…and the Bible got an emoji update. It contains all 66 books of the King James version, and uses emojis to replace words where possible.
Australia’s fastest-growing food company sells nothing in Australia. It grows and sells all its fruit in southeastern China. Incorporating down under lets it add the Australia seal to its products.
Iceland had no word for “corporate raid” until the financial crisis. It has now—it’s fyrirtækjagripdeildir.
Iran has a growing number of highly educated, well-off female drug addicts. By and large, their families keep their addiction concealed.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, new Icelandic words, and emoji bibles to hi@qz.com. You can download our iPhone app or follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.