Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Martin Winterkorn in the hot seat. The former Volkswagen CEO goes before a German parliamentary committee to face questions on what he knew about the emissions-cheating affair before September 2015, when the scandal broke. He claims he knew nothing, but the question being asked is whether, as CEO, he’s still indirectly responsible.
The European Central Bank holds its first policy meeting of 2017. Investors hope (paywall) it will be boring after the bank extended its quantitative easing program for longer than expected last month. German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble last week called for the ECB to start winding down QE, in which the bank buys government bonds to stimulate the economy.
Gambia’s inauguration day standoff. Election winner Adama Barrow is supposed to take office today, but current president Yahya Jammeh declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, and parliament voted to extend his term by three months. Adama says he will be sworn in at the Gambian embassy in neighboring Senegal, which has threatened to invade and depose Jammeh if he doesn’t relinquish power.
While you were sleeping
Theresa May banged the Brexit drum at Davos. Reiterating a speech earlier this week, the British prime minister listed the UK’s justifications for leaving the EU and insisted Britain was “internationalist” and “truly global.” She’ll also meet with bank bosses: Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, UBS, and HSBC are reportedly considering relocating UK staff to other European hubs after Brexit.
An avalanche buried a mountain hotel in Italy. Authorities said at least 30 people are missing and many are dead, but the number of fatalities is unclear as rescue is still underway. The hotel is in the central Abruzzo region of Italy, which was also hit by a number of earthquakes during the day on Wednesday.
China downed a lot of cognac. Rémy Cointreau said its sales soared 22% in the third quarter, fuelled by China’s thirst for Rémy Martin. Chinese sales are gradually rebounding after taking a hit from Beijing’s big anti-graft crackdown last year. The bump in the third quarter was also driven by people stocking up for the Lunar New Year on January 28.
Donald Trump made his final cabinet pick. He wants Sonny Perdue, the former Republican governor of Georgia, to head the Agriculture department. The agency directs the nation’s farm policy and several programs that Republicans lawmakers have suggested trimming, including food aid to the poor.
French aerospace firms joined forces. Safran will become the third largest aerospace supplier in the world after its $9 billion acquisition (paywall) of Zodiac. Safran hopes this will put it back in Airbus and Boeing’s good books after it fell behind on seat deliveries to both companies—and earned itself a public rebuke from Airbus for late delivery of toilets for the new A350.
Quartz obsession interlude
Ana Campoy on the US refugee problem: “The US has committed to protecting people facing persecution in their home country. President Barack Obama wasn’t very adept at handling the dramatic switch in the nature of illegal immigration into the US, which has largely happened under his watch. His policies have mostly focused on dissuading people from coming to the US, not figuring out whether they deserve protection.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Mobile phones prove that US police lie. In the vast majority of cases they get away with it, even when there’s video evidence to prove them wrong.
The first step to save a good business: Cut the crap. That’s the advice Steve Jobs used to save not just Apple, but Nike too.
An Africa with open borders could be a nightmare. Although they were arbitrarily imposed, the continent’s divisions help contain diseases, terrorism, and xenophobia.
Surprising discoveries
Egypt put one of its adored soccer stars on a terror watch list. Mohammed Aboutrika, the “Prince of Hearts,” is suspected of giving money to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Mirai botnet began with a Minecraft rivalry. The malicious software that hijacks millions of connected devices was initially used to shut down the popular game’s servers.
Japan has achieved a crucial standardization of high-tech toilet buttons. Hopefully tourists will no longer be shocked when their nether regions are sprayed with air and water.
Irish falconry inspired modern-day slang. ”Under my thumb,” “wrapped around my little finger,” and “hoodwinked” entered colloquial speech thanks largely to William Shakespeare, an amateur falconer.
China’s government posts hundreds of millions of fake social media comments every year. The aim is to distract the public from discussing real problems.
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