Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
France’s presidential hopefuls face off in their first televised debate. The five leading candidates will duke it out over topics such as immigration, security, and economic recovery. Currently leading the polls is Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, closely followed by far-right conservative Marine Le Pen. The debate is expected to be a chance for conservative François Fillon, who has been embroiled in fraud accusations, to reinsert himself into the race.
The director of the FBI testifies about investigations into Russia. In a public hearing James Comey will take questions from lawmakers. Many are wondering about the ties between the Trump administration and Moscow, and whether there was collusion between the two in swinging the US presidential election in Trump’s favor, with assistance from Russian hackers.
Bill Gates meets with Donald Trump. The face-to-face comes after the Gates Foundation said it is “deeply troubled” by the US president’s 2018 budget proposal. An agenda hasn’t been released, but a statement from the Gates Foundation said it has “a long history of working with officials” on issues like domestic education and global health and development. Gates and Trump also met in December to discuss innovation.
Over the weekend
The president of Uber quit after just six months. Jeff Jones’s sudden departure is reportedly related to allegations of sexism and sexual harassment against Uber, first exposed by a former company engineer. In a statement to Reuters, Jones said he couldn’t carry on as president of a business with which he was incompatible.
Vodafone and Idea Cellular struck a deal in India. The Indian arm of the UK-based mobile phone company will buy 45% of former rival Idea to become the country’s largest wireless operator, with a user base of nearly 400 million people. The merger should help it fight competition from Reliance Jio, which launched last year and kicked off a price war.
The US turned its back on free trade at the G20. International financial leaders hoped that US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin would present a tempered version of Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy at their meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany. But for the first time in years, the G20 did not declare its opposition to protectionism.
Rex Tillerson played nice in Beijing. The US secretary of state rounded out his Asia tour by visiting Chinese president Xi Jinping. The meeting was notable for its surprisingly friendly tone, in contrast to Donald Trump’s tweets on Friday, when he called out China for doing “little” to help the US deal with North Korea.
North Korea says its military tested a new “high-performance rocket engine.” If the new technology works, it will be a boon to the country’s efforts to make accurate intercontinental ballistic missiles. The test comes as tensions over North Korea and the THAAD missile-defense system are seriously straining relations between South Korea and China.
Quartz obsession interlude
Yinka Adegoke on Nollywood, Nigeria’s burgeoning film empire. “Nigeria’s movie industry has become the country’s second largest employer and shows huge potential as an export product to the rest of the world. This is especially important for a Nigerian government which is keenly aware of the need to diversify from its over-reliance on oil for 90% of its export revenue.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
You can’t be socially progressive and economically conservative. The hard truth is that for society to progress, it has to spend money.
Automation increases poverty and inequality, not unemployment. That explains why productivity and employment are growing while wages remain stagnant.
The US’s missile-defense system in South Korea is actually a gift to Kim Jong-un. By creating a major point of contention between Beijing and Washington, THAAD strengthens North Korea’s hand.
Surprising discoveries
Orlando, Florida wants to turn itself into a theme park for self-driving cars. Boy bands, palm trees, and… autonomous vehicles?
India’s seniors are so lonely they’re renting grandkids. Startups that supply young people to run errands and provide companionship are mushrooming.
Plants may be millions of years older than we thought. A new fossil discovery in central India is pushing back the timeline for the earliest-known plant life.
YouPorn’s viewers tanked during the Nintendo Switch launch. The website experienced a 17% drop in traffic on launch weekend.
It took the inventor of the Rubik’s Cube a month to solve his own puzzle. That’s still much faster than it would take the rest of us.
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