Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
SpaceX launches its first flight-proven (read: gently used) rocket. The booster will carry a satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral at 6pm ET (6am HK) and then return to earth, in a bid to drastically cut the price of space flight.
Rex Tillerson visits Turkey. Relations between the US and its NATO ally are tense over the status of Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in Pennsylvania who is accused of backing last year’s attempted coup. The US secretary of state is bringing along two pool reporters, after disinviting most journalists from his previous trip.
South Africa braces for lower interest rates. The central bank was widely expected to make its first cut in more than four years—at least until president Jacob Zuma recalled his finance minister from an international roadshow, crashing the rand.
While you were sleeping
Brexit began as the UK formally triggered its exit clause from the European Union. A letter from prime minister Theresa May started the clock on a two-year deadline for Britain to untangle itself from the EU.
Anbang ended talks over a controversial New York City real estate deal. The multibillion-dollar redevelopment of a Park Avenue office tower, owned by the family of presidential advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner, was under scrutiny for conflicts of interest.
EU and Chinese leaders reaffirmed climate change pledges. Leaders vowed to honor the Paris treaty in the wake of Donald Trump’s order to remove Obama-era environmental regulations. China, which has long been pressured by the US to limit fossil fuels, is now more likely to take the lead.
Ford recalled 570,000 cars and took a $295 million hit. The move affects a number of 2013-2015 Ford models in Europe and North America, for separate problems that could cause engines to catch fire and doors to open unexpectedly. The snafu will weigh heavily on its first-quarter earnings.
The US approved the first drug to treat a severe form of multiple sclerosis. Genentech’s Ocrevus reduces neurological disease and symptoms for patients with primary progressive MS, in which symptoms steadily worsen. Treatments will cost $65,000 a year.
Quartz obsession interlude
Tim Fernholz on why cheap rockets could be disruptive in a bad way: “There’s a lot of money and mind-power going toward getting into space more easily. This episode of disruption has ignited a firestorm of funding for private space companies whose ideas for doing business in space have suddenly become more feasible.” Read more here.
Markets haiku
Article fifty
is invoked. JP Morgan
is going shopping
Matters of debate
Offices need boundaries. The Thinx scandal shows the dangers of a playful workplace culture.
Food has replaced music in social importance. Know-it-all foodies are ascendent, rock’n’roll not so much.
The robots are coming for Wall Street’s jobs. BlackRock is replacing about 15% of its stock pickers with algorithms and mathematical models.
Surprising discoveries
“Finger guns” count as weapons in court. A New York man was convicted of armed robbery for pretending to have a firearm under his sweatshirt.
Smiley emojis don’t denote friendliness in China. Many happy symbols has been repurposed to convey contempt.
The grandfather of marijuana research has never smoked a joint. Raphael Mechoulam was the first scientist to isolate THC, the plant’s psychoactive component.
Domino’s is rolling out pizza-delivery drones. A pilot program using wheeled robots from Starship Technologies will launch soon in some German and Dutch cities.
Feature phones are making a comeback in Africa. An economic downturn has curbed the growth of internet-enabled smartphones.
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