Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Netflix reports earnings after a record-breaking quarter. Netflix added more than 7 million new subscribers in the last quarter of 2016 thanks to international growth. Today, it will report whether the feat has been repeated. Consensus estimates suggest the number fell to about 5.3 million, due partly to weak original content, but the company has surprised analysts before.
US home builders weigh in on business conditions. Their confidence surged in last month’s Housing Market Index, a survey released by the National Association of Home Builders. The question is how do they feel now in light of the latest interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.
Search warrants from the investigation into Prince’s death are unsealed. Warrants from local police who searched the estate of music legend Prince after his death a year ago will become public, possibly shedding new light on the ongoing investigation into his death.
Over the weekend
South Korea’s former president was formally charged in a corruption probe. Park Geun-hye is accused of bribery, coercion, abuse of power, and leaking state secrets. Meanwhile Shin Dong-bin, chairman of the conglomerate Lotte Group, was also charged with bribery.
North Korea failed to launch. The isolated state tried to fire a missile on Saturday, but it “blew up almost immediately,” according to the South Korean and US militaries. The launch came after North Korea paraded what may be a new intercontinental ballistic missile while marking the birth of the late Kim Il-sung, the country’s founder.
China reported faster economic growth. If official accounts are to be believed—always a question in China—the economy grew 6.9% in the first quarter from a year earlier, driven by state-led infrastructure spending and a stubbornly booming property market. That marked the fastest pace of growth since the third quarter of 2015.
Turkey voted to hand more power to Erdogan. A controversial referendum on April 16 narrowly awarded sweeping powers to president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the biggest constitutional change since Turkey became a republic 94 years ago. The opposition called for a recount.
The Philippines announced military exercises with the US. There was doubt about whether the annual exercises between the long-standing allies would continue under erratic Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte, but 10 days of drills have been confirmed to go forward in May.
Quartz obsession interlude
Ashley Rodriguez on the moment Stephen Colbert learned how to host late-night TV. “He talked about how his mother, who was born two days before women could first vote in a US presidential election, told him before she died that she would have voted for Hillary Clinton. He said she only ever voted for one other Democrat in her life, John F. Kennedy. And he talked about how he thought this day would go differently for her. In those sobering, spontaneous moments of live TV, Colbert mastered the art of late-night TV.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Exercising religious freedom protects democracy. Faith communities can connect citizens of diverse backgrounds.
Photography is the key to understanding Melania Trump. An analysis of 470 works reveals the real US first lady.
Carbon capture could be Trump’s hallmark climate change policy. A technology some see as harebrained is getting a fresh look.
Surprising discoveries
Your ability to imagine random sequences peaks at age 25. Human beings are hard-wired to see patterns, and new research finds that it becomes increasingly difficult to think in a random way after your mid-twenties.
A solar-powered device pulls water out of desert air. Scientists hope the invention can help supply clean drinking water to parts of the world that need it most.
Delta paid just $0.08 a seat in cash to overbooked passengers in 2016. Travelers who gave up their seats were more likely to receive vouchers or gift cards than currency.
Emancipation Day is buying Americans time to file their taxes. The little-known local holiday extends the deadline to April 18 this year.
The UK is adding satellite navigation to driving tests. Getting a license will require demonstrating skills in following directions from GPS devices.
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