Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The IMF’s first post-Trump forecast. The International Monetary Fund will update its annual global growth forecast for the first time since president Donald Trump moved into the White House. Last week, the fund warned that growing protectionism will pose a challenge for emerging economies.
Facebook’s developers conference kicks off. One of the main topics at the annual F8 conference is how to turn virtual reality—a technology it has invested more than $2 billion in—into something that consumers might actually want to use.
Goldman Sachs releases earnings. Following strong results from JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup last week, Goldman Sachs is poised to beat expectations on the strength of its fixed income, currency, and commodity trading businesses.
It’s tax deadline day. Millions of Americans still haven’t filed their taxes—despite an obscure legal holiday that gave them an extra three days. Demonstrators will mark the day by calling on Donald Trump to release his tax returns.
While you were sleeping
Donald Trump congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The Turkish president is celebrating after voters narrowly passed a contested referendum granting him sweeping new powers. Trump’s call contrasted with the US State Department, which urged Erdoğan to respect his citizens’ fundamental rights and noted ”irregularities on voting day.”
Post Holdings gobbled up Weetabix. The US cereal company bought the British breakfast brand for $1.8 billion from China’s Bright Food Group. When it bought Weetabix five years ago Bright Foods hoped the breakfast cereal would be a hit in China—that didn’t happen, as people in Asia’s biggest economy still prefer to start their day with a hot congee porridge or egg pancakes.
Australia scrapped skilled foreign-worker visas. The 457 visa (similar to the US’s H-1B visa) will be replaced by a temporary visa in a bid to prioritize Australian workers for domestic jobs. Right now, Indians make up 27% of skilled-worker visa holders in Australia, followed by people from the UK and China.
Mike Pence talked trade in Tokyo. The US vice president kicked off discussions on how the US and Japan can ramp up their trade and investment relationships. Pence’s 10-day tour of Asia—he was in South Korea on Monday—is aimed at boosting US business in the region, even though Donald Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement when he took office.
Palestinians in Israeli jails went on hunger strike. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners stopped eating on Monday to protest jail conditions and Israel’s policy of detention without trial. Marwan Barghouti, the strike leader, is the head of the Fatah movement of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and currently serving five life sentences for his role in a 2000 to 2005 uprising.
Quartz obsession interlude
Peter D’Auria on the South American protesters who took Europe’s space program hostage. “For more than three weeks, French Guiana has been effectively shut down by protests and a general strike… Despite its crumbling infrastructure, the territory is home to some of the world’s most advanced technology. Last year, the Guiana Space Center was the second-busiest spaceport in the world.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
North Korea is like “a Cuban missile crisis in slow motion.” But the Trump administration’s aggressive policies may be speeding things up (paywall).
Philosophers are the original tech bros. From antiquity to the modern day, they are the archetypal “brilliant jerks.”
Losers are the new winners in China. More than 500 million people self-identify as diaosi (屌丝), which was originally used as an online insult.
Surprising discoveries
Plants use good vibrations to find water. They listen for acoustic signatures that signal moisture, even if there is no trace of water in the soil.
A top Indian engineering school will teach an 8,000-year-old architectural science. Students at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur will be taught vastu shashtra, a body of knowledge similar to feng shui.
CRISPR could fight bacteria. Researchers are testing the versatile gene-editing technique as an antibiotic.
A London bar’s latest cocktail comes with a VR headset. Patrons can experience the Scottish Highlands as they sip 12-year-old whisky.
A Canadian river vanished in four days as a glacier receded. It’s the first known case of “river piracy” due to global warming.
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