Good morning Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The UN hashes out the fine print on the Paris climate agreement. Delegates will convene in Bonn, Germany for 11 days of discussions on how to implement the climate-rescue pact, which was signed in 2015. Donald Trump slammed the agreement during his presidential campaign and many are concerned that the US will pull out.
Hedge fund giants gather. William A. Ackman, David Einhorn, Jeffrey Gundlach, and other high-profile hedge fund managers will attend the annual Sohn Investment Conference in Manhattan. Investors have unveiled bold bets at past events—in 2008, Einhorn attacked Lehman Brothers just before it went bankrupt, and in 2012, Ackman began his war against Herbalife.
Judges weigh Trump’s revised travel ban. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia will consider the administration’s case for its executive order suspending visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries. Normally only three judges consider such appeals at first; this case, however, will go straight to the full 15-judge bench.
Over the weekend
Emmanuel Macron won the French presidency. More than 65% of voters picked the 39-year-old centrist banker after a bruising second-round campaign against the far-right’s Marine Le Pen. Now what some call the “real election” begins: Macron must get enough seats for his fledgling party, En Marche!, in June’s parliamentary vote and Le Pen’s Front National will continue to agitate in opposition.
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger bestowed some wisdom. During a highly anticipated annual Q&A, Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO and vice chairman spoke about (paywall) the pitfalls of capitalism, the benefits of AI, and plans for the company after Buffett’s death. He also said hedge-fund managers are a waste of money and slammed Wells Fargo’s response to its fraud scandal.
Jared Kushner’s sister wooed investors in China. At an event in Beijing on Saturday, Nicole Kushner Meyer, sister of Trump advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner, touted the EB-5 investment scheme that grants visas to people willing to invest over $500,000 in business endeavors, such as real-estate projects run by Kushner Companies. Journalists were banned from her Shanghai event on Sunday.
PPG tried and failed for a third time to buy Akzo Nobel. The Dutch paints-and-chemicals giant rejected the third unsolicited takeover bid—valued at $29.5 billion—from its US rival, saying it undervalued the company. Akzo Nobel is under intense pressure from activist investor Elliott to accept the offer, but it has dug in its heels and proposed a restructuring and increase in shareholder dividends instead.
Boko Haram released 82 kidnapped Chibok girls. Nigeria’s government said the girls were returned as part of a prisoner exchange brokered with the help of the Red Cross and the Swiss government. It’s the second such deal to be struck, but more than 100 girls remain missing after being kidnapped by the group in 2014.
North Korea detained another US citizen. The arrest of Kim Hak Song, a professor at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, for unspecified hostile acts brings the number of Americans now being held in the country to four. It’s unclear if Kim’s arrest is related to the detention earlier last week of Kim Sang Dok, a Korean-American accounting professor from the same university.
Quartz obsession interlude
Sarah Kessler on how algorithms are failing Facebook. “Facebook doesn’t just enable communication, but sets the boundaries and rules around it. And its influence—whether on culture, on elections, or on anything else beyond its own digital borders—means that those decisions impact us all, whether or not we use it.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The 1917 Russian Revolution still matters. The overthrow of Russia’s tsars is a poignant reminder of how quickly things can change when people are unhappy.
Non-white people are all the same to Westerners. They are still treated as a homogeneous “other” in real life and on screen.
Phishing emails will never stop duping people. Curiosity always gets the better of humans.
Surprising discoveries
A Vanuatuan tribe worships Prince Philip. Younanen villagers believe the recently retired 95-year-old royal is the son of a mountain god who can bestow blessings on citizens and crops.
The future of karaoke may be as a solo activity. Sometimes you just need to belt it out alone.
A tiny Swedish village is a top-secret location for carmakers. They use Arjeplog, population 3,000, as a testing ground (paywall) for prototypes.
A record label is releasing albums that are almost impossible to play. The modified cassettes are a commentary on how easily accessible music has become.
Male cuttlefish have flashy fights over females. The battling cephalopods display stunning zebra motifs, tangle their arms and tentacles, and spray ink at each other.
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