Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Cyclone Mora hits South Asia. In Bangladesh, where the storm has made landfall, authorities have been trying to evacuate up to a million people, and in some places the danger is ranked at the highest possible level. The region has seen eight of the 10 deadliest cyclones in recorded history.
The “father of Android” unveils his new smartphone. Andy Rubin sold Android to Google in 2005, but his new company Essential Products will today announce “something big.” Little is known about the new device, which Rubin teased in March. SoftBank Group almost invested $100 million in Essential, but reportedly backed out due to pressure from Apple, an investor in its tech fund.
Ryanair should see tidy gains in its yearly results. Analysts expect the budget airline to post a strong performance, thanks in large part to its ability to continue lowering costs. While some major airlines have struggled in the wake of Brexit and terror attacks, Ryanair has pushed on with expansion and is on track for a record number of passengers.
While you were sleeping
Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn drew to a tie on prime-time UK TV. Ahead of a June 8 vote, neither party leader made a suicidal gaffe or knockout punch as they pitched their positions on terrorism, trade deals, and government spending. With the prime minister refusing to debate Labour leader Corbyn directly, they were separately questioned by a studio audience and interviewer Jeremy Paxman.
Venezuelan opposition leaders vilified Goldman Sachs. Julio Borges, leader of the opposition-controlled congress, said the bank was trying to “make a quick buck” via a $2.8 billion bond deal that amounted to a “financial lifeline” for the repressive regime of president Nicolas Maduro. He warned a future government might not pay the bonds, for which the bank reportedly paid $865 million.
Narendra Modi visited Angela Merkel. The Indian prime minister kicked off his trip to Europe with a visit to the German chancellor’s countryside retreat to talk investments, bilateral cooperation, and a stalled free-trade deal between the EU and India, which Modi remains “optimistic” about.
Singapore’s central bank fined more banks over 1MDB-linked transactions. Wrapping up a two-year probe, it charged two more banks—Credit Suisse and United Overseas Bank—for breaches of anti-money laundering rules for transactions related to Malaysia’s scandal-ridden state fund. Eight banks have now been fined a total of nearly $21 million, in the city-state’s biggest-ever such case.
Quartz obsession interlude
Lila MacLellan on a time-management system that explodes the myth of multitasking. “‘Personal Kanban’ was named for the Japanese concept that inspired it, a just-in-time manufacturing process developed at Toyota in the late 1940s. James Benson, a former urban planner based in Seattle, has adapted the system to reduce overhead of the emotional sort—the ‘too many tasks on my mind’ feeling that’s the biggest downside of our mostly doomed attempts to multitask.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative will need Africa’s support to work. Without a secure investment environment, China’s vision will likely fail on the continent.
GDP is not a helpful measure of development. Well-being, not economic growth, should be the true measure of society’s progress.
Movie stars are becoming too muscular. The overly buff bods filling our screens are emblematic of how far we’ve taken our push for perfection.
Surprising discoveries
More than half of US employees didn’t use up their time off last year. Americans’ reluctance to take a break meant they worked 662 million more days last year than required.
There’s a dark side to meditation. The unpleasant emotions and disturbances that can occur while staring at one’s “third eye” are well known to long-time practitioners.
There’s a frog that literally bares its heart. The newly discovered Hyalinobatrachium yaku from Ecuador belongs to a species of frogs with transparent skin.
The US and Italy’s caffeine wars stretch back nearly a century. Italy’s first Starbucks is only the latest chapter in an ongoing tussle over what constitutes the perfect cup of coffee.
Bangladesh is one of the world’s happiest economic stories right now. The country of 160 million has just experienced its fastest expansion in 30 years.
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