Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The mobile industry gathers in Barcelona. The four-day Mobile World Congress begins, following press events yesterday that introduced Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and S9+, Nokia’s 8110 reboot, and a laptop from Huawei that could make Apple’s design team envious. Quartz is on the ground and publishing a pop-up newsletter you can sign up for here.
The former CFO of Autonomy goes on trial in San Francisco. Sushovan Hussain faces charges of inflating the company’s performance ahead of its sale to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. HP wrote down about $5 billion (paywall) of the $11 billion it paid for Autonomy only a year after the acquisition.
Russia is likely to use its UN Security Council veto power. The council has to renew its targeted sanctions on Yemen today, and the US has been lobbying for Iran to be held accountable over its weapons falling into the hands of Yemen’s Houthi group. Russia prefers a rival resolution that doesn’t mention Iran.
Over the weekend
The Weinstein Company filed for bankruptcy. The company founded by disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein confirmed Sunday that it would file for bankruptcy. Talks to sell its assets failed after New York’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against the producer for sexual harassment and abuse of company staff.
China moved to allow Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely. On Sunday, the Communist Party’s central committee proposed removing the phrase that the president and vice-president “shall serve no more than two consecutive terms” from the country’s constitution. The move supports predictions Xi would try to stay in power beyond the 10-year limit.
Warren Buffett made $29 billion in 2017 from Donald Trump’s tax reforms. It was revealed in his much-anticipated note to shareholders that Berkshire Hathaway gained $29 billion in 2017 from the corporate tax reforms. The “Oracle of Omaha” also said that some of the best market advice can be found in 19th-century poems.
North Korea said it’s willing to talk with the US. Officials attending the Winter Olympics closing ceremony told South Korean president Moon Jae-in that their country is open to talks with the US. But they did not indicate whether denuclearization—a key demand from Washington—would be up for discussion.
US Democrats released their response to the Nunes memo. As expected it’s a detailed rebuttal of the memo, which portrayed the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the US election as politically biased. It’s also heavily redacted, having been blocked by Trump a few weeks ago for containing classified information.
A ceasefire was agreed, then promptly ignored, in Syria. Regime forces continued their airstrikes and shelling in eastern Ghouta yesterday, one day after the UN ordered a nationwide ceasefire. More than 500 people have died, including 120 children, and 2,500 have been wounded in the Syrian government offensive in the past week.
Quartz obsession interlude
Dan Kopf on how much money people need to be happy. ”Researchers find that in every region of the world, after accounting for a person’s age, gender, and marital status, people with higher incomes are happier. But they also find that there is a level of income at which happiness no longer increases with more money… They even find some evidence that in certain places, when incomes rise above the cutoff level, life satisfaction gets lower.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Facebook and Google are not invincible. The services they’re selling are vulnerable to disruption (paywall).
Instagram is killing the way we experience art. Before whipping out your smartphone, stand before a work of art and allow yourself to get lost in it.
Allowing Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely is good and bad for investors. The president may now be able to drive through reforms, but sole leadership could increase political risk and undermine market confidence.
Surprising discoveries
Astronomers have spotted the most distant supernova yet. The cosmic explosion took place 10.5 billion light years from Earth.
Dictionary-makers found the first known use of “mansplain.” It first appeared in August 2008, in an exchange between two bloggers.
Eating fish may prevent allergies. A study found that kids who ate fish at least once a month when they were one year old had a reduced risk of suffering from allergies at age 12.
Snails get chilly, too. Cold weather made snails too “sluggish” to compete in a race at an English pub.
Nokia’s famous ringtone dates back to the 19th century. Frédéric Chopin’s 1834 waltz “Grand Valse Brillante” was the original inspiration for the chimes heard round the world.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, fish entrées, and classical waltzes to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Jill Petzinger and edited by Lianna Brinded.