Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
The Senate Judiciary Committee votes on Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination. Despite calls for a delay from both Republicans and Democrats, the committee plans to vote this morning on whether to bring Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Senate floor.
Sundar Pichai meets GOP lawmakers. Google’s CEO will answer questions today about his company’s alleged political bias and China projects, including the development of a censored search engine. The company admitted past privacy mistakes to the Senate after coming under fire for tracking the location of millions of mobile users.
Macedonia may change its name. Voters will head to the polls on Sunday to decide whether their nation will become North Macedonia, settling a 27-year feud with Greece, which has a province called Macedonia. The country’s EU and NATO memberships hinge on the referendum, and Russia has been waging a propaganda campaign to derail the vote.
UK Conservatives hold their party conference. Brexit will undoubtedly be a major theme of the four-day gathering, which begins Sunday in Birmingham.
Typhoon Trami heads to Japan. The storm could sweep through Japan starting Saturday, with winds over 100 mph (160 km/h). It would be the eighth typhoon to hit Japan since July, and comes a few weeks after Typhoon Jebi ravaged much of the country.
While you were sleeping
A high-stakes hearing electrified the US Senate. After Christine Blasey Ford told lawmakers that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her more than 30 years ago, Kavanaugh angrily denied the accusations. Republican senator Lindsay Graham blasted his Democratic colleagues, saying, ”What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life,” while Donald Trump reaffirmed his support for the nominee after the hearing concluded.
Italy’s government finally agreed on a budget. It will target a deficit of 2.4% of the country’s GDP for the next three years, defying the EU’s calls for the figure to be closer to 1.7%. Traders dumped Italian bonds in reaction.
A plane overshot a runaway in Micronesia and ended up in the ocean. The Air Niugini flight crash-landed in a lagoon off the coast of the island Chuuk. All 47 people aboard the plane were rescued thanks to efforts from local boaters.
A Chinese company may become the world’s most valuable startup. A planned $3 billion round of funding, led by SoftBank, could put the value of Bytedance at $75 billion. The company owns news aggregator Toutiao, the app Musical.ly, and video sensation Tik Tok.
Ryanair is bracing for another strike. A 24-hour staff walkout in six European countries could affect as many as 40,000 travelers, with up to 250 flights expected to be canceled. The low-cost airline has dealt with a string of such strikes over pay and conditions since recognizing trade unions in December last year.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Leah Fessler on how Christine Blasey Ford showed vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness: “The #MeToo Movement, at its core, is the epitome of vulnerability at scale: It’s women, and some men, coming forward and admitting the pain that they’ve kept secret. It’s millions of people worldwide seeing themselves in these women’s honesty, in Christine Blasey Ford’s honesty, and saying, loud and clear, Me. Too.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Crypto and cannabis are the perfect post-crisis bubbles. Though the financial crisis pushed us toward boring, safe investments, our gambling instinct (paywall) can be repressed for only so long.
We should get 40 days off a year. Not all employees observe the same holidays, and unlimited time off is resulting in people taking fewer days off.
America’s legislative system is broken. Congress has outsourced most of its authority to the White House, transforming the Supreme Court into a substitute political battleground.
Surprising discoveries
An injured turtle got a Lego wheelchair. Keeping the animal’s fractured shell off the ground will help it heal.
A cosmic ray is flying out of Antarctica’s ice. The high-energy particles blast through space, into Earth, and back again—something physicists say shouldn’t happen.
Doctors are using poetry to soothe patients. Music and poetry have been shown to trigger a response in the brain that can help reduce pain and even cut down on opioid usage.
We’re getting close to the dream of nuclear fusion power plants. Over the last decade, the number of privately-funded startups working on fusion has ballooned from a handful to 20.
A seal slapped a kayaker in the face with an octopus. Kiwi boaters were testing underwater cameras when they got mixed up in an interspecies battle.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, poems, and unexpected octopi 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 Akshat Rathi and edited by Sarah Todd.