Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The Nobel Prize in physics is announced. The awards continue for a second day in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, and will be revealed at 11:45am local time.
Melania Trump goes to Africa. The US first lady begins a week-long solo visit to the continent in Accra, Ghana, and is also expected to visit Malawi, Kenya, and Egypt, with a focus on children’s issues. Her husband has yet to visit Africa as president.
Pepsi cracks open its books. In its last earnings report under long-serving CEO Indra Nooyi, investors will be watching to see whether sugar-free beverages like “bubly” sparkling water helped boost earnings amidst changing consumer preferences.
While you were sleeping
Indonesia’s death toll rose in the aftermath of a quake. Officials raised the number of victims to 1,200, up from the previously reported 844, on Tuesday. The effects of Friday’s 7.5 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami were reportedly worsened by the country’s tsunami alert system, which provided insufficient warning of the threat.
An upstart, right-of-center party won Quebec’s election. Businessman Francois Legault’s Coalition Avenir Quebec defeated the Liberal Party, which has been in power for 15 years. The CAQ wants to restrict immigration to the province and force migrants to learn French.
Mazda is a fan of the new NAFTA deal. The CEO of the Japanese automaker called the plan—which will officially be known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA—”a big step forward.” Coupled with tariffs on Chinese goods, the newly renegotiated deal is part of an attempt to lure foreign investment (paywall) out of China.
Trump changed US visa policy for diplomats’ partners. In a policy that went into effect on Monday, unmarried same-sex partners of foreign diplomats and UN employees will be denied visas. Same-sex couples currently posted in the US must marry by the end of the year or see their partners go home.
Brett Kavanaugh won’t teach at Harvard next year. Harvard Law School’s dean informed students that Kavanaugh would not be teaching his class in January of 2019 as planned. Meanwhile, amidst this week’s ongoing FBI investigation into Kavanaugh, NBC News obtained text messages showing that Kavanaugh reached out to former classmates asking for their help ahead of the publication of a New Yorker story detailing Deborah Ramirez’s allegations of sexual misconduct.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Adam Pasick on the uselessness of cigarette filters. “Arguably, the entire existence of cigarette filters is based on a cynical lie, concocted by the tobacco industry to make smokers feel slightly better about their carcinogenic habit. In reality, they do zilch—zero, bupkis, nada—to decrease the inhalation of tar and other harmful substances in tobacco smoke compounds.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
We’ll all eventually love Mark Zuckerberg. Giving away billions erases most ills—just ask Bill Gates.
The future of emails is “Gmail-ese.” A quarter of the world could soon give up on writing emails with individual style thanks to “smart compose.”
US car companies can’t win Trump’s trade war. Thanks to globalization, the industry’s supply chain reaches across dozens of countries that are all trading tit-for-tat tariffs.
Surprising discoveries
The US IPO market is drowning in red ink. More than 80% of newly listed companies this year were losing money (paywall) before their debut.
The Melbourne Zoo is weening some animals off fruit. Selective breeding has made fruit so sugary that red pandas and primates were gaining weight and suffering from tooth decay.
India has plastic bag police. The inspectors patrol India’s crowded markets to catch offenders of a ban on single-use plastics.
Google’s AI is making hamburgers look more appetizing. DeepMind’s algorithm is also quite good at generating non-existent dogs and butterflies.
Amazon now makes mattresses. The e-commerce giant has released a new line of bed-in-a-box foam mattresses under its AmazonBasics line.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, red pandas, and fake hamburgers 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 Rosie Spinks and edited by Sarah Todd.