Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
China and India set up a hotline. Indian defense secretary Sanjay Mitra and his Chinese counterpart Shao Yuanming will set up new communications channels to squelch conflicts along their 3,700 km disputed border.
Vladimir Putin visits Singapore. The Russian president is in town for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting, where Rohingya refugees and disputed territory in the South China Sea will top the agenda. US president Donald Trump declined to attend (paywall), sending vice president Mike Pence in his stead.
El Chapo’s trial begins in Brooklyn. US prosecutors will lay out their case against Mexico’s Joaquín Guzmán Loera, who stands accused of ordering murders and trafficking drugs on a massive scale (paywall).
While you were sleeping
Apple, GE, and Goldman led a Wall Street plunge. The Dow fell 600 points, the S&P lost nearly 2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 2.78% in an ugly start to the week. Apple’s woes were triggered by suppliers saying their biggest client had slashed its orders (paywall); Goldman is feeling the pressure from Malaysia’s ongoing 1MDB scandal (paywall); and GE shareholders voiced fresh skepticism (paywall) about the conglomerate’s turnaround strategy.
Superhero comics icon Stan Lee has died at the age of 95. The creator of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Daredevil, X-Men and many other comics passed away in California. Although he never reaped the full financial rewards from his work, he set the stage for the modern dominance of comic book culture. Excelsior!
Amnesty International retracted Aung San Suu Kyi’s human rights award. Myanmar’s leader, once a human rights icon, has been vociferously criticized for her silence about the genocide against Rohingya Muslims and the jailing of two Reuters journalists.
North Korea is moving ahead with its nuclear missile program. Despite Trump’s claim that he neutralized the nuclear threat from Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un’s regime is developing missile and nuclear technology at 16 hidden bases identified in new commercial satellite images, the New York Times reports (paywall).
California’s wildfires continued to destroy homes. Separate blazes in the north and south, fueled by dry conditions and high winds, have ravaged over 200,000 acres of land and killed at least 31 people. Hundreds of residents remain missing, and many homeowners have been forced to flee.
Obsession interlude
The compound that puts the magic in magic mushrooms. Psilocybin could be the next medicinal marijuana. Peter Thiel has lined up behind one company that’s trying to move it into clinical trials as a treatment for depression and other mental afflictions. If it works, it’ll fulfill a promise from decades ago, before the war on drugs, but there are also concerns about the Big Pharma tactics of Britain’s Compass Pathways. Trip down the rabbit hole with today’s Quartz Obsession.
Matters of debate
Smart speakers aren’t quite ready yet. AI assistants and voice-controlled gadgets are growing in popularity, but still haven’t found their groove with consumers.
Retirement is going extinct. Employers need to adapt to aging populations and shifting employment trends.
Tech giants benefit from outdated antitrust theories. Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft have bought out more than 500 competitors in the last 10 years.
Surprising discoveries
Jony Ive reinvented the diamond ring. Apple’s design chief helped create a ring made entirely of diamond, which will be refined using a laser-powered water jet.
Life-like silicon infants are a worldwide phenomenon. “Reborners” pay exorbitant prices for silicone dolls built to look and feel like flesh-and-blood babies.
Fat humans are stretching Earth’s food supply. Current projections may underestimate the amount of food needed to feed humanity as people grow larger.
Angela Merkel was mistaken for Brigitte Macron. A 101-year-old Frenchwoman was convinced the German chancellor was the French president’s wife.
Detective Pikachu looks super creepy. The latest trailer for the live-action Nintendo film shows off an uncanny valley full of Pokémon.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, non-magic fungi, and rings of diamond 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 and edited by Adam Pasick.