Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
A national day of mourning for the 41st US president. US financial markets are closed and postal deliveries paused as politicians and leaders from the US and around the world pay their respects to George H. W. Bush, who died on Friday. Donald Trump will attend but is not slated to speak. A second funeral will take place tomorrow in Bush’s adopted home state of Texas.
Germany’s president visits China. Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s six-day trip comes as Beijing seeks stronger European trade ties. Steinmeier, who has served two stints as Germany’s foreign minister, is an advocate for more engagement with China.
The Fed releases its economic roundup. The latest beige book report will provide insight into how companies are responding to tariffs. The last analysis showed businesses remained optimistic about the economy, but were increasingly concerned (paywall) about trade tensions.
While you were sleeping
Michael Flynn was handed a get-out-of-jail-free card. Special prosecutor Robert Mueller recommended that Donald Trump’s former national security adviser not get jail time for lying to the FBI because of his “substantial assistance” in several ongoing investigations, including the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 US elections. Flynn is due to be sentenced Dec. 18.
Beijing tried to reassure on trade. After a Trump tariff-related tweet (paywall) sent global markets tumbling, China’s commerce ministry issued a vague statement saying it would work with the US in areas where “consensus” had been reached.
Takeda prepared for a major overseas acquisition. The Japanese pharmaceutical giant got the go-ahead from its shareholders to acquire Irish-headquartered drugmaker Shire for as much as $62 billion. If Shire’s shareholders approve the deal today, it will be the largest corporate takeover by a Japanese company, and create the world’s eighth-biggest drug maker by sales.
The EU failed to agree on tech tax revenues. France and Germany’s finance ministers couldn’t convince all their peers to support a tax proposal on big digital firms’ online revenues, in a blow for French president Emmanuel Macron. The EU will reportedly ask Facebook, Twitter, and Google to file monthly reports on Russian disinformation campaigns from January.
Cuba announced full internet access on mobile phones. The island-nation’s 5 million cell phone users have only had access to state email accounts on their devices until now. Cuba is one of the last nations to implement the service.
A powerful undersea earthquake struck off New Caledonia. The 7.5-magnitude earthquake near the French territory in the South Pacific triggered aftershocks and 2.4-foot-high tsunami waves, forcing residents to evacuate to higher ground.
Obsession interlude
The CB radio was once a disruptive technology. As Hollywood glamorized the trucking industry, the open communication medium surged in popularity in the US and abroad. Even today, no technology exactly replaces it. Read more in today’s Quartz Obsession.
Quartz membership
Want to know what’s going on in trucking? Ask a trucker. Finn Murphy wrote the memoir The Long Haul: A Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road, but he’s also spent a lot of time pondering the future of the industry he loves. We caught up with him to discuss everything from automation to wages to his love of really long podcasts. Check out other parts of our trucking deep dive here.
Matters of debate
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Bitcoin is in a death spiral. As its price drops, it will become worthless if the cost of mining doesn’t fall.
Every business is a tech business. Even companies founded before the internet age should be putting tech talent in the C-suite.
The ultra-wealthy need more to be satisfied. Millionaires and billionaires think having three times their wealth would make them truly happy.
Surprising discoveries
A 9-year-old had snowballs decriminalized. Dane Best convinced his Colorado town to repeal an archaic law banning snowball fights—and pointed to his brother as his intended target.
Only 15% of Trump merch is made in the US. The remaining items in the Trump Organization’s online store don’t even list countries of origin.
California’s fires released a year’s worth of emissions. The wildfires spewed out 68 million tons of carbon dioxide—almost as much as was produced by the state’s electricity usage in 2016.
Jeff Bezos won’t return Gwyneth Paltrow’s emails. Paltrow often reaches out to other famous people for advice on her lifestyle company Goop.
Two black holes became one. Scientists are now picking up the gravitational ripples of a stellar merger 5 billion light years from Earth.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, legal snowballs, and black holes to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Adam Rasmi and Akshat Rathi and edited by Jackie Bischof.