Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
OPEC convenes in Vienna. Stabilization is on the minds of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, after US crude oil prices dropped by nearly a quarter last month. Analysts believe a production cut is likely.
North Korea’s foreign minister heads to China. Ri Yong Ho will spend Thursday through Saturday meeting with Chinese state councillor Wang Yi. According to a North Korean spokesperson, the two plan to discuss North Korea-China relations as well as ongoing diplomacy efforts between North and South Korea. North Korea declined to comment on whether those talks include setting up a visit between Kim Jong Un and Chinese president Xi Jinping.
The US Justice Department’s battle against the AT&T-Time Warner merger continues. The DC circuit court of appeals will hear testimony from 27 antitrust scholars, including Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz and former DOJ antitrust deputy A. Douglas Melamed, who will argue that the merger defies economic logic.
While you were sleeping
UK lawmakers published a trove of internal Facebook documents. The documents, from 2012 to 2015, reveal that the likes of Netflix, Lyft, and Airbnb were given access to sensitive data even after Facebook restricted that information. The decision to release the documents, which include CEO Mark Zuckerberg doubting user data’s ability to be compromised, came after Zuckerberg refused to appear in London to answer questions.
Waymo unveiled self-driving taxis in Arizona. Google’s autonomous vehicle arm has been testing cars in the Phoenix suburbs for two years but only began charging fares via its Waymo One app on Wednesday. Rates were reportedly comparable to those for other ride-hailing services like Lyft and Uber.
SpaceX lost a rocket booster during landing for the first time since 2016. The brand-new Falcon 9 rocket booster lifted off successfully from Cape Canaveral, Florida, but as the first stage—which contained nine Merlin engines and the bulk of the rocket’s structure—returned to earth, it lost control and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
The US held a state funeral for president George H.W. Bush. Bush’s son, former president George W. Bush, delivered a moving eulogy that noted his father’s zest for life even into his 90s and highlighted the importance of public service and remaining true to your values (paywall). The funeral for the senior Bush was attended by every living US president, including current president Donald Trump and his wife, Melania.
USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy. It’s part of the ongoing fallout from a major sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the sport.
Obsession interlude
Orchids are exotic… and also an impulse purchase. In the 19th century, they had to be retrieved at great risk from the wild; in the 20th century, we figured out how to grow them from a test tube, but it was still a long process that produced pricey petals. How’d they get so commonplace? The answer blooms at the Quartz Obsession.
Matters of debate
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The global female shortage is a human rights issue. India and China are already feeling the crunch, and neighboring countries are suffering from bride trafficking.
Taiwan could win a war against China. Despite Beijing’s massive advantage in military strength, the government in Taipei is well-prepared to resist the onslaught.
The earliest book about a stock market warned of “the treasures of goblins.” Hard-won profits that could be easily lost were not a new phenomenon in 1688.
Quartz membership
Are trucking jobs about to drive off a cliff? US trucking has long been consistently white and overwhelmingly male, but now it’s also getting older, which is creating some problems. Fewer young people are moving into the profession, and there is already a shortage of drivers. If e-commerce continues to grow (and there’s no reason to suspect that it won’t) the demand on trucking will only increase, creating a potentially huge driver shortage. Read more here.
Surprising discoveries
Millennials and Gen Z are twice as stressed at work as older workers. They report feeling so anxious or depressed that it’s disrupting their work “often” or “all the time.”
PETA wants people to avoid “speciesism” in language. The animal rights group is being widely ridiculed online for advocating swapping idioms like “kill two birds with one stone” with animal-friendly versions.
People are increasingly naming their babies after health trends. Food names like Kale, Kiwi, and Saffron and wellness-oriented names like Peace and Harmony are on the rise.
“Energy kites” are being developed to harness energy. They swoop through seawater in a figure 8 pattern, attached to turbines that convert the energy into electricity.
George W. Bush handed candy to Michelle Obama at his father’s funeral. It was a repeat of a warm moment between the two during senator John McCain’s funeral in September that caught a lot of attention.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, pieces of candy, and newfangled idioms 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 April Siese and edited by Holly Ojalvo.