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What to watch for today
Mike Pence meets Juan Guaidó in Bogota. The US vice president’s first meeting with Venezuela’s opposition leader will take place on the sidelines of a meeting of regional leaders, where Pence is expected to announce “clear actions” to address the country’s crisis. Over the weekend, forces loyal to Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro violently drove back aid convoys trying to enter from Colombia.
The Mobile World Congress begins in Barcelona. The battle around whether or not to trust China’s Huawei, the world’s biggest telecom equipment provider, and competition between super-expensive foldable phones will dominate this year’s edition of the gathering in Spain. Sign up for our MWC Daily Brief, and follow Quartz’s coverage from MWC during the week here.
The UN Human Rights Council opens its main annual session. NGOs want the council to adopt a resolution establishing a fact-finding mission to China’s mass detention camps holding members of the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang. Beijing has lobbied hard to thwart scrutiny at the session.
US officials and the Taliban meet in Qatar. The two sides will focus on details of a framework agreed to last month, involving a US troop withdrawal in exchange for (paywall) a guarantee that terrorists will never use Afghan territory. Excluded from the talks: the Afghan government.
Over the weekend
Donald Trump raised hopes of a US-China trade deal. On Sunday, the US president tweeted that talks had been “very productive,” and that he would delay an increase in tariffs on Chinese goods planned for March 1. The two sides are trying to iron out differences on China’s treatment of state-owned enterprises, forced technology transfers, and other matters.
Kim Jong Un set off for his summit with Trump. Although his second meeting with the US president is not till Wednesday, the North Korean leader is heading to Vietnam by train through China. Trump has been downplaying expectations regarding denuclearization, saying he’s happy as long as Pyongyang keeps holding off on weapons testing.
Green Book won the Oscar for best movie. It’s a bad look for the Oscars, given the 1960s-set film about a black concert pianist and his white chauffeur has been criticised for its cheesy portrayal of racial dynamics. Still, in a history-making moment, Spike Lee finally won his first (that’s not a typo) Oscar, for best adapted screenplay for BlacKkKlansman. His passionate acceptance speech (paywall) exhorted listeners to get involved in the 2020 presidential election.
Theresa May postponed a key Brexit vote, again. The British prime minister said lawmakers won’t vote this week on the agreement governing the UK’s departure from the European Union, but it will happen by March 12. May is due to give parliament an update tomorrow. Meanwhile, Europe is considering a plan to allow the UK to delay its exit, scheduled for the end of March, to 2021.
Nigeria began counting election results. Observers have said the race between president Muhammadu Buhari, who’s seeking a second term, and former vice president Atiku Abubakar, is too close to call. An official announcement is expected tomorrow. Senegal is also awaiting results from its presidential poll yesterday.
Pope Francis called for “an all-out battle against the abuse of minors.” The pope spoke after a four-day Vatican meeting (paywall) on clerical sexual abuse, but did not offer any new efforts (paywall) to hold priests who abuse children accountable.
India intensified its crackdown in Kashmir. Authorities rushed about 10,000 additional paramilitary soldiers to the area, and security forces killed three militants, and lost two of their own, in a gunfight. On Feb. 14, a suicide attack killed 42 Indian security personnel.
Quartz Obsession
The candle industry’s future is bright. It’s grown by a third in the past couple of years, driven by wellness (Goop offers one that invokes “centuries-old floorboards in a mountain chapel somewhere in Yugoslavia”) and luxury (like Gucci’s $790 Esotericum feline-head candle). But the dominant player is the omnipresent Yankee Candle Company, which has nearly half of the US market. Follow the scent at the Quartz Obsession.
Matters of debate
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Work is the new religion for America’s elite. The affluent are looking to their jobs for identity, transcendence, and community.
Late bloomers are happier and more successful. Early failures are great practice for building resilience and figuring out how to get past obstacles.
Individual investors aren’t “dumb money.” New research shows they make better decisions than Wall Street acknowledges.
Surprising discoveries
Algae could play a key role in getting humans to Mars. The green slime has enormous potential for long-term space travel, including in waste removal, radiation shielding, fuel, and food.
The trauma caused by distance from nature has a name. It’s called “psychoterratica.”
An Oscar campaign costs between $3 million and $5 million. But the time and money that studios spend promoting their films for the award can come up empty (paywall).
Rental goats could prevent forest fires. A California town is crowdsourcing funds to bring in goats that eat flammable plants (and most everything else) in a campaign called “Goat Fund Me.”
Indonesia has the least volatile economy of the 21st century. Its GDP per capita grew between 3% and 5% every year from 2002 to 2017.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, late bloomers, and goats for rent 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 Tripti Lahiri and edited by Pramod Mathew.