Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The UN’s special rapporteur gives a Myanmar update. Yanghee Lee, the United Nations’ expert on human rights in Myanmar, is scheduled to give a report on her investigation into possible new war crimes in Rakhine.
The Kathua rape victim’s father urges the death penalty. India’s Punjab and Haryana high court will hear from Utsav Bains, who seeks death for three men already sentenced to life in prison for raping and murdering his eight-year-old daughter. The high-profile case has become emblematic of a growing problem of violence against Indian women.
Microsoft, United Health, and EasyJet join the earnings party. Intelligent Cloud revenue is expected to buoy Microsoft’s quarterly numbers, while UnitedHealth could see a quarter that beats projections thanks to growth within its Medicare Advantage program. European low-cost airline EasyJet may not fare as well.
While you were sleeping
Netflix showed an alarming decline in US subscribers. The company’s stocks tanked by over 10% on the news of mediocre international growth and a surprise slow-down at home. The company blamed a lackluster content lineup for the weak numbers, adding that The Crown, Orange Is the New Black, and Stranger Things should put growth back on track.
Theresa May gave a farewell speech. The outgoing British prime minister took a thinly-veiled swipe at the “absolutism” of her likely successor, Boris Johnson. “An inability to combine principles with pragmatism and make a compromise when required seems to have driven our whole political discourse down the wrong path,” she said.
Congo’s Ebola outbreak reached emergency status. The World Health Organization officially declared a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” after months of debate. The declaration paves the way for international aid to treat the outbreak, which has killed 1,665 since it began in August.
The US kicked Turkey out of the F-35 club. After Turkey sealed a missile defense deal with Russia, American military authorities decided that they couldn’t risk sensitive information about their stealth fighter jet falling into the wrong hands.
El Chapo got a life sentence. Joaquín Guzmán, the former boss of the Sinaloa drug cartel, was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years, and was ordered to pay a $12.6 billion forfeiture. Prosecutors noted that the drug-lord-cum-escape-artist would serve his time behind “tons of steel” in a high-security prison in Colorado.
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Reporter Natasha Frost has been helping us navigate the changing world of philanthropy, which is under more scrutiny than ever. But it’s not just big spenders that are under the microscope—it’s the recipients of their money as well. Today, she lays out the pressure facing charities, which are often trapped into taking tainted money from corporations.
Quartz Obsession
Steve Jobs loved whiteboards. Apple Park in Cupertino is filled with them, as are conference rooms and classrooms around the world. They’re a clean and efficient way to brainstorm and collaborate, but blackboard enthusiasts still insist on sticking with chalk dust. The Quartz Obsession draws it out.
Matters of debate
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China’s censorship is sinking its movie market. Restrictions on “pornographic or vulgar content” won’t get the people in seats.
CMOs’ days are numbered. In the internet age, companies are connecting with customers in ways that go beyond mere marketing.
Midsize cities can’t catch up. Many that found prosperity in the 20th-century industrial boom have fallen behind in the 21st-century digital economy.
Surprising discoveries
The most-played song in the UK this century is by…Snow Patrol? You’ve heard “Chasing Cars”—you just don’t realize how many times you’ve heard it.
Antarctica’s melting ice sheet just needs 75 trillion tons of artificial snow. But churning out that much powder would just pump massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.
Black rhinos will enter the bond market. Conservationists hope to use financial instruments to fund the endangered animals’ salvation.
Sotheby’s is auctioning 50-year-old fruit cake. The dusty dessert is part of a vast trove of moon landing memorabilia expected to sell for millions of dollars.
Proposing a new emoji just got easier. The Unicode Consortium streamlined the process for submitting the ideas you’ve definitely already had.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, old cakes, and creative emoji ideas to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member (use code DAILYBRIEF for 20% off). Today’s Daily Brief was written and edited by Nicolás Rivero and Susan Howson.