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What to watch for today
EU lawmakers go to Kashmir. Hailing from 11 countries, the 27-person delegation is the first to visit the controversial region since August. The lawmakers plan to assess the situation, which has grown more volatile since India withdrew the region’s autonomous status.
The US votes on the Armenian Genocide Resolution. Enough votes from the House of Representatives could overturn long-standing Turkish pressure on the US to turn a blind eye to the Ottoman government’s role in the World War I–era murders of more than two million Armenians. The House also votes on imposing strict sanctions on Turkey over recent military activity in Syria.
General Motors reports earnings. The US-based automaker is expected to show financial repercussions from a recent walkout lasting nearly six weeks. Global demand may be slowing, but GM expects its sales in China, the world’s largest new car market, to rebound next year.
While you were sleeping
Space tourism hit the market. Virgin Galactic Holdings, trading as SPCE.N, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange after owner Richard Branson merged with another publicly traded company, bypassing the traditional IPO route. Shares blasted off by 7.7% in early trading.
Google offered to buy Fitbit. Parent company Alphabet is looking to jump into the wearable device market: Before making its offer to Fitbit for an undisclosed sum, it bought Fossil Group’s smartwatch technology for $40 million. The move falls in line with Google’s “ambient computing” strategy.
The far-right won big in Italy. A coalition headed by former interior minister Matteo Salvini has taken the reins in Umbria, where Donatella Tesei was elected president. League party campaigning in the region stressed anti-immigrant and anti-gay messaging, signaling a continued rightward swing in Italian politics.
A new wildfire threatened Los Angeles. Now named the Getty Fire, the blaze broke out in an area filled with high-end celebrity houses. The state of California called for evacuations while the fire destroyed hundreds of acres and several homes. Thousands are still without power.
The S&P made records. Developments in the US–China trade war cheered investors into beating the index’s all-time high, set in July. Microsoft, Alphabet, and AT&T buoyed prices, while the Dow failed to hit its own peak, thanks in part to Boeing.
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The future of meat is uncertain. Plant-based products that look and taste (almost) like meat are showing up on supermarket shelves and fast food restaurant menus with incredible speed. But might they soon be eclipsed by something else? In this week’s field guide on the future of meat, Quartz reporter Chase Purdy investigates the development of cell-cultured flesh.
Quartz Obsession
Our daily relationship to the sun is encoded on the cellular level. Circadian rhythms tell our bodies when to calm down at night and when to wake up in the morning, and influence body temperature, blood pressure, and hormone levels. In modern life, though, work and school schedules are much more likely to set the tempo of our lives than the sun. The Quartz Obsession gets in sync.
Matters of Debate
Early failures lead to successful careers. An analysis of scientific grant rejections suggests that what doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
Forest preschools should be taken with a grain of salt. The jury’s still out on how much and what kind of outdoor activity early learners should experience.
AI’s got some explaining to do. If we don’t know how machines make decisions, we shouldn’t trust them to determine our fates.
Surprising discoveries
A language snafu sprang a wanted man from jail. Monaco rejected a US extradition request for a man indicted on insider trading charges because it wasn’t in French.
Mars ejected a NASA probe. For the past year, a robot has worked to slowly but surely bury the instrument; on Sunday, the soil spat it out.
Elizabeth Holmes caused a turtleneck shortage. The Theranos arch-scammer is a very popular Halloween costume, apparently.
Humanity’s ancestral home is in Botswana. A contested genetic analysis claims to pinpoint the origins of Homo sapiens.
Palladium is now the most precious metal. Demand has skyrocketed for the material, which is used in pollution-control devices.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, palladium, and ejected probes to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Susan Howson and Nicolás Rivero.