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What to watch for today
Britain’s Parliament temporarily dissolves. The move is necessary now that prime minister Boris Johnson has secured a snap election on Dec. 12 in an attempt to break the Brexit deadlock.
SoftBank details its damage. The Japanese conglomerate is widely expected to reveal large writedowns on its big bets on startups like WeWork and Uber in its latest earnings report.
Facebook outlines new encryption measures. The tech company will expand access to end-to-end encryption on its Messenger platform, defying warnings from governments around the world that enhanced security will aid criminals.
Zimbabwe’s state workers take to the streets. Union leaders said they are protesting after the government refused to pay them US dollar-indexed salaries as a cushion against soaring inflation.
While you were sleeping
Democrats flipped the Virginia Senate and House. They took full control of state government in a presidential battleground for the first time in a generation, following closely watched elections that saw unusually high turnout. Meanwhile in Kentucky, Democrat Andy Beshear claimed victory in the governor race, though Republican incumbent Matt Bevin has yet to concede.
Xerox is considering an HP takeover. The photocopier giant may make a cash-and-stock offer for HP (paywall), the personal computer and printer maker, at a premium to its market value of $27 billion. A marriage of the two legacy household names would help both companies cut costs, as demand for printed documents declines.
At least 15 were killed in an attack in Thailand. Suspected separatist insurgents shot at a security checkpoint in the country’s Muslim-majority southern Yala province, in what authorities said was the biggest gun attack in years.
Australian’s men and women soccer players will get equal pay. In a big boost for gender equality, the national soccer teams—the Matildas and Socceroos—will earn the same amount under a new centralized contract system.
A US ambassador changed his tune. President Donald Trump’s envoy to the EU, Gordon Sondland, altered his impeachment inquiry testimony and acknowledged he told Ukrainian officials that US military aid was contingent on Kyiv investigating Trump’s political rival, Joe Biden.
Quartz Membership
Can design break our plastic addiction? By continuing to equate civilization with the use of more and more resources and energy, we’ve found ourselves stuck in an unsustainable Plastic Age. It doesn’t have to be this way. Join Quartz’s Zoë Schlanger as she examines how some educators and companies have accepted that good design is the only way out.
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Crossword puzzles drive us crazy, but in a good way. The human brain is hard-wired to fill in blanks, and unlike many of the challenges we face in daily life, these are meant to be solved. The Quartz Obsession puzzles through the clues.
Matters of Debate
We should stop trying to raise successful kids. Parents should prioritize nurturing kindness instead.
Design will make or break the 5G revolution. High-speed connections will only be as transformative as the devices we build for them.
Movie theaters shouldn’t exist to make Marvel money. Martin Scorsese says franchise films crowd out standalone movies with more artistic merit.
Surprising discoveries
A South Korean company is offering mass “living funeral” services. The idea is to teach participants life lessons by faking their deaths.
Alaska Airlines is offering airfare sales based on wave sizes. Some of their Hawaii routes will be priced based on swells in a bid to attract surfers and beach-lovers.
South Africa’s Khoisan people will get a share of the rooibos tea business. Members of the indigenous group will receive 1.5% of the value farmers get from tea processors.
A “brain-reading” headband is creeping out Chinese parents. The American device claims to detect how closely students are paying attention.
Parachutes are the next hurdle for space exploration. Rocket scientists are scrambling to perfect a soft landing for reusable spacecraft.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, herbal tea, and life lessons to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Mary Hui and edited by Isabella Steger.