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What to watch for today
Hong Kong steels itself for a difficult day. A surge in violence even during daytime hours has resulted in a protester shot by police and another man set on fire. Universities have suspended classes Tuesday as the city braces for dangerous levels of unrest.
SCOTUS hears arguments on Dreamers. Lower courts have resisted US president Donald Trump’s 2017 decision to end the Barack Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which shields immigrants known as Dreamers. The Supreme Court’s ruling, expected in 2020, will decide the fate of Dreamers currently caught in limbo.
Disney+ is here. The entertainment giant’s long-anticipated streaming service hits small screens in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, and India, featuring the first-ever live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian. The rest of Asia will have to wait months, or in some cases more than a year, before they can get a glimpse.
While you were sleeping
Alibaba’s Singles Day broke records. Seemingly unaffected by the Hong Kong protests or trade tensions, China’s biggest e-commerce day saw $38 billion in gross merchandise volume. It was the first Singles Day without founder Jack Ma at the helm, and indicated strong Chinese consumption despite a slowing economy.
The Brexit party held out an olive branch. Party leader Nigel Farage said that in the upcoming elections, Brexiters won’t challenge any seats won by Conservatives in the last go-round. The move is an attempt to pave the way for prime minister Boris Johnson to complete Brexit, and thwart Labour party efforts to block a deal.
SpaceX expanded Starlink. On its fourth flight, the company’s reusable rocket booster launched 60 satellites to expand its orbital broadband network. Founder Elon Musk hopes Starlink will compete with terrestrial internet providers to offer broadband connections to consumers.
WeWork wants T-Mobile’s John Legere to be its new CEO. Legere, known for his magenta attire, Twitter disses, and over-the-top Sunday cooking videos, is in talks to become the steady hand who will restore order to We after founder Adam Neumann’s ouster.
Amazon announced its third grocery store brand. Not content with Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh, the company confirmed it was opening a non-Amazon-Go brick-and-mortar outside Los Angeles to get an even stronger foothold in the food industry. The brand’s name and defining traits have not yet been released.
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Big Tech has grown too big. The question is no longer whether something needs to be done to tame Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple, but what and how soon. Quartz reporter Alison Griswold addresses those questions in this week’s field guide.
Quartz Obsession
Graves are going green. Thousands of people every year are giving up on funeral homes, formaldehyde, and coffins and returning to nature as their forebears did—wrapped in a shroud, placed in a simple hole in the earth, with no trace of their resting place amid the birds, bees, and nematodes. Dig in with the Quartz Obsession.
Matters of Debate
Airlines are selling out the planet for pennies. A cost-saving practice called “fuel tankering” has an outsized impact on the environment.
Killer robots are on the way. Governments’ refusals to regulate or ban autonomous weapons guarantee that they will be made.
It’s okay to be a people-pleaser. You don’t need to fight the instinct to be generous, considerate, and helpful—just work on saying “no.”
Surprising discoveries
Australia started to complain that there’s no rain. For the first time in recorded history, not a drop fell on the entire continent.
A screaming penguin is New Zealand’s bird of the year. The hoiho won in an election upset, while Australia’s own contest was marred by accusations of fowl play.
Couples’ cosmetics are on the rise. Matching makeup is nothing new for same-sex couples, but straight men are finally getting in on the trend.
Egypt dug up a lion mummy. Archaeologists often find mummified cats, but if confirmed, this would be one of the first preserved lions.
A Twitch streamer is on pace to game 570 hours this month. Andrew “GiantWaffle” Bodine is sleeping three hours a night and playing 19 hours a day in pursuit of a new record.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, precipitation, and penguin shrieks 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.