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What to watch for today
Myanmar goes to court. Leader Aung San Suu Kyi will appear at The Hague to defend her government’s actions towards the Muslim Rohingya minority. Gambia filed suit last month at the International Court of Justice, accusing Myanmar of acts of genocide.
Nobel Prizes are handed out, amid controversy. Winners will receive their awards at a Stockholm ceremony, among them Peace Prize recipient and Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed, who has skirted the event’s usual press conferences amid recent violent clashes at home.
Donald Trump meets Russia’s foreign minister. The US president and secretary of state Mike Pompeo will hold talks on bilateral relations with Sergei Lavrov in Washington.
Argentina’s new government takes power. Alberto Fernández, a Peronist aligned with the region’s left, will be sworn in as the country’s president. Neighbor Brazil is only sending its vice president to attend the ceremony as a sign of the animosity between its right-wing president Jair Bolsanaro and Fernández.
While you were sleeping
Ukraine and Russia reached a ceasefire. The two countries met at a summit in Paris following over five years of fighting in the east of Ukraine. They agreed to release and exchange all prisoners by the end of the year and disengage soldiers in three more regions by March.
A Chilean plane disappeared en route to the Antarctic. A military aircraft heading to an air base on King George Island that was carrying 38 people went missing in the Drake Passage, known for its turbulent weather.
A US justice department report on the origins of the Russia probe satisfied neither party. In the document, inspector general Michael Horowitz pointed out FBI mistakes but determined that accusations of conspiracies against Trump were unfounded.
New Zealand said there are no signs of life following the volcanic eruption. Five people have been confirmed dead, and another eight are presumed dead following the eruption on White Island yesterday. The government said it would launch a criminal investigation into the tragedy.
India moved ahead on a controversial citizenship bill. The lower house of parliament passed a bill that offers naturalization to non-Muslim illegal immigrants from its neighbors, seen as further cementing the government’s Hindu nationalist agenda. It now goes to the upper house.
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Matters of debate
Give your son a doll. Boys should be encouraged to subvert gender expectations and care for others.
Native American art should take its rightful place. It doesn’t belong with African and Pacific Islands collections.
Studying philosophy is worth it. After all, we can’t escape the question of what matters and why.
Surprising discoveries
A Colorado businessman’s whisky collection is set to fetch millions. There are more than 3,900 bottles on auction, some very rare.
Dance can treat depression and brain diseases. Our bodies are deeply interconnected with our minds.
A Chinese library held an old-fashioned book burning. The episode, widely criticized on Chinese social media, echoed a dark history of intellectual repression.
TikTok is promoting wholesome hashtags in India. It’s trying to clean up its act after authorities banned the app there for allegedly spreading child porn.
An international sea cucumber kingpin was caught red-handed. US border officials found 46 of the Chinese delicacies in the bag of a man who was crossing over the southern border.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, rescued books, and dolls for your son to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app on iOS or Android, and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Isabella Steger and edited by Tripti Lahiri.