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What to watch for today and over the weekend
New hospitals for coronavirus patients in Wuhan near completion. Construction of medical centers at ground zero of the outbreak is scheduled to near completion over the weekend, while Hong Kong medical workers urge for stricter measures against the virus in the city-state—threatening a strike. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global health emergency on Thursday.
The big day has arrived for Brexit. The United Kingdom will officially leave the European Union at 11 pm local time today. Britons remain divided over whether or not to celebrate independence after 47 years as an EU member. Meanwhile, a Brexit coin will enter circulation in the UK.
It’s a sports-filled weekend around the globe. The Australian Open wraps up with all eyes on 21-year-old Sofia Kenin, who is poised to gain her first grand slam title, and Novak Djokovic’s bid for an eighth Open championship. Over in Europe, the Rugby 2020 Six Nations championship kicks off. And on Sunday evening local time, the 54th Super Bowl kicks off in Miami between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
While you were sleeping
Amazon joined the four comma club. After reporting a much better than expected fourth-quarter earnings statement, shares of the ecommerce company spiked by over 10% in after-hours trading—pushing Amazon’s market value beyond the $1 trillion mark.
IBM CEO Ginni Rometty stepped down. The pace of change at the top of the world’s largest companies shows no sign of slowing down from a record 2019. IBM’s cloud and data chief Arvind Krishna will serve as Rometty’s replacement.
Uber and DoorDash held merger talks—which failed. SoftBank, an investor in both of the companies, reportedly encouraged the two to consider a merger as competition grows in the food delivery industry. The talks took place last year and failed to result in a deal.
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa canceled his space girlfriend contest. The entrepreneur backed out of a streaming reality TV series to find a partner for his planned SpaceX journey around the moon because of “mixed feelings” about the process. More than 27,000 women reportedly applied.
The Hummer goes electric. In a preview of an upcoming Super Bowl ad, General Motors teased the release of a new battery-powered Hummer pickup truck that is slated to go on sale in the second half of next year.
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Matters of debate
The Super Bowl is TV’s last weapon against streaming. Until live sports move over too, they can sustain regular broadcasting.
Russian bots and trolls are successful because we know about them. They can now achieve their goal of chaos and disorder without doing much at all.
Boeing’s new CEO needs to do more than just listen. The company’s broken culture demands action, not passive attention.
Surprising discoveries
A lot of people think the coronavirus comes from beer. Google search trends reveal a puzzling spike in searches for the “corona beer virus” in recent days.
After 80 years, we’re close to confirming the existence of metallic hydrogen. Scientists have found the strongest evidence yet for the metal—but there’s still a way to go.
The wreck of the Titanic got wrecked all over again. A US research submarine crashed into the sunken ship over the summer and we’re just learning about it now.
No US city fines people like Washington fines people. Residents in DC fork out an average of $261 each, way more than in any other place.
You’ve never seen a photo of the sun like this. A new telescope in Hawaii has captured the most detailed image yet of the solar surface.
Tesla is becoming the “cheaper” electric car. Its luxury rivals are still too expensive, while the entry-level competitors aren’t attractive enough.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, electric monster trucks, and Super Bowl dips 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 brought to you by Patrick deHahn and Max Lockie.