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Birkenstockās stock hit its IPO issue price... Itās the first time since stepping into the market a month and a half ago that BIRK tried on $46 for size.
ā¦while Mexicoās biggest IPO since 2018 stumbled at the finish line. The industrial property trust Fibra Next failed to get the appropriate go-ahead from tax authorities and is hitting pause.
Revised third quarter GDP numbers showed that the US economy grew even faster than first thought. The growth rate was edited from 4.9% to 5.2%, but high interest rates could cool those jets.
Saudi Arabia has offered Iran an investment if it does what it can to stop the Israel-Hamas war from spilling outward. The Kingdom is also working with the US and other Arab allies to curb Tehranās influence in the conflict.
The US could see another monster healthcare deal. Two of the countryās largest health insurers, Cigna and Humana, are reportedly in talks to merge.
A lot of climate talk and no walk
The US is extracting a record-breaking amount of oil and gas, and fastābetween now and 2050, one third of the worldās planned oil and gas expansion will be in the US.
That contradicts US president Joe Bidenās rhetoric about the dangerous and expensive impacts of climate change, as well as his administrationās moves to encourage clean energy investment, boost electric vehicle sales, and cut carbon emissions.
Biden is skipping COP28 in Dubai. There, US climate envoy John Kerry and other officials pushing to limit global temperature rise to 1.5Ā°C must get buy-in from almost 200 nations. Among them: oil and gas powerhouses Russia, Saudi Arabia, and, COP 28ās host, the UAE. But when it comes to fossil fuels and climate change, the US isnāt the only nation saying one thing and doing another. Oil rich nations, for one, are behaving badly.
Japan is trialing increased access to morning-after pills
For the first time, Japan is considering providing emergency contraception without a prescription.
A trial run of over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill started yesterday. The decision comes nearly six months after the government started debating whether emergency contraception should be accessible without a prescription, as it is in about 90 other nations, including countries in North America, most of the EU, and some of Asia.
While the trial is a step toward increased access, thereās no guarantee of it becoming a formalized policyāmeaning Japan still has a long way to go before over-the-counter morning-after pills are readily available.
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Surprising discoveries
A book about all the books was published. The Book by Design is about the history of bookmaking.
A rare N.C. Wyeth painting bought at a thrift store for $4 didnāt sell for $191,000. The buyer ended up backing out after the piece was auctioned off.
People are spending thousands of dollars to decorate modern dollhouses. A mini $169 apothecary chest and a tiny $275 Akita are just some of their prized pieces.
A perfectly in-sync solar system was found in our galaxy. The innermost planet completes six orbits in the same time it takes the outermost to complete one.
The Oval Office has long been home to a very special plant. Swedish ivy isnāt Swedish, and it really isnāt even ivy. The mint relative was the topic of our latest Weekly Obsession email. Subscribe to get it in your inbox each week.
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Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, books about books, and ivy thatās really ivy to talk@qz.com. Todayās Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner.