🌍 Space for Europe

Good morning, Quartz readers!

Here’s what you need to know

Europe set a timeline for its next big rocket launch. The much-delayed Ariane-6 project is expected to lift off in mid-2024 and will put the continent’s space program back on the map.

Meta deleted a network of 4,800 accounts it said were created to sow political division in the US. The fake profiles were linked to someone in China, Meta said.

The United Nations’ atomic chief backed nuclear power at COP28. Rafael Mariano Grossi said a major nuclear agreement was likely to come out of the meeting in Dubai.

General Motors said that EV profitability is around the bend. The US carmaker predicts that by 2025, the vehicles will be profitable; Right now, every sale is a loss.

The US drugmaker AbbVie is betting $10 billion on new cancer treatments. A deal to acquire drug developer ImmunoGen would expand its portfolio as profits from its autoimmune disease treatment Humira are waning.

What will be the fate of crypto celebs?

Believe it or not, there’s something Cristiano Ronaldo, Gisele Bündchen, and Larry David all have in common.

The celebrities are all facing lawsuits for endorsing cryptocurrency. While Bündchen and David were caught in FTX’s crosshairs, Ronaldo was just hit with a lawsuit seeking at least $1 billion for his partnership with Binance, which has turned out to be far from the easy win he had hoped. The Al-Nassr captain’s influence was likely significant—the lawsuit alleges a 500% increase in searches for the cryptocurrency exchange because of Ronaldo’s promotion.

But will he really have to cough up the money? If the past is precedent, then the answer is pretty clear.

The 👍’s and 👎’s of Kissinger’s foreign moves

Despite his dismissal of the anti-war movement and disdain for women, scholar-turned-diplomat-turned-advisor Henry Kissinger lived most of his life as a celebrated figure among the rich and powerful in the US. For the rest of the world, not so much.

👎 Kissinger masterminded a “secret war,” illegally carpet bombing both Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam War.

👍 He facilitated Richard Nixon’s February 1972 visit to China and meeting with Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong, ending nearly 25 years of diplomatic isolation between the US and China.

👎 In December 1975, Kissinger and Ford agreed to turn a blind eye to president Suharto of Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor. More than 100,000 East Timorese died during the Indonesian occupation through October 1999.

Read the rest of the ups and downs of Kissinger’s foreign policy as identified by Quartz’s Ananya Bhattacharya.

Quartz’s most popular

🛢️ US oil and gas extraction is at a new high and will likely stay there

🤔 Is joining a talent network ever actually worth it?

⛑️ Why it took 17 days for rescuers in India to get to 41 workers trapped in a mountain tunnel

💊 Japan still has a long way to go before over-the-counter morning-after pills are readily available

🌿 Swedish ivy: A presidential plant

💵 Dollar Tree’s third quarter earnings snapshot

Surprising discoveries

Professional sailing just saw its biggest deal ever. Investors poured more than $40 million into the US team of the international competition SailGP.

Mortadella is having a renaissance in the US. Exports of the Italian specialty grew to 1,200 tons in 2022, up from 786 in 2019.

McDonald’s has spent the last seven years overhauling its burger. The signature item is about to get juicier—and the Hamburglar is coming back.

A library in California lets you check out taxidermy animals. A huge feathered turkey for your living room? No problem.

A rare rat the size of a newborn baby has finally been caught on camera. The vika usually only comes out at night, which, now, is when we will decidedly not be coming out.

Did you know we have two premium weekend emails, too? One gives you analysis on the week’s news, and one provides the best reads from Quartz and elsewhere to get your week started right. You can get those by becoming a member—and take 20% off!

Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, mortadella sandwiches, and Hamburglar iconography to [email protected]. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner.