Good morning, Quartz readers!
Here’s what you need to know
Georgia elects two US senators. The immediate future of the incoming Biden administration hangs on whether the Democratic party can take effective control of the Senate today.
The NYSE took a U-turn. The bourse canceled its plan to delist three Chinese state-owned telecom giants, just days after it first announced its compliance with an executive order.
Google employees unionized for the first time. The Alphabet Workers Union is a result of years of activism.
London lost almost all its European share business. On the first day of trading after Brexit was finally completed, $7.4 billion moved out of the City and into Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Paris.
Most of the UK is back in lockdown. The extra-contagious coronavirus strain, first identified there several months ago, threatens to overwhelm medical facilities. The new variant is also in the US.
Israel approved Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine. It is the US drugmaker’s first regulatory authorization outside of North America.
Saudi Arabia is set to lift its embargo on Qatar. The long-running Gulf dispute, with the Saudis accusing their neighbor of supporting terrorism, finally ends ahead of a regional summit in Riyadh today.
What to watch for
Today, Tokyo’s famous Toyosu market holds its first auctions of 2021, where Japan’s fish industry—and the world that relies upon it—may get a sense of how it is weathering Covid-19.
45,461 kg: Amount of fresh bluefin tuna sold at Toyosu market on Dec. 14, 2020, the same day the Japanese government announced new restaurant restrictions. Toyosu traditionally supplies restaurants, but many wholesalers are shifting towards direct-to-consumer sales because of the pandemic.
8.4%: Drop in tuna prices in Aug. 2020, year over year—significantly more dire than the overall drop in fish prices.
$15.7 billion: Net worth of global tuna imports, with Japan accounting for the largest share.
¥333 million ($3.2 million): Highest price in Toyosu history, set in 2019, for one bluefin tuna.
3-5 minutes: Amount of time a human must “work” a tuna tail to evaluate quality. AI-based apps like Tuna Scope are attempting to disrupt a highly prized, high-touch industry by determining quality based on a snapshot.
Charting the fear gauge
While the S&P 500 index of large US stocks closed out 2020 at a record-high, the VIX index, often called the market’s “fear gauge,” has yet to return to levels seen before the pandemic erupted. The VIX tracks stock options tied to the S&P 500 index; it’s a gauge of traders’ expectations for the range of prices for the index to trade in over the coming month.
The benchmark is hovering at nearly double last year’s level—suggesting a new normal relative to the placid expectations of recent years, and compared with the exuberance in the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 that soared more than 45% in 2020.
Ethiopia’s multi-billion dollar near miss
Senior officials at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum say the government is set to rescind an agreement with a US-based self-described energy firm after an investigation by Quartz Africa revealed the company had no petroleum industry expertise or technical credentials.
After the story was published, one local social media user drove to the company’s listed address in Virginia, and found empty office space, with no sign of an extraction company in the area.
When probed about the agreement earlier this year, Ethiopia’s minister of mines Takele Uma told Quartz Africa he was unaware of GreenComm’s existence, saying he had “no clue.” His predecessor, Samuel Urkato, who has since gone on to become Ethiopia’s minister of science and higher education, acknowledged the existence of the deal when reached by phone, but refused to speak any further, hanging up and ending the call. Zecharias Zelalem brings you the latest on the Ethiopian oil scandal.
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Surprising discoveries
The Vagina Dialogues. Diva, a new 107-foot sculpture was meant to start a conversation. Mission accomplished.
Will Venezuela have an all-digital economy? With a worthless bolivar, president Nicolás Maduro says paper money will eventually disappear.
He said yes. A nurse administering vaccines was surprised to see his boyfriend come in for his first dosage with an even sweeter surprise up his sleeve.
A shiny new milestone. A ring with more than 12,000 diamonds has set a new world Guinness record.
A US House rep must leave her Glock at home. Washington police insist Lauren Boebert will be held to the same strict gun laws as everyone else.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, outlandish diamond rings, and nurses to wear them to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Hasit Shah, Jane Li, Mary Hui, Susan Howson, and Jordan LeBeau.