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Here’s what you need to know
The Tokyo Olympics is losing its chief. Yoshiro Mori is expected to resign after recent sexist remarks spurred a swift backlash.
China banned the BBC. Following the UK ban of a Chinese network over a lack of independent oversight, Beijing alleged the BBC “undermined China’s national interests and ethnic solidarity.”
Western Europe reacted to Myanmar. Both the UK and EU want the UN human rights council to demand access for monitors and “strongly deplore” the military coup, while EU lawmakers called for sanctions from member nations.
India issued a stern warning to social media. After Twitter failed to fully comply with demands to shutter accounts, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad warned that US-based social media companies must abide by India’s constitution.
Joe Biden has China on his mind. Pointing to high-speed rail and clean energy projects, the US president hit on the need to “step up” US infrastructure efforts while his team pledged an aggressive plan to address the chip shortage.
What to watch for
🐂 It’s the Year of the Ox. Today is the Lunar New Year, which kicks off celebratory periods of varying lengths in different countries, with China’s culminating in the Spring Festival on Feb. 26. But, as with everything these days, it won’t be quite the same.
Here’s what many Lunar New Year revelers will have to go without:
Travel: It’s the second Spring Festival that Covid-19 has ruined, though last year, China waited until the last minute to begin lockdowns, leaving many stranded. This year, the government has imposed testing and observation periods on domestic travel to discourage movement between cities.
Lobster. The crustacean—largely shipped from the US—is especially popular during Lunar New Year for its auspicious color. But just as the Chinese and US governments had reached an agreement that would undo some of the damage the trade war did to the industry, Covid-19 prompted Beijing to restrict imports from foreign countries.
Cash: The traditional money-bearing red envelopes will be a lot slimmer this year, as many gift-givers opt to avoid piles of cash touched by other people and instead pull out the old checkbook.
Charting Robinhood’s surging valuation
Robinhood shares saw 50% growth last month as investors dashed to claim a piece of the brokerage app behind the GameStop saga. According to data from Rainmaker Securities, secondary market bids for Robinhood shares equate to a $40 billion valuation, nearly double its proposed IPO value.
Judging by Robinhood’s growth, despite missteps like its self-inflicted black eye after delisting lottery stocks, investors seem to believe the app is impervious to everything from worries over the sustainability of its business model to hefty regulatory fines.
Clubhouse shows how not to run a meeting
Clubhouse, the buzzy new app exploding in popularity, essentially facilitates conference calls among internet strangers. We know the amateur moderators are doing their best, but the chaos of the app’s rooms just so happens to put on spectacular display many of the common pitfalls of running a meeting. If your goal is the worst meeting ever, follow Clubhouse’s lead:
📝 Set no agenda. Agendas keep meetings focused on the core issues that everyone showed up to discuss.
📣 Let men steamroll women. You won’t need much help on this one—it’s a universal phenomenon.
🤓 Don’t do your homework. Whether you’re hosting a Clubhouse room, a business meeting, or a conference panel, nothing sets participants up for failure faster than not knowing exactly who they are.
Jokes aside, Quartz’s field guides on the digital workplace and remote teams can help make any virtual interactions run smoothly, on Clubhouse or elsewhere.
You asked about variants and vaccines
Will vaccines work against the new Covid-19 variants?
For the most part, mutations don’t make the SARS-CoV-2 virus that different from previous strains, which means most vaccines should be somewhat protective against them. Even if a vaccine can’t protect against all cases, the initial immune response should be enough to tame would-be severe ones. And so far, there is limited evidence that any of these variants make Covid-19 infections more severe.
That said, South Africa halted deployment of the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this week after a preliminary study showed it to be less effective against the B.1.351 variant first identified in that country. Janssen and Novavax also reported their respective vaccines prevented fewer cases in South Africa than elsewhere. There’s no data on whether the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines will work well against this variant yet—they were tested before it was prevalent—but Moderna has said it’s testing boosters for it presently.
All that uncertainty highlights why it’s still best to avoid getting Covid-19 at all, which means staying vigilant with the same old pandemic precautions: hand-washing, physical distancing, and wearing a mask (or two) when inside public spaces.
Surprising discoveries
Cinemas in South Korea found a new way to make money. Up to four gamers can rent a big screen for $90 for two hours.
Inadequate healthcare has killed more Americans than Covid-19. A study found there were 461,000 excess deaths in the US in 2018.
The US ambassador to Vietnam dropped a Lunar New Year rap. The music video features Vietnamese rapper Wowy.
Why does this flower photo get 78 million hits a day? It appears to be an unintended consequence of India’s TikTok ban.
Six 18th-century pirate skeletons were found in a wreck near Massachusetts. Researchers hope one of them belongs to legendary captain Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy.
Yesterday, we told you to watch out for Bumble’s earnings announcement. In fact, the dating app company’s market debut was Thursday. We hope you’ll still swipe right on the Quartz Daily Brief!
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, Clubhouse etiquette tips, and internet-famous flowers 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 Nicolás Rivero, Katherine Ellen Foley, Jordan Lebeau, Liz Webber, and Susan Howson.