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Hereās what you need to know
The US is sending about 3,000 troops to eastern Europe. US service members will go to Poland and Romania to help NATO allies with any threat of Russia invading Ukraine. Separately, the US army has started discharging soldiers who arenāt vaccinated against covid-19.
The EU wants to count nuclear energy and natural gas as sustainable. Commission officials said there are strict limits on what qualifies as āsustainable,ā but many bloc members balked at the move.
Covid cases are up in Hong Kong and Tokyo. Hong Kong is seeing more untraceable cases, while Tokyo recorded 20,000 daily infections for the first time. Meanwhile, Germany is lifting some limits on large events, and Tonga has locked down after recording its first cases.
India called out US tech giants. The Indian government said Google, Twitter, and Facebook arenāt doing enough to moderate fake news on their platforms, according to Reuters.
Facebookās latest earnings disappointed. The companyās stock plunged more than 18% in after-hours trading yesterday because of the weaker results.
None of Beijingās snow will be real. Itās the first Winter Olympics to rely 100% on the fake stuff.
Our Need to Know: Beijing Olympics newsletter, though, is the genuine article.
What to watch for
The earnings reports for video game giants Activision Blizzard and Nintendo arrive today on the heels of two multibillion-dollar deals from Microsoft and Sony. Because of its pending acquisition by Microsoft, Activision wonāt hold a conference call, but its numbers will nevertheless be under the microscope as the market compares its 2021 results against its $68.7 billion sale price.
Nintendoās story is a bit more uncertain as a global chip shortage continues to affect sales of its Switch console, while its Animal Crossing: New Horizons game remains a pandemic hit. One of the main questions is what Nintendoās metaverse play might be, even though Animal Crossing is kind of a mini-metaverse. The company didnāt mention it in its last investor briefing, but as the major game studios consolidate and metaverse plans ramp up, the market will be looking for some indication that Nintendo plans to join the virtual party.
Will the Washington Commanders rebrand pay off?
The National Football Leagueās Washington Football Team, formerly the Redskins, has a new name: the Washington Commanders. Brand analysts say the cost of a rebrand could be worth it if it helps win back some of the teamās shrinking fan base.
There are certainly opportunities to profit from new merchandise and licensing deals that come from the rebrand, but the team will likely have to overcome some skepticism about the new name at first.
$10 million: Estimated cost for a sports team to replace merchandise, uniforms, stadium signage, and everything else when it changes its name
19%: Drop in attendance at Washington home games since 2020
26: Rank of Washingtonās fan base, out of 32 NFL teams, using measures such as game attendance and social media following
The next big computing revolution
Quantum computing isnāt just sci-fi hypeāit could catalyze a technological revolution, spurring innovation in personalized medicine, self-driving cars, better public transit routes, and more.
ā¦ Dive deeper into the state of quantum computing in our latest presentation, exclusive to Quartz members.
Handpicked Quartz
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š” Spainās new āright to housingā law enshrines rent control nationwide
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Surprising discoveries
Need some juice for your electric vehicle? One day, maybe you can drive through this planned wireless charging road in Michigan.
CAR T-cell therapy is working. The treatment has cured certain blood cancers.
Watch out for fake covid-19 test sites. As if we needed one more thing to stress about.
India is sending one athlete to Beijing. If skier Arif Khan medals, itāll be the countryās first for the Winter Games.
The first puffer jacket was a formal ball gown topper. Or was it a coat for Everest climbers? Find out in the first episode of the Quartz Obsession podcastās second season.
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Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, tickets to ski in Gulmarg, and coats to wear on the slopes to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Todayās Daily Brief was brought to you by Adario Strange, Courtney Vinopal, Jasmine Teng, Morgan Haefner, and Liz Webber.