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Here’s what you need to know
Canada will bring in a record number of immigrants. The government is planning to offer residency to 1.3 million overseas citizens by 2024 to accelerate economic growth. Meanwhile, prime minister Justin Trudeau invoked emergency powers to end protests against covid mandates.
US regulators are investigating block trades by big banks. The Securities and Exchange Commission wants to know more about investors’ relations with bankers, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Fears of a Russian invasion in Ukraine appeared to recede a little. Russia withdrew some troops from the border, saying they’d completed their drills, and left the door open for more talks.
Donald Trump’s former accountants called his financial statements unreliable. Mazars also cut ties with the ex-US president, telling the Trump Organization that the documents should no longer be used as evidence, court filings revealed.
Novak Djokovic could sacrifice his tennis career over vaccines. “That is the price that I’m willing to pay,” he told BBC News when asked whether he could miss Wimbledon or the French Open because of his controversial stance.
Kamila Valieva blamed her grandfather’s medicine for her positive drugs test. The 15-year-old Russian skater—cleared to compete, but with allegations still hanging over her—said her sample must have been contaminated, an Olympic official told reporters.
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What to watch for
This week, five major hospitality companies—Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Wyndham, and Airbnb—will report on their fourth-quarter earnings. All are expected to report an increase in revenue spurred by an uptick in holiday season travel.
Industry leaders insist that travel and tourism will come back even stronger in 2022, as people make up for the trips they couldn’t take in the past two years.
Airbnb in particular is anticipating more people will be on the move for longer, as companies adopt flexible policies that allow people to work from anywhere. The company reported an increase in bookings for a month or more at the end of 2021.
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India’s biggest IPO is finally here
On Sunday, India’s largest state-run insurer, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), filed its draft red herring prospectus for an initial public offer with markets regulator Sebi. The government is offering to sell 316 million shares, or 5% of the equity, to raise up to 65,000 crore rupees ($8.6 billion)—the biggest in the history of Indian capital markets. If that happens, it will surpass the previous record set by digital payments company Paytm, which raised Rs18,300 crore in November 2021.
While the dates for the IPO are not known yet, it is expected to take place by March.
$500 billion: Assets managed by LIC
60%: Share of India’s life insurance market LIC holds, by premiums
$71.3 billion: LIC’s embedded value—a measure of future cash flows in life insurance companies—according to its draft prospectus
$150 billion: The company’s likely market value, according to market analysts
Remote events are about to get a whole lot better
For decades, event organizers have striven to improve physical events by making sure there’s “not a bad seat in the house.” To that end, physical venues have benefited from advances in architecture, investments in wifi to power in-person second screen experiences, and innovations in audio-visual systems.
Now the events industry needs to put the same type of thinking into making hybrid events successful. It should start with a shift in mindset about the value of remote attendees.
🔮 Our Next 10 Years series explores how industries marked by rapid change are adapting and evolving.
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Surprising discoveries
The “Baby Shark” song on repeat would be miserable, right? Apparently not for protestors in New Zealand.
Friends returned to China, with some edits. There’s no mention of Ross’s ex-wife being a lesbian.
DNA testing could help find poachers. The technology isn’t just for catching serial killers.
So, it’s not a SpaceX rocket crashing into the Moon. It’s a Chinese spacecraft launched for a lunar mission in 2014.
Is egg freezing the 401(k) of fertility? Kind of… just listen to the latest episode of the Quartz Obsession podcast, we’ll explain.
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Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, baby sharks (doo doo doo), and Central Perk coffee 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, Camille Squires, Mimansa Verma, Liz Webber, and Morgan Haefner.