Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Samsung reports yearly earnings. The Korean electronics giant had a tough third quarter, after its Galaxy Note 7’s tendency to spontaneously combust forced a recall. Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba will also report quarterly earnings.
The 2017 Oscar nominations are announced. La La Land, Manchester by the Sea and Lion are among the films picking up hype. Last year, no people of color received nominations for top awards, so the pressure is on to acknowledge films with large African American casts like Moonlight, Hidden Figures and Fences.
Pokemon Go launches in South Korea. Niantic’s augmented reality game can finally be played in South Korea, after an explosive summer launch in the US, Japan and elsewhere. Its release was held up by strict national security laws that withhold access to mapping data.
While you were sleeping
Trump withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The new US president made good on his promise to pull out of predecessor Obama’s signature Asia trade policy proposal. Trump also signed orders to block funding to foreign organizations that promote abortion, and froze hiring for some federal workers.
Syria’s warring parties held talks in Kazakhstan. Russia, which backs embattled president Bashar al-Assad, and Turkey, which supports Syria’s rebels, pushed both sides toward a truce. Russia, Turkey and Iran are reportedly hoping to announce a ceasefire on Tuesday.
Europol announced the seizure of 3,500 stolen artworks. Eighteen countries coordinated to track down 75 people charged with the theft. Half were archeological objects, including a Byzantine picture of Saint George and an Ottoman tombstone.
Sprint bought 33% of Tidal for $200 million. Rapper Jay Z looks to have made a tidy profit since buying Tidal for $56 million in 2015. The streaming service will grow its customer base by giving free access to Sprint’s 45 million subscribers.
Theresa May said she’ll visit China soon. The UK prime minister is likely looking to capitalize on cooling US-China relations by speaking up for free trade in Beijing. Ties between London and Beijing weakened after chancellor George Osborne stepped down last summer.
Quartz obsession interlude
Jason Karaian and David Yanofsky on how the global elite get to Davos. “Amid a populist upheaval and growing anti-establishment fervor, the gathering of the global elite in Davos this year was expected to be a more sober, soul-searching affair. But judging from helicopter traffic into the posh Swiss ski resort last week, Davos bigwigs aren’t in a mood to skimp. An analysis by Quartz identified just one fewer helicopter operation in Davos during the World Economic Forum in 2017 than the year before.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Hiring for “cultural fit” kills diversity. Recruiters tend to choose people whose backgrounds mirror their own.
The state should take over parenting of “at risk” kids. To keep Icelandic kids off the street, Reykjavik imposes strict curfews and requires youth participation in recreational clubs.
If you don’t trust your employees to work remotely, you shouldn’t have hired them. The freedom to work whenever and wherever naturally weeds out bad actors.
Surprising discoveries
The year’s best children’s book is about a Brooklyn graffiti artist. Radiant Child, a book about late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, won the Randolph Caldecott Medal.
The new US White House press secretary is in a five-year feud with Dippin’ Dots. Sean Spicer really doesn’t like the colorful balls of ice cream.
Belgium’s parliament serves free booze. Since the 1990s, the country has offered alcoholic beverages to members of parliament to keep them in their seats during sessions.
Ants have a trick to find their way home, backwards. Since ants depend on visual cues to navigate, they turn around and peek to avoid getting lost.
Napping in public is a sign of diligence in Japan. ”Inemuri,” translated as “sleeping on duty” or “sleeping while present” means that you have worked yourself to exhaustion.
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