Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
James Mattis heads to Asia. The new US defense secretary will meet his South Korean counterpart to discuss North Korea’s missile program, before travelling to Japan on Friday. Mattis is expected to emphasize US security commitments to its allies.
The Bank of England issues its interest rate decision… The central bank is widely expected to keep rates steady, as the economy has surpassed expectations since the Brexit vote. The bank will also release its updated inflation forecast.
…And Theresa May publishes her Brexit plan. The UK prime minister will lay out a white paper detailing her EU withdrawal plans, including the status of EU nationals living in Britain. Parliament overwhelmingly voted to move forward with Brexit on Wednesday.
While you were sleeping
Facebook earnings demolished expectations, once again. Revenue rose by 51%, easily surpassing what most analysts had forecast, as daily active users rose to a staggering 1.23 billion. Separately, Facebook and several of its employees were ordered by a jury to pay $500 million to a company called ZeniMax, which had claimed that Facebook’s Oculus Rift VR device improperly used its code.
Rex Tillerson was confirmed as US secretary of state. The former CEO of Exxon Mobil will guide president Donald Trump’s “America first” foreign policy. Tillerson was narrowly confirmed by the Senate in a 56 to 43 vote, due in part to concerns about his ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged. Officials pointed to rising business and consumer confidence following Trump’s victory, and restated their predictions of moderate economic growth. The central bank said little about when it would raise borrowing costs next, given the uncertainty created by a new administration.
Iran tested a new missile. The country’s defense minister said the launch did not breach the Islamic Republic’s nuclear deal with world powers, or a UN Security Council resolution endorsing the agreement. US national security advisor Michael Flynn said that the US was officially putting Iran on notice for its “destabilizing activity.”
Beyoncé announced her pregnancy with a photo only she could have pulled off. The pop star revealed that she is carrying twins via a striking Instagram self-portrait.
Quartz obsession interlude
Tim Fernholz on the Republican plot to kill corporate income tax as we know it. “A border adjustment—and the consumption tax behind it—deserves consideration because it is what Trump might propose if he were interested in crafting policy not with the aim of offending trade partners, liberals, and the Republican establishment, but rather with the goal of bringing investment back to the US while still conceding the reality of a globalized economy.” Read more here.
Quartz markets haiku
Apple is surging
and Facebook soars. No wonder
tech is talking back.
Matters of debate
Scientists shouldn’t march on Washington. It would bolster the far-right rhetoric that science is a special interest group.
Reading dystopian literature will help you resist Trump. Sinclair Lewis and Octavia Butler predicted Trumpian tropes decades ago—and showed how to defeat them.
Silicon Valley needs to stop being scared of sex. Female “sextech” founders in New York City are working to enhance intimate experiences.
Surprising discoveries
Swaddling can help new mothers too. A Kyoto midwife claims that it helps overcome post-natal discomfort.
Johnny Depp spent $3 million firing Hunter S. Thompson’s ashes out of a cannon. Depp’s former managers listed the event under a list of impressive expenses.
For $40 a night in Tokyo, you can sleep in a bookshelf. The library-hostel is strictly for book fanatics who don’t mind being uncomfortable.
Boston Dynamics’ latest robot has wheels and is terrifying. The Alphabet-owned company admits that “Handle” is “nightmare-inducing.”
Americans are worried about a bacon shortage. But it turns out the panic was nothing more than a marketing stunt from pork producers.
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