Good morning, Quartz readers!
Correction: Yesterday’s Daily Brief incorrectly identified the new US national security advisor. It is H.R. McMaster.
What to watch for today
NASA unveils exoplanets. The US space agency is holding a news conference at 1pm EST to present new findings on exoplanets, or planets that orbit stars other than our sun. The event airs live on NASA Television and nasa.gov, and will be followed by a Reddit Q&A. Researchers say we’re in a “Golden Age” of exoplanet discovery.
A glimpse at the Fed’s thinking. The Federal Reserve releases the minutes of its first meeting of 2017, which saw officials vote to leave interest rates unchanged after raising them in December. Economists will be looking for clues on when the Fed expects to raise rates again—its next meeting is in mid-March—and how the central bank might shrink its balance sheet.
What’s going on at Tesla. The electric-car company will report fourth-quarter earnings, after a surprise profit in the third quarter. Analysts are expecting a $160 million loss, and will be looking for Tesla to justify its $44 billion market capitalization. CEO Elon Musk is also expected to give an update on Tesla’s many ventures, including its first mass-market car, the Model 3.
While you were sleeping
The World Bank warned against Trump-era protectionism. The group said that global trade was expected to grow more slowly due to “uncertainty about economic policy” (paywall). While the World Bank did not mention the US president by name, it criticized his administration’s plans to unwind global supply chains.
Walmart had a very good Christmas. The retail giant posted better-than-expected US sales in the fourth quarter after slashing prices and spending heavily on advertising. It also boosted online sales by 29% after launching free two-day shipping to compete with arch-rival Amazon.
Burger King signed a whopper of a deal for fried chicken and biscuits. Canadian fast food company Restaurant Brands International, which also owns Tim Horton’s, is paying $1.8 billion for the fast-food chicken chain Popeyes.
The White House tightened deportation rules. The new policy allows immigration agents, customs officers, and border patrol agents to deport almost anyone living in the US illegally, and expedites the deportation process. The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to hire 10,000 new immigration and customs agents.
Yahoo paid the price for its data breaches. Verizon announced that it will pay $4.48 billion for Yahoo’s core business, $350 million less than its original offer, to reflect the fallout from two massive cyberattacks disclosed by Yahoo last year. Both companies’ shares rose slightly on news of the deal, which they expect to close in the second quarter.
Quartz obsession interlude
Ana Campoy on the bureaucratic backwater of US immigration courts. “The troubling potential for abuse in the system existed long before Trump won election. Critics of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, including its judges, say its very design makes it prone to mismanagement under any White House administration.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Catastrophe is a powerful antidote to inequality. History is rife with examples of massive violent shocks putting an end to wealth disparities.
Facebook is already too powerful. Mark Zuckerberg’s suggestion that the social network could be used for political ends is proof that it need to be limited.
Americans aren’t that attached to democracy. Public support for democratic governance and the rule of law has been waning for some time.
Surprising discoveries
New Zealand might be the tip of a hidden continent. Most of the 2 million square miles comprising “Zealandia” lie beneath the Pacific Ocean.
Buzz Aldrin drank wine on the moon. The astronaut took a quick communion before stepping out of the lunar module in 1969.
SpaceX’s rocket booster is actually a giant robot. The rocket is able to steer itself back to earth without any assistance.
A slave literally mailed himself to freedom. Henry ‘Box’ Brown hid inside a wooden crate for 27 hours to escape a plantation in North Carolina.
The Mall of America is hiring a writer in residence. Candidates can expect to write about their “on-the-fly impressions” over five days in the US’ largest mall.
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