Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
A tense China-South Korea football match. Authorities are stepping up security for the World Cup qualifier in Changsha, China, providing a police escort for visiting South Korean fans. The two countries are in a heated standoff over the deployment of US anti-missile systems in South Korea.
Brazil launches its first defense and communications satellite. It will beam broadband internet to remote parts of the country, while giving military and government personnel secure communications. Embraer subsidiary Visiona is behind the project, which will launch Thursday night from French Guyana.
Congress votes on Donald Trump’s healthcare bill. Democrats and a range of Republicans have all come out against the pivotal legislation, which is designed to replace Obamacare. With 26 GOP representatives publicly refusing to vote “yes,” the bill seems unlikely to pass.
While you were sleeping
At least four people are dead and 20 wounded after an attack on the UK parliament. An attacker, whose name has not been released, drove a car through a crowd on Westminster bridge and fatally stabbed a policeman, before being shot and killed. Police are treating the incident as a terror attack.
Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort got even cozier with Russia… The Associated Press revealed that Manafort had signed a contract worth $10 million with a Russian oligarch after offering to “influence politics, business dealings and news coverage inside the United States, Europe and the former Soviet republics to benefit the Putin government.”
…While a Russian lawyer plunged from a window the day before a blockbuster court date. Nikolai Gorokhov is in critical condition after falling four stories from a Moscow building. He was due to testify in New York in a high-profile money-laundering case that was overseen by the recently fired US attorney general Preet Bharara.
Major companies like Verizon and GSK pulled out of YouTube ads. The fifth-largest US advertiser and world’s sixth-largest pharmaceutical company are among hundreds of brands protesting their ads appearing alongside extremist content.
Tencent profits surged. The WeChat owner said fourth quarter earnings rose 47% percent to 10.53 billion yuan ($1.53 billion) on higher revenues from cloud services and other new businesses. The company is in a pitched battle with rival Alibaba to control the lucrative mobile payments market.
Quartz obsession interlude
Dave Gershgorn on the crime-fighting software that scours itself for bias. “Predictive policing is being adopted across the country—despite being riddled with issues. These algorithms have been shown to disproportionately target minorities, and private companies won’t reveal how their software reached those conclusions.” Read more here.
Markets haiku
Months without drama
on Wall Street. Then came a plunge.
It’s steady once more
Matters of debate
Don’t start your own business—manage someone else’s. Business managers rank higher than founders on happiness and job satisfaction.
Young geeks will save us from political attacks on science. A leading astronomer notes that being a nerd is now a compliment.
Donald Trump has a credibility problem. When his “Black Hawk Down” moment inevitably arrives, Americans won’t believe a word he says.
Surprising discoveries
Scientists figured out why tardigrades are indestructible. The adorable microscopic creatures freeze-dry themselves in hostile conditions.
An pizza investment beat Silicon Valley. Since 2010, Domino’s has outperformed that of Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon.
Some nearby planets may be swapping life. Microbes may be joyriding on meteorites between the seven worlds of the TRAPPIST-1 solar system.
The NBA is addicted to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Teams can’t live without the seductive combination of sugar, salt, protein, carbs—and superstition.
An Irish betting site has hired a manager for unlikely Trump bets. Will the president make it to Mount Rushmore or announce the existence of aliens? Paddy Power will quote you odds.
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