š Meta wants subscribers
Good morning, Quartz readers!
Hereās what you need to know
Facebook and Instagramās parent company launched a subscription service. The offering, called Meta Verified, costs $11.99 per month and targets content creators.
The US said China is considering arming Russia. US secretary of state Antony Blinken cited new information indicating that China may escalate its support of Russia to include weapons and ammunition.
Ola Electric earmarked $920 million for EVs. The Bengaluru-based company announced its investment not long after India discovered a major deposit of lithium, which is used to make batteries and electric cars.
North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile. Pyongyang claimed the launch was in response to US-South Korea military drills.
A famous Japanese pop musician academy is reopening. The Okinawa Actors School, which helped produce celebrities like Namie Amuro, is looking for a class of new superstars.
What to watch for
US president Joe Biden is expected to arrive in Poland tomorrow (Feb. 21), where heās due to give a speech pledging continued support for Ukraine a few days ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russiaās invasion of its southwestern neighbor.
Bidenās trip to Poland coincides with Russian president Vladimir Putinās annual State of the Nation address, scheduled for tomorrow. A year ago on that date, Putin recognized Ukraineās separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent and, instead of the customary address, he gave a belligerent speech in the early hours of Feb. 24 before Russian tanks began rolling into Ukraine.
The US has committed nearly $30 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russiaās invasion, but with the Republican party now holding a majority in the House of Representatives, it remains to be seen how much additional aid US lawmakers will commit to supporting the country.
World Bank leadership needs a shakeup
The World Bank president is stepping down. Appointed by US president Donald Trump in 2019, David Malpass resigned months after he faced criticism for being a climate-change denier. Now, the question is who will take his place.
For the past nearly 80 years, the US has appointed a steady stream of American bankers or economists to lead the institution. Itās high time for a change. As an international institution, it would make sense for the World Bankās leadership to reflect its global priorities. (After all, diversity in leadership these days is in short supply.)
But it doesnāt seem like the Biden administration is in the mood to break the World Bank presidencyās unwritten code. Rajiv Shah, the head of the Rockefeller Foundation; Samantha Power, the former US ambassador to the UN; and Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of PepsiCo, have been floated as replacements for Malpassāand all three are American.
The label behind BTS wants more control of K-pop
Hybe, the company behind Korean boy band BTS, one of the most popular musical groups in the world, is going on a buying spree.
It recently bought a 15% stake in rival firm SM Entertainment, and reportedly offered to buy an additional 25%. The combined investment would be worth $900 million, good for 40%āand controlāof one of K-popās most powerful companies. Naturally, the deal is raising the eyebrows of South Koreaās antitrust regulators.
ā¦ Love reading Quartzās latest hits? Help keep our content free and accessible by picking up an annual membership. Daily Brief readers get 50% off.
Quartzās most popular
š£ļø George Soros says Narendra Modi must answer for Adani row
š§ How to recover from a layoff, according to positive psychology
š¶āš«ļø A Chinese billionaire banker has gone missing
šŖ§ Tesla fired workers in Buffalo where a union campaign is underway
šŖ Google and Twitter are shrinking their footprints in India
š§ What to do when you encounter unhelpful pay ranges on job postings
Surprising discoveries
Plants make distress calls with the same chemical thatās used to manage Parkinsonās disease. L-DOPA is communicated through roots as a cry for help.
Baby shrimp have disco ball eyes... Larvae are basically invisible to predators because theyāre transparent and make the sea reflect off their little orbs.
ā¦and cuttlefish have incredible 3D vision. Their eyesight is so good that robot makers are copying them.
Pickles and ranch are hot pizza topics. But they still have nothing on mushrooms.Ā
It may pay to be dumb. Smarts only lead to higher wages up to a certain point, then itās all luck and who you know, one Swedish study found.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, disco balls, and ranch pizza to [email protected]. Reader support makes Quartz available to allābecome a member. Todayās Daily Brief was brought to you by Diego Lasarte, Sofia Lotto Persio, Julia Malleck, and Morgan Haefner.