đ The SEC's first NFT win
Good morning, Quartz readers!
Hereâs what you need to know
US regulators have turned their attention to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged an NFT project with selling unregistered securities for the first time.
Furniture company Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams abruptly shut down. The sudden closure will affect more than 500 US workers.Â
Union membership boosts workersâ salaries. The median American union worker earns 20% more than their non-union counterpart.
3M agreed to pay more than $5.5 billion to resolve 300,000 lawsuits. The US conglomerate faced claims that it sold defective combat earplugs to the US military.
Hong Kong has a new public enemy
Hong Kongâs national security police has put opposition politicians behind bars, chased activists into exile, atomized civil society, and decimated the Hong Kong independent media. Now, it has a new target: the Cantonese language.
Gongjyuhok, a Hong Kong advocacy group that promotes the use of Cantonese, announced yesterday that itâs shutting down after authorities demanded it remove a dystopian short story.
Cantonese is the lingua franca of Hong Kong and is intimately tied to Hong Kongersâ identity as distinct from the mostly Mandarin-speaking mainlandâand Gongjyhokâs effort to protect and promote the Cantonese language is standing in direct defiance of Beijingâs ongoing effort to repress the linguistic identity of Hong Kong.
And in China, âdeâ is the enemy
The Westâs push to decouple and derisk from China threatens to derail the countryâs economic ambitions. Beijing knows this: Just look at how eager Chinese state media was to portray Elon Musk as the governmentâs âideal foreign investorâ when the Tesla CEO visited China in May. But old habits are hard to break. A Caixin editorial argued that the Chinese governmentâs continued insularity is undermining foreign investment, a worrying trend that is âdecidedly detrimental toâŚpursuing high-quality development.â
As pessimism around Chinaâs economy reaches a fever pitch, Quartzâs Mary Hui explained in the latest Weekend Briefâour member-exclusive emailâthat there isnât a single factor behind this period of economic instability, but several competing ones.
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One big number: 5,821
The number of American Airlines passengers trapped on the tarmac in instances that lasted longer than three hours from 2018-2021âmostly at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
US regulators slapped the airline with a $4.1 million fine for the hassle, the largest ever federal fine for excessive delays.
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Surprising discoveries
PSA: pumpkin spice alert. Gentle reminder: Thereâs no pumpkin in pumpkin spice.
A single British farm grew 11,000 watermelons this year. Thatâs double last yearâs harvest, and likely a record in a climate thatâs not well-suited for the fruit.
Adam Sandler broke a Rotten Tomatoes record. You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah is bringing the actor some of his best critical reviews to date, though popular opinion isnât quite matching up.
More than 90% of emperor penguin colonies will be nearly extinct by the end of the century. Breaks in sea ice are killing thousands of the young birds.
The 35th annual World Bog Snorkeling Championships was held in Wales. Giant plastic toad caps were optional.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, watermelon juice, and toad hats to [email protected]. Reader support makes Quartz available to allâbecome a member. Todayâs Daily Brief was brought to you by Sofia Lotto Persio and Morgan Haefner.