Natural-gas prices are soaring

Plus: Get ready for Pfizer’s vaccine campaign. [Quartz]( Good morning, Quartz readers! Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Sign up here](. Forward to the friend who is planning [on book shopping for the holidays](. Here’s what you need to know Natural-gas prices are soaring. [Futures in the US]( have doubled in six months, and increased by a sixth in the last month. In Europe, some blame renewables for the price surge there, [but that’s a mistake](. Evergrande shares plunged further. The [Chinese property giant](, with debts of more than $300 billion, [risks defaulting]( on a payment deadline this week. Canada votes. Prime minister Justin Trudeau called the snap poll [to shore up his support]( but many Canadians are still wondering why the election had to happen now. Read more below. Hundreds of Haitian migrants are being deported from the US. The [large-scale expulsion]( involves several daily flights and a show of force at the border, while Haiti faces economic and political crises. Women workers in Afghanistan were told to stay home. Female government workers in Kabul shouldn’t work unless [no men are available to do their jobs](, the city’s new Taliban mayor said. The Crown and Ted Lasso dominated the Emmy awards. [The royal drama won Netflix]( its first-ever top prize at the annual ceremony. What to watch for “Now?!” was the general response from Justin Trudeau’s critics and supporters alike when the Canadian prime minister called [a snap election]( six weeks ago. Trudeau claimed he was offering Canadians a say in navigating the pandemic, but his early election call was widely seen as a poorly timed, ego-driven, [costly]( power grab—an attempt to [secure a majority]( of parliamentary seats. The vote is set for today. Although Trudeau was once polling ahead of his main opponent, [Erin O’Toole](, who heads the Conservative party, the challenger has essentially closed the gap, largely by turning the election into a referendum about the incumbent’s performance. Covid-19 measures, healthcare worker shortages, and the high cost of living have led the public conversation. Unlike the Liberals, O’Toole’s party doesn’t believe in vaccination mandates for federal workers and passengers traveling domestically on planes and trains. [Polls show]( that Trudeau appears likely to squeak out another minority government. His PR team is no doubt prepping responses to the obvious question: Was it worth it? [Canada's Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves at supporters at an election campaign stop on the last campaign day before the election] REUTERS/Carlos Osorio Coming to a TV near you Now that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, the drug giant [is planning a massive marketing campaign](. It may seem counterintuitive—perhaps no drug has gotten more free publicity than Covid vaccines—but Pfizer sees huge potential for booster shots. If boosters become annual events, like flu shots, Pfizer wants to ensure it’s the one selling them. What will the campaign look like? Pfizer isn’t telling, but there are two basic forms of pharma advertising: 🩺 Help-seeking: These ads aim to expand awareness of a disease or, in this case, of the availability of a vaccine and its value. They focus on expanding the market, and let consumers know that they should be talking to their doctors—but cannot specifically mention a drug by name. 💉 Product claim: This kind of ad promotes the prescription drug with its brand name. A product claim ad can also be comparative, selling a product by highlighting the way in which it is superior to a competitor. Critically, though, it has to list side effects and risks as clearly as its benefits, which could be an issue for Covid vaccines. How to read 100 books in a year Most of us would like to be better read. But that means reading more books, and few of us feel we have the time or patience required to be diligent readers. Quartz email editor Susan Howson isn’t afraid to set lofty goals, however, and [she offers these tips for becoming a power reader](: 📱 Log off from social media. Doomscrolling and FOMO [take a toll on your mental and physical health](, while sucking up time you could be spending doing something good for yourself. The year Susan decided to delete her Instagram account, she read 29 more books. 📖 Be format agnostic. Susan isn’t a book snob, and juggles audio, e-books, and paper books. “I have a three-book system going at all times: One paper book to read at night, one audiobook for listening to while I cook dinner or take walks, and one ebook for when it’s just me and my phone.” Quartz’s [How To emails]( don’t count as books, but reading them will make you smarter. ✦ Don’t miss future editions—[become a member]( now, and take 40% off with code QZEMAIL40. What we’re reading 🚆 France is rolling out a new high-speed train. Why is the US so [far behind on advanced rail travel](? 🛢️ Los Angeles County officials voted to phase out oil and gas drilling there. Before Hollywood, [fossil fuels were LA’s original claim to fame](. 🤑 Amazon is raising its average hourly US wage to $18 an hour for warehouse workers. Other employers [could be forced to follow suit](. 🗑️ Bitcoin mining creates a mountain of electronic waste. For every two bitcoin transactions, [miners discard the equivalent of an iPad in obsolete computer hardware](. 🚢 Ports are a mess but shipping company profits are at record highs. Companies desperate to capture surging consumer demand [are willing to pay exorbitant freight prices](. Surprising discoveries A French acrobat traversed the Seine on a 2,000-foot slackline. The line was strung [230 feet above the river](, between the Eiffel Tower and the Chaillot Theater. One of the world’s last surviving herds of undomesticated cattle roam the property of a British castle. They [share a gene pool so small]( that the animals are almost identical to one another. The narrowest house in Boston sold for more than $1.2 million. According to local lore, it was built in the 1860s by a man [expressly to block the sunshine]( coming into his loathed brother’s house next door. Researchers designed a room with walls that emit an electrical field. Phones, medical implants, and other devices [can charge wirelessly inside](—and it’s safe for people to be in there too. Bronze Age nomads in eastern Europe relied on milk to fuel their migration out of Russia. German researchers [identified milk proteins]( in fossilized plaque on teeth from skeletons. SPREAD THE WORD Over 500k readers and counting. You already know why half a million people read the Daily Brief, so why not spread the word? [Share the Daily Brief today]( and get rewarded. Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, rare cattle, and skinny houses to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by [downloading our iOS app]( and [becoming a member](. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Tim McDonnell, Lila MacLellan, Annalisa Merelli, and Oliver Staley. [facebook]( [twitter]( [external-link]( Enjoying Quartz Daily Brief? Forward it to a friend! They can [click here]( to sign up. 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