🌍 Amazon Web Services outage

Plus: More trouble for Big Tech [Quartz]( Sponsored by Good morning, Quartz readers! Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Sign up here](. Forward to the friend who [never grows tired of superhero films](. Here’s what you need to know An Amazon Web Services outage knocked out major internet apps and services. [These include]( Netflix, Robinhood, Tinder, and Amazon’s own shopping site. Joe Biden’s nominee for US banking regulator withdrew her candidacy. [Saule Omarova faced attacks]( from Republicans over her Soviet birthplace, as well as her vision for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Australia joined the Beijing Olympics diplomatic boycott. [Like the US](, it won’t [send officials]( to the Winter Games next year. Weibo shares fell 7% in its Hong Kong debut. The Chinese social media giant—which is also listed in the US, where its stock price has plunged alarmingly—[raised $385 million in Hong Kong](. Evergrande and Kaisa failed to make payments. The Chinese property developers’ [latest missed deadlines]( could trigger defaults on their other bonds, according to Reuters. The United Arab Emirates is moving its weekend. The government said it will [shift]( to Saturday and Sunday, with a half-day of rest on Friday, to align better with global business norms. Sponsor content by JobsOhio Build your business in the world’s 21st strongest economy—without ever leaving the US. In the first seven months of 2021, more than 126,000 new companies were created in the Buckeye State. And with 0% corporate income tax and a rapidly growing workforce, there’s never been a better time to [do business in Ohio.]( What to watch for Today Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, will testify before the US Senate Commerce Committee about the safety and wellbeing of teens and children on the Facebook-owned (or, Meta-owned) app. Instagram came under scrutiny for trying to build a so-called Instagram Kids, a version of the app intended for children under 13. Mosseri said on Sept. 17 that those [plans were postponed](, a decision that came in the wake of the Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s initial [document leaks]( to the Wall Street Journal. One internal report allegedly found that Instagram made teen girls who already had self-image issues feel worse about themselves. Ahead of the testimony, Instagram [announced yesterday new parental controls]( and the ability for teens to opt out of being tagged or mentioned in posts. More trouble for Big Tech… [Shark Tank star Lori Greiner saying you can't do that.] Giphy In a rare move, the British government last week [moved to nix a deal]( between Facebook and Giphy over antitrust concerns. It comes after nearly [two decades of unchecked growth]( for Big Tech. Here’s a snapshot of tech M&A during that time: 1,000: Firms Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft bought in the past 20 years 97%: Portion of those deals regulators didn’t assess 85%: Portion of about 600 Big Tech deals that fell under the US Federal Trade Commission’s financial reporting threshold in the past decade 451: Pages in a 2020 US report alleging the firms abused market power The Facebook-Giphy breakup—which Meta plans to appeal—further suggests this regulation-light era is sunsetting as [new standards emerge]( in the global antitrust arena. We’re obsessed with office chairs [Two office chairs on a blue background] Photo by Eric Helgas; styling by Alex Citrin-Safadi Quartz At Work reporter Anne Quito has been researching office chairs for seven years. So what does she sit on now that she works from home? - A Herman Miller Aeron chair (so iconic, so mesh) - An exercise ball (good for the core) - A stepladder (sometimes, you just have to get creative) Learn about the fascinating history of office chairs and how they’ve molded to fit both our physical needs and our social whims. The [newest episode of the Quartz Obsession podcast]( is here. ✦ This is the last episode of Season 1, unless you’re a member! [Sign up for a free 7-day membership trial today]( to receive a special bonus episode next week. 🎧 Sit back and listen to all of this season’s episodes on [Apple Podcasts]( | [Spotify]( | [Google]( | [Stitcher]( Sponsored by American Express Handpicked Quartz 💵 [Why Elon Musk is no longer a fan of government subsidies for electric cars]( 🎓 [Harvard is the first Ivy League university to recognize caste-based discrimination]( 🌴 [The spoils of Miami’s tech boom are not distributed equally]( 🦸🏻‍♀️ [Audiences are tiring of superhero movies. Will Hollywood care?]( 🙅🏻‍♂️ [“Lying flat” is officially one of China’s top memes of 2021]( 🇨🇭 [Switzerland is dropping travel restrictions while everyone else freaks out]( Sponsor content by JobsOhio Build your business in the world’s 21st strongest economy—without ever leaving the US. In the first seven months of 2021, more than 126,000 new companies were created in the Buckeye State. And with 0% corporate income tax and a rapidly growing workforce, there’s never been a better time to [do business in Ohio.]( Surprising discoveries Astronomers discovered a planet where a year lasts 7.7 hours. [Surface temperatures]( likely reach 2,700°F (1,500°C), due to GJ 367 b’s proximity to its star. A 13-year-old found a Bronze Age ax in England with a metal detector. Once they started digging, her family located [another 65 artifacts](. Researchers and artists made a “black box” for Earth. It will [keep a record]( of climate change news and research to track the planet’s possible demise. China’s Moon rover took a photo of something that looks like a hut… It’s likely just an upended boulder, but Yutu 2 is [on its way to investigate](. …and this tiny camera’s photos rival those taken by your smartphone. The entire apparatus is the [size of a grain of salt](. 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, Bronze Age goodies, and less alarming time capsules 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 Hasit Shah, Scott Nover, Liz Webber, and Morgan Haefner. [facebook]( [twitter]( [external-link]( Enjoying Quartz Daily Brief? Forward it to a friend! They can [click here]( to sign up. If you’re looking to unsubscribe, [click here](. 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