🌎 Make Apple pay

Plus: Want better movies? Tax the rich Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Sign up here]( [Quartz]( December 12, 2022 [View in browser]( Good morning, Quartz readers! Here’s what you need to know Elon Musk is making Apple users pay for his fight with Tim Cook. Twitter Blue is [due to relaunch today]( with a nearly 30% surcharge for iPhone owners. Stellantis is idling an Illinois plant that manufactures Jeep Cherokee. The decision was blamed on rising EV costs, and it’s expected [to cause mass layoffs](. Meanwhile, EV maker [Rivian halted talks with Mercedes]( about producing vans in Europe. Microsoft offered to buy a 4% stake in the London Stock Exchange. The deal, which would task the tech giant with handling the company’s data platform cloud migration, is likely to [attract regulators’ scrutiny.]( Orion returned to Earth. The uncrewed space capsule splashed into the Pacific ocean yesterday, ending NASA’s [month-long Artemis I]( test flight to the Moon. A 1988 Lockerbie bombing suspect was arrested. Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, who was [charged with creating the device]( that destroyed Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland, is in US custody. Peru’s new leader asked lawmakers to approve early elections. Thousands of people joined protests [demanding a vote]( following the impeachment and arrest of ex-president Pedro Castillo. What to watch for The US has a shot at rekindling its relationship with Africa this week. Dec. 13-15, president Joe Biden will host around 50 heads of states and senior leaders from across the African continent in Washington, DC. The three-day event provides a forum for government officials and business leaders to connect. The first US-Africa summit was hosted in 2014 by president Barack Obama, but since then, the US put this diplomatic exercise on the backburner. Donald Trump didn’t host the summit during his time at the White House. In taking over the event from Obama, Biden described the summit [as an opportunity for collaboration](. The US has often looked at the continent more like a problem to solve than a partner in trade and innovation. This week, it can show that it’s willing to commit to a stronger relationship, not just in theory but in practice, too. Want better movies? Tax the rich Roll out the red carpet for higher taxes, because it may just [mean better films]( on the big screen. Aside from lowering inequality, raising government revenue, and increasing happiness, higher taxes might also lead to higher-quality movies, a new study found. Research from economists at Louisiana State University shows that from 1927-2014, actors appeared in more award-winning films when tax rates were high. The math checks out: When it comes to a marginal tax rate, high-earning movie stars take a sizable hit. So in times with high taxes, actors appear to choose more quality projects—that pay less—to avoid a bigger cut to their paycheck. In short, they opt for prestige over pay. Think of George Clooney, who agreed to write, direct, and star in the 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck for just $3. The film ended up grabbing six Academy Award nominations. Quartz’s most popular 👎 [Xi Jinping’s visit to Saudi Arabia is bad news for the Kremlin]( 🚴‍♀️ [Getir devoured Gorillas as the instant food-delivery business keeps consolidating]( 🙅‍♀️ [US states are banning TikTok from government phones]( 🤑 [Musk’s attention shift from Tesla to Twitter is costing him the title of world’s richest person]( 🖋 [Why Janet Yellen’s signature on US paper currency is so notable]( 👍 [Inflation for US companies remained low in November]( Surprising discoveries An 18-year-old that lives with his parents is now the mayor of a US city. Jaylen Smith [will lead]( the 1,785 people of Earle, Arkansas. California authorities permitted a girl to own a unicorn. All she has to do [is find one](. Amazon plotted the death of the barcode. Instead of scannable lines, the e-commerce giant wants to [use robot]( cameras to monitor items as they move through warehouses. What “walks, talks, quacks like a human vagina”? A [lab-created version]( of the real organ that’s helping scientists test medicines for bacterial infections. There’s a trash pile that’s 62 meters (203 feet) tall in Delhi. And [it’s not even]( the city’s largest. Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, unicorn feed, and vintage barcodes to hi@qz.com. Reader support makes Quartz available to all—[become a member](. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Nate DiCamillo, Ananya Bhattacharya, Sofia Lotto Persio, Julia Malleck, and Morgan Haefner. [🌐 View or share this email online.]( [📬 Check out our emails]( [👀 Read Quartz’s latest stories]( [📈 See what stories are trending]( 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104 © 2022 G/O Media Inc. [Unsubscribe](