Kerry’s Israel proposal, Toshiba’s nuclear headache, the secret fights of fruit bats

[Quartz - qz.com] Daily Brief sponsored by Good morning, Quartz readers! What to watch for today A glimpse of the future for US housing. Analysts expect pending home sales to have [risen 0.5%] month-on-month in November, up from 0.1% the year prior. The numbers, from the National Association of Realtors, would show buyers wanting [to lock in purchases] (paywall) before further interest-rate hikes take hold. John Kerry makes a last-ditch Israel-Palestine peace proposal. Days after the US allowed the UN to pass a resolution condemning Israeli settlement expansion, the secretary of State will [lay out a plan] for a two-state solution. It will be symbolic, since Israel has [resisted] recent US peace efforts and Donald Trump is likely [to dismantle them]. China and Pakistan talk roads. The Joint Cooperation Committee on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will meet to evaluate ongoing infrastructure and energy projects. CPEC has [strong critics] in both countries because of high costs, corruption, and poor working conditions. Sponsor content by Xerox What forces drag down your business? When things at work just work, it’s called “flow.” And increasingly it's how your business flows that separates the high performers from the also-rans. But optimizing your workflow starts with knowing the obstacles [— the “flow killers” —] that commonly get in the way. While you were sleeping Toshiba faced a massive writedown. The Japanese electronics manufacturer lost almost [$5 billion] in market value after announcing that cost overruns at a US nuclear business it bought last year could cost it billions of dollars. The troubled conglomerate is still [trying to recover] from a $1.3 billion accounting scandal. Data cast a fresh light on German immigration. More migrants are voluntarily choosing to leave Germany, while twice as many were turned away at Germany’s borders in 2016 as in 2015, according [to new statistics]. Immigration will be a defining issue in the country’s elections next year. South Korea fined Qualcomm $853 million. The country’s antitrust regulator has accused the chipset designer of [imposing unfair licensing fees] on mobile device makers using its patents. The company has faced similar hurdles in China and Europe, but South Korea is an important market: Samsung is Qualcomm’s second-biggest customer. Vietnam’s economy slowed for the first time in four years. Full-year GDP growth [was 6.2%], down from 6.7% in 2015. The government blamed a drought, the global economic slowdown, and an environmental disaster in April which devastated fisheries. Nonetheless, the country of around 90 million remains one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. Tributes poured in for Carrie Fisher. The actress, author, screenwriter, and [script doctor]—best known for playing Princess Leia Organa in the original Star Wars trilogy—was heralded as a [one-of-a-kind talent] after news of her death at [age 60 in Los Angeles]. Over the course of her career, Fisher was candid about her experiences with marital discord, drug addiction, and [bipolar disorder]. Quartz obsession interlude Amy X. Wang on music’s dizzying year of change. “Something new. That’s the key word here, the one that describes all the conscious efforts of many artists, in 2016, to make their releases stand apart. Musicians—true ones, anyway—have always done their best to differentiate their work from that of others past and present. (Some would argue that’s one of the most imperative points of art.) Now they’re doing the same with the way their music comes out, too.” [Read more here.] Matters of debate Time management is ruining our lives. The quest for personal productivity [only creates more anxiety]. Respect for others should be taught in school. Educators [can respond] to identitarian movements by helping students identify their own biases. Humans should leave Mars alone. Making the planet habitable is theoretically possible, but [also unethical]. Surprising discoveries Carrie Fisher had a secret career as a script doctor. She [quietly helped] rewrite Hook, Sister Act, and the Star Wars prequels. Chinese state media are blaming kitchen fumes for smog. Readers are incensed by an editorial [attributing] the toxic haze that has choked cities partly to greasy cooking. An Amazon Echo might have overheard a murder. Arkansas police [want to know if the device] picked up sounds that could help in their investigation. Governments once wanted to abolish passports. Enabling easy migration was seen as a [vital international goal] until World War I. Egyptian fruit bats argue—a lot. About 60% of their disputes [are over] food, sleeping positions, unwanted mating advances, or personal space. Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, scripts in need of fixing, and overheard bat arguments to hi@qz.com. You can follow us [on Twitter] for updates throughout the day or download [our apps for iPhone] and [Android]. Want to receive the Daily Brief at a different time? [Click here] to change your edition. To unsubscribe entirely, [click here]. Like us on [Facebook] and follow us on [Twitter]. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10011 | United States