Daily Pulse: World Markets Shudder, Congress Passes Obamacare Repeal, Your Personal, Autonomous Drone

DA BEARS: World markets went into another tailspin this week after circuit breakers in China (again) halted trading — this time in a mere 29 minutes. “This is insane,” money manager Chen Gang told Bloomberg. US futures were indicated to open 400 points down.

Health Unreform: Congress passed a bill to repeal Obamacare for the first time. House Republicans have passed such legislation dozens of times. What’s changed is a rule by Senate Republicans that allowed passage by a simple (not filibuster-proof, 60-vote) majority. What hasn’t changed is President Obama, whom Democratic Rep. Chris van Hollen said will veto it in a "nanosecond."

Under the Knife: United Continental CEO Oscar Munoz had a heart transplant. Munoz went on medical leave three months ago when he suffered a heart attack five weeks into the job. He is still expected back in Q2, and United said this was “the preferred treatment and was not the result of a setback in his recovery.” But as Michelle Cortez writes for Bloomberg, “it shows the gravity of his heart condition, which hadn’t previously been disclosed.”

So you're telling me there's a chance … Nobody won Powerball, for the 18th time in a row. So now the estimated top prize for Saturday’s drawing in the 44-state lottery is expected to be a US record $675 million. You still have MUCH better chance of being hit by lightning while drowning than winning. But, like you, I’ll be buying another ticket.

Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads: Self-driving cars are so 2020. For a glimpse into a future that I think we can all agree is totally awesome, ride along with China’s Ehang, which has unveiled an autonomous drone you can ride in. It seems almost petty to point out the various, er, impediments to realizing this dream. But as Wired UK’s Michael Rundle reports, Ehang is not even the only company working on this.

A Great Injustice Corrected: Rey has been added to the new Star Wars-themed Monopoly game. The heroine of The Force Awakens was left out, Hasbro claims, because including her would have revealed spoilers. Crazy fans were outraged, but Hasbro does have a leg to stand on: Lucasfilm actually enforced a DMCA takedown a week before the film’s release last month when a fan shared a picture of a Rey action figure he had stumbled upon in a Walmart. As Joe Mullin explained in Ars Technica at the time:

The image wasn't well-received by all of [the collector’s] hard-core fan base, in any case. That's because—and I'll try to keep this as vague as possible here—for fans who are knowledgeable about the Star Wars universe, Rey's costume itself, and the packaging, is a kind of "spoiler."

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Cover Art: A trader works in front of a board displaying the chart of Germany's share index DAX at the stock exchange in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on January 7, 2016. German stocks tumbled more than 3 per cent in early trade.

What you may have missed — and really should read:

• When it comes to marketing potential, is Snapchat like Reddit or Facebook? Microsoft's Dare Obasanjo asks and answers. 
• Something That Lasts Forever May Be Bad For Business, But It's Important To Me, by Greylock Partners Managing Director Alan Patricof
• Why Mark Zuckerberg and Mahesh Murthy are both wrong when it comes to Net Neutrality

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