Quartz Daily Brief—India’s Uber rape, Japan’s recession worsens, Israel raids Syria, Obama date: the movie
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Euro zone budgets get a once-over. Finance ministers meet in Brussels to discuss their 2015 draft budgets. France and Italy have missed their deficit targets so far, and Germany’s Angela Merkel has pressed them for more reforms in return for a deadline extension.
Is McDonald’s over its identity crisis? The burger chain will indicate whether it is drawing more health-conscious diners to its restaurants as it reports same-store sales. As well as general health concerns in the West, the company has been marred by food safety scandals in Asia.
Remember Bernie Madoff? Five of his associates will be sentenced for helping the imprisoned financier steal more than $17 billion in the biggest Ponzi scheme in US history.
Prince William meets Barack Obama. The second-in-line to the British throne will meet the US president at the White House before speaking at the World Bank on global wildlife trafficking. William’s wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, is staying behind in New York.
Congress goes once more unto the breach. House Republicans unveil their government spending bill, which would keep most of the government open until September—except for the Department of Homeland Security, which would only be funded until February as the GOP tries to pressure the White House over its executive actions on immigration.
Over the weekend
Uber was banned in Delhi after an alleged rape. City authorities cracked down on the on-demand car service after one of its drivers was accused of raping a passenger on Friday. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick offered to work with the government to improve the company’s background checks; the accused driver was previously arrested for rape.
Hong Kong protestors vowed to stay on the streets. A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Federation of Students said the group was no longer considering plans to vacate the streets (paywall) they have occupied for more than two months. The government is expected to start final attempts to clear demonstration zones as early as Wednesday.
Japan’s recession is even worse than expected. Third-quarter GDP was revised down to a decline of 1.9%, from a preliminary finding of an annualized 1.6% drop. Normally, such news would hurt prime minister Shinzo Abe, who is seeking reelection on the basis of his economic policies, but with the opposition in disarray Abe looks likely to remain in power until 2018.
Syria accused Israel of conducting air raids near Damascus. The Syrian army claims targets were hit near the capital’s main airport and a nearby town. No casualties have been reported; an Israeli army spokesman declined to comment.
An ex-Apple manager was imprisoned for stealing iPhone secrets. Paul Devine, Apple’s global supply chief between 2005 and 2010, was convicted of selling inside information to iPhone suppliers and ordered to pay Apple $4.5 million.
North Korea suggested its sympathizers hacked Sony. The country praised the theft and distribution of previously unreleased Sony Pictures movies as a “righteous deed,” and warned that hackers loyal to North Korea are to be found worldwide. Pyongyang denied having a direct role in the attack.
Bird flu spreads in Canada. A fifth poultry farm in British Columbia has been quarantined (paywall) after testing indicated the H5 strain of the deadly virus. Some 80,000 birds in the first four farms are being culled; this latest farm has 60,000 birds. The US and other nations have already banned any imports from the province.
Quartz obsession interlude
Kabir Chibber on the underdogs trying to convince Americans of the charms of snooker. “Quartz visited the National Snooker Championship, the most prestigious event in US snooker, which took place in the Top 147 Snooker Club, behind an unmarked door in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The players were dressed in the standard outfit for the sport of snooker—a shirt, waistcoat and bow tie.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
It costs money to save money. Financial commonsense is difficult when you can’t afford choices.
It’s hard to be a “good” sexual assault victim. Society’s standards are impossibly high.
Why God will never die. Humans need answers, but science only reveals how much we don’t know.
Detoxing is bullshit. Diet and exercise are the only ways to get healthy.
We should trust our future robot overlords. It’s wiser than trusting humans.
More than half of web ads are useless. Google says they’re unseen by human eyes.
Surprising discoveries
Barack and Michelle Obama’s first date is being made into a movie. They went to see Do The Right Thing.
Speaking of doing the right thing: Singapore Air will honor business-class seats accidentally sold at economy prices.
Your smartphone is more powerful than Orion’s processors. NASA has a habit of using decade-old technology.
Paris wants to ban diesel cars by 2020. And only allow essential cars on the weekend.
Old laptop batteries could light the slums. IBM says your computer’s leftovers could power cheap LED lights.
Click here for more surprising discoveries on Quartz.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, date movies, and leftover laptops to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.