US president Barack Obama gave a rare prime-time speech from the Oval Office to address a new breed of self-radicalized terrorism in the wake of last week’s San Bernardino shootings, while urging Americans not to play into the hands of the Islamic State.
An explosion near Istanbul’s Bayrampasa metro station today (Dec. 1) has injured several people.
A match between the Dutch and German national soccer teams was cancelled and the stadium in Hanover, Germany was evacuated this evening (Nov. 17) after police found a suspicious item in the stadium, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
The US president vowed today (Nov. 16) to continue taking in Syrian refugees, and called on the world’s biggest economies to do the same.
French security officials have honed in on Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 27- or 28-year-old Belgian-born ISIL fighter, as the likely mastermind of the Paris attacks that killed 129 and wounded more than 300 on Friday (Nov. 13), according to French media and NPR.
A French high-speed train crashed into a river during a test run near Strasburg, killing up to seven people, according to Reuters and France 3.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi completed a remarkable journey this week, when her National League for Democracy won a sweeping victory in Myanmar’s first elections in 25 years.
Good morning, Quartz readers.
What to watch for today
In a fractious and unpredictable Republican primary season, the candidates at tonight’s CNBC debate finally found a theme they could all agree on: Bashing the moderators and the “mainstream media” for their perceived anti-Republican bias. The audience ate it up, responding with loud cheers and booing CNBC’s journalists.
Hurricane Patricia, a massive and quickly developing storm in the eastern Pacific Ocean, is bearing down on the Mexican state of Jalisco with record-setting sustained winds of 200 mph (321 kmh) or more.
Artificial neural networks are already being used to teach self-driving cars to “see” and train Facebook’s new personal assistant, but they are also being deployed for a less ambitious purpose: automatically generating the seductive and carefully calibrated news headlines that drive traffic to some of the world’s most popular websites.
The Groundwork, a political technology startup funded by Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt, has maintained its position as the top technology provider to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
An unmanned aircraft resembling a Russian Orlan-10 reconnaissance drone was shot down today (Oct. 16) near the Syrian border by the Turkish air force, which said it had been intercepted more than 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) inside Turkey’s airspace.
An under-the-radar startup funded by billionaire Eric Schmidt has become a major technology vendor for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, underscoring the bonds between Silicon Valley and Democratic politics.
Every month, Norwegian physicians get a new floppy disk from the government. The disk has the updated patient list for the month under the country’s nationalized health plan. Why floppy disks? It turns out they are cheaper, easier, and more secure to use than thumb drives or CD-ROMs.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden dipped a toe into the Twitterverse today (Sept. 29), with a verified account that is only following one other: The US National Security Agency.
A special thanks to Daily Brief readers: Your excitement about change and curiosity about the world have helped us define what Quartz is all about. Here’s what editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney had to say to mark our third birthday.
Muslims around the world expressed their anger with the Saudi Arabian government in the wake of a stampede near the holy city of Mecca that left more than 700 people dead. The incident during the Muslim hajj is the latest in a series of crowd-control disasters that have killed thousands of pilgrims over the last several decades.
What to watch for today
The Casio F-91W is more than two decades old, but it’s still a favorite with terrorists. The iconic digital watch has a reliable timer that’s perfect for setting off bombs.
Hundreds of scared commuters fled Washington DC’s Union Station on Friday afternoon after at least one gunshot, reportedly at the station’s food court.
A Kentucky judge has ordered the release of county clerk Kim Davis from prison, after her office complied with the judge’s orders to issue marriage licenses for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Upon her release, Judge David Bunning directed Davis not to interfere with the marriage license process.
Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis is defying the US Supreme Court by refusing to issue marriage licenses, specifically because she would have to license same-sex couples. Why hasn’t she been fired?
