Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg does damage control in DC. The COO will meet lawmakers investigating Russia’s Facebook ads and will give the first public interview from a senior executive involved in the probe. Sandberg will also discuss racially inflammatory ads with members of the congressional black caucus.
Wall Street reports earnings. JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup kick off third-quarter earnings season (paywall), with Bank of America and Wells Fargo following suit on Friday. Big banks have signaled trading revenues will be down by 15-20% since this time last year.
Tropical depression Khanun hits Asia. It’s expected to strengthen to a tropical storm before inundating the Philippines, southern China, and northern Vietnam later this week.
While you were sleeping
Spain threatened to suspend Catalonia’s autonomy. Prime minister Mariano Rajoy gave Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont five days to confirm the region’s declaration of independence, warning that doing so would trigger direct rule by Madrid under the Spanish constitution.
Facebook released an affordable VR headset. The Oculus Go, which works without a phone or PC, will be available in early 2018 for $199. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the entry-level price is an effort to “get a billion people in virtual reality.”
Trump wanted a much bigger nuclear stockpile. According to NBC News, the US president surprised a group of high-ranking national security leaders over the summer when he said he wanted to see nearly a tenfold increase in the country’s nuclear arsenal. Trump denied the news, threatening to suspend NBC’s broadcast license (paywall).
Trudeau and Trump talked NAFTA. Canada’s prime minister met with the US president in Washington for the fourth round of talks on reworking the 23-year-old trade accord. Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull out of the agreement, but Trudeau tried to tell him that Canada “is not America’s problem.”
California will allow driverless cars without a human at the wheel. The proposed rule changes could take effect as early as June 2018, and are designed to make the state competitive with Arizona and Florida (paywall), which have looser regulations. There are currently 285 driverless vehicles and 996 “backup” drivers on California roads.
Quartz obsession interlude
Zheping Huang on how news from China depends on anonymous local journalists: “Most foreign news organizations in mainland China rely heavily on Chinese nationals to navigate the country’s complex bureaucracy, flag important developments, and find people willing to be quoted in a foreign paper. But China bans its citizens from working as full-fledged journalists for these publications. Instead, they are only allowed to offer ‘assistance,’ after they sign employment contracts with agencies affiliated with the Chinese foreign ministry.” Read more here.
Markets haiku
Trump market context: / “Unprecedented” rally / minus six others
Matters of debate
“Intelligent” means different things in different cultures. IQ tests created in predominately white, Western societies can make global comparisons problematic.
SoftBank’s master plan is aimed at a robotic future. The seemingly random investments by Masayoshi Son’s $100 billion Vision Fund (paywall) all have a common thread.
Apple’s diversity chief isn’t focused on race. “[T]here can be 12 white, blue-eyed, blonde men in a room and they’re going to be diverse too,” says Denise Young Smith.
Surprising discoveries
A fake story about Google buying Apple briefly roiled the stock market. The Dow Jones article was meant to be used internally as part of a technology test.
The Swiss sewage system is clogged with gold. Researchers estimate flecks of gold that together are worth $2 million are discarded by refineries and Swiss watch firms.
Leonardo da Vinci’s last painting once sold for $60. Salvator Mundi will be auctioned at a starting price of $100 million next month.
A court in Australia recognized an unsent text message as a valid will. Instructions included “put my ashes in the back garden,” along with a smiley face.
Kiwi police apologized for posting a meme about traffic deaths. “When you have to tell someone their family has died” was accompanied by a GIF from “The Office.”
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