Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
China’s Communist Party kicks off its twice-a-decade meeting. Lasting about a week in Beijing, China’s most important political event brings together the party’s top 2,300 members. But don’t expect much suspense from the 19th National Congress: All key decisions have already been decided behind closed doors.
US and Japanese diplomats discuss North Korea in Seoul. US deputy secretary of state John Sullivan said that while a diplomatic solution to denuclearization is the goal, the allies will prepare to defend themselves should those efforts fail. North Korea’s deputy UN ambassador warned on Monday that “a nuclear war may break out any moment.”
Rex Tillerson gives his inaugural policy speech on India. The US secretary of state will deliver a speech on US-India relations to a top American think tank in Washington, DC. The talk, at 10am local time, will be streamed live and comes ahead of Donald Trump’s visit to Asia next month.
While you were sleeping
China’s president delivered the opening speech of the ruling party’s 19th National Congress. In a three-and-a-half-hour address, Xi Jinping said China will relax market access for foreign investors, let the market play a key role in resource allocation in the economy, and push for more market-oriented reform of exchange and interest rates. He also stressed Beijing’s firm opposition to Taiwan independence.
The head of Amazon Studios resigned after harassment allegations. Roy Price is leaving his post (paywall) after producer Isa Hackett said in a Hollywood Reporter interview that Price had made lewd remarks and unwanted advances to her in 2015. Meanwhile actress Rose McGowan accused Price of ignoring her claims she’d been raped by Harvey Weinstein.
A judge blocked Donald Trump’s travel ban, yet again. Judge Derrick Watson of Hawaii, who also blocked two previous attempts (paywall) by the Trump administration, granted a injunction that mostly halts the president’s executive order limiting travel by visitors from eight countries. An appeal is expected.
A top Facebook executive announced her departure. Regina Dugan, formerly of Google and Darpa, is the head of Facebook’s secretive Building 8 hardware lab, which has yet to release any of its highly touted projects, including a video chat device and a smart speaker. Dugan said she will leave the company early next year to “lead a new endeavor.”
Quartz obsession interlude
Echo Huang on China’s endless apps for tracking, organizing, and motivating Communist Party members. “Feature-wise, these apps are largely indistinguishable from one another—they collect user profiles, disseminate party-related information and lessons, and offer some version of a chat tool. But they all serve an important purpose—to keep track of and evaluate the performance of millions of party members.” Read more here.
Markets haiku
Who will chair the Fed? / “Honestly I like them all.” / Hawkish John Taylor?
Matters of debate
The spreadsheet was Apple’s first big break. It’s the anniversary of VisiCalc, the pioneering software that became the company’s first killer app.
We don’t dream as much as we used to, and it’s a public health problem. A lack of deep REM sleep leads to irritability, depression, erosion of reason, memory loss, and weight gain.
You are what you read. You’re reading all the time (even right now!), but browsing the internet may not be the kind of reading that hones your mind.
Surprising discoveries
Fish depression is a lot like the human variety. Sad fish withdraw to the bottom of their tanks (paywall), and happy ones play toward the top.
There’s a secret Swiss bunker where millionaires stash their bitcoins. Private cryptographic keys are guarded by a security team that fends off constant attacks.
A missing Rodin bust of Napoleon was hiding in plain sight for 85 years. Worth an estimated $10 million, it was being displayed in a New Jersey town hall with the acclaimed sculptor’s signature on the bottom.
Super high-end coffee shops will pour you a cup for $55. Rare beans, fancy equipment, and a healthy dollop of hype add up to sky-high prices (paywall).
General Motors will test self-driving cars in New York City. The packed streets will give autonomous cars tougher training scenarios than the suburbs.
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