Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
D-Day for Catalonia. Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy is preparing to carry out his threat to impose direct rule on the region, which has until Thursday morning to denounce its secession plans. Catalan president Puigdemont has shown no signs he will abandon the idea of independence.
China releases third-quarter economic data. Analysts expect growth to tick down (paywall) to 6.8% from last quarter’s 6.9%. But take it with a few grains of salt: China has a long history of doctoring economic figures.
India celebrates Diwali. The festival of lights kicks off the nation’s longest festival season, which usually corresponds with a huge spending boost. But this year, a new GST tax combined with India’s recent demonetization may dampen the festivities.
While you were sleeping
Ford recalled 1.3 million F-series trucks. The second-largest US automaker is pulling its most popular and profitable pickup truck due to an issue with side door latches. The move will cost it $267 million, right on the heels of new CEO Jim Hackett’s plan to cut $14 billion in costs.
Trump flip-flopped on bipartisan health care legislation. After initially praising it, a spokeswoman said Trump does not support the Alexander-Murray bill in its current form, calling it “a step in the right direction.”
Kurdistan threatened to block Iraq’s internet access. After Kurdish oil fields were seized by Iraq in response to the region’s independence referendum, KRG president Massoud Barzani threatened (paywall) to retaliate. Nearly three-quarters of Iraqi traffic is routed through two Kurdish service providers.
A Boston man was found guilty in an ISIL beheading plot. David Wright was arrested in 2015 for a plot to behead conservative blogger Pamela Geller, who had organized a “Draw Mohammed” contest. Wright, who claimed the plan was merely role play, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Russia’s “Paris Hilton” announced her presidential bid. 35-year-old TV personality Ksenia Sobchak will act as a liberal alternative to incumbent Vladimir Putin, although opinion polls show that he should comfortably win in March.
Quartz obsession interlude
Lianna Brinded on the unexpected, paradigm-shifting power of #metoo. “We felt ‘woke’ already—that’s the problem. But instead of addressing it, we worked around it. We moved in packs to protect one another. We warned other women in our industry which men to steer clear of. Over drinks and in women-only office chatrooms, we talked about everyday sexism, about the awful experiences we’d endure, and we helped each other pick up the pieces. We only cried in the women’s bathroom, never gave men the satisfaction of knowing we were rattled.” Read more here.
Markets haiku
Nice bull market there / Shame if something happened to / erase all those gains
Matters of debate
Blame Wall Street for fake news. Facebook and Twitter are partly valued by user numbers, which gives social media firms few incentives to get rid of fake accounts.
Uber and Lyft are making traffic worse. Roughly half of US ride-hailing trips would have been otherwise traveled via walking, biking, or public transit—or not at all.
India and China are backing Myanmar’s persecution of the Rohingya. Both countries are building roads, pipelines, and ports at the epicenter of the ethnic violence.
Surprising discoveries
Eyedrop bottles are designed to release too much medicine. Drug companies profit from expensive prescriptions the more quickly each bottle is used up.
Richard Branson was almost conned out of $5 million. A man claiming to be the UK defense secretary asked him for help to ransom a kidnapped British diplomat.
An evangelical school in California is teaching “young saints.” The School of Supernatural Ministry, known as the “Christian Hogwarts,“ is part of a larger US movement.
A British neo-Nazi came out as gay and Jewish. Kevin Wilshaw was a well-known member of the National Front.
An Air Berlin plane took a “lap of honor” after its final long-haul flight. The pilot, since suspended, buzzed the runway and circled the terminal building at Düsseldorf Airport.
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