Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Apple and Alibaba report earnings. Apple’s quarterly figures are murky, but the market is largely expecting it to beat its earnings targets. Chinese tech giant Alibaba is also set to beat estimates for its quarterly earnings, and maintain its year-over-year growth record.
Catalonia’s leaders are called to appear in court in Madrid. The central government summoned the sacked members of the Catalan regional parliament to stand for questioning in the high court. Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, now in Belgium, already said he would ignore the order.
The Bank of England could hike interest rates. The UK central bank is expected to raise its benchmark by 25 basis points, reversing its current policy of monetary easing in the face of accelerating inflation and favorable economic expansion.
While you were sleeping
The suspect in New York’s terror attack was charged. Uzbek native Sayfullo Saipov, 29, was charged with providing material support to ISIL and violence and destruction of vehicles. He appeared in federal court in a wheelchair and didn’t enter a plea.
Women are now worse off than last year. The World Economic Forum’s latest report found the gender gap widening in 2017 for the first time since 2006. The WEF says that economic disparity will now not be closed for another 217 years.
Aung San Suu Kyi made her first visit to Rakhine state. The Myanmar leader made an unannounced trip to the troubled northern state, the location of some of the worst ethnic strife ever seen in the country, between the Muslim Rohingya population and the Buddhist majority.
The Houston Astros won the World Series. Houston won the baseball title for the first time ever, after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 7. A prescient Sports Illustrated called the Astros’ 2017 victory back in 2014.
The CIA released materials from Osama bin Laden’s compound. Among the files taken from the al Qaeda leader’s computer were kids’ movies, a journal, and documentaries about himself. The full list of the tens of thousands of files—which the US hopes will give insights into al Qaeda—is available for download.
Quartz obsession interlude
Lynsey Chutel on the apartheid flag’s comeback in South Africa. “Yet, groups like AfriForum argue farm attacks are characterized by torture and specific brutality. It’s what has fueled the myth that a ‘white genocide’ is waiting to happen in South Africa. The myth has gained traction among white supremacists around the world, especially among conservatives in the US. It’s also a myth that wraps itself in the apartheid-era flag for comfort.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Amazon is invading finance without really trying. Its cloud-computing platform has drastically lowered barriers to entry for financial startups.
Activist investors are just rebranded corporate raiders. Their goal is to load up companies with debt while only owning a tiny percentage of shares.
The internet is dying. The web is losing the structural and economic diversity that defines it, as Google, Facebook, and Amazon become ever more dominant.
Surprising discoveries
Russia-linked Facebook ads often didn’t even mention the US election. The ads aimed to sow discord before the 2016 election, targeting both Muslims and people who dislike Muslims, and blacks and people against Black Lives Matter.
Audible lets romance fans jump to the juicy parts. Listeners can skip to first dates, marriage proposals, and, of course, sex scenes.
Researchers in Japan say they can predict policy by analyzing facial expressions. But their favorite subject, Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda, laughed it off.
“When I pray, sometimes I fall asleep,” confessed Pope Francis. The leader of the Catholic Church justified himself by saying that even saints napped.
An Australian couple lost NZ$520,000 ($360,000) in a game show after failing to name New Zealand’s capital. He said Christchurch; she said Auckland. (It’s Wellington).
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