Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The United States celebrates Thanksgiving. Markets will be closed and millions of turkeys will be consumed—also be prepared for awkward fights over politics with family.
A check-in with Europe’s economy. Analysts expect euro zone consumer confidence data to show that the economy is on track for its strongest year in a decade (paywall).
The EU and its members states meet to discuss emissions testing. The European Commission, the European Parliament, and national governments have disagreed over the severity of car-approvals legislation two years after the Dieselgate scandal. The three sides meet in Brussels to find a compromise.
The Ashes gets underway in Australia. England’s cricket team goes up against Australia in Brisbane in the the first test match of the legendary biennial cricket series.
While you were sleeping
Australia sounded the alarm on American isolationism. Canberra’s foreign-policy white paper warned that China is “challenging America’s position” in the Asia-Pacific region at a time of US retreat from the region—without once mentioning Trump’s name.
Papua New Guinea police stormed the former Manus refugee camp. Local authorities ordered the hundreds of remaining asylum seekers in Australia’s offshore detention center on Manus Island to leave, destroying their belongings in the process. The camp was officially closed on Oct. 31.
The US accused Myanmar of ethnic cleansing. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson cited the military’s “horrendous atrocities” against Rohingya Muslims. The designation clears the way for US sanctions against Myanmar, whose military campaign against the repressed minority has caused more than 600,000 Rohingya to flee the country.
The Trump Organization dropped Trump Soho. The US president’s family business will sever its contract with the investment firm that owns the 46-story condominium-hotel in Lower Manhattan. The hotel was Trump’s second in New York, but has been controversial since the get-go (paywall), drawing local opposition and struggling to attract guests.
Quartz obsession interlude
Heather Timmons on Ajit Pai, the “Trump soldier” who wants to end net neutrality in America. “Consumer groups that have fought long and hard for Americans to have equal access to the internet say the personable Pai, who joined the FCC in 2012, is taking Trump’s anti-regulatory push to a surprising extreme. It’s a remarkably unpopular stance for a Republican many think hopes to become senator or governor of his home state of Kansas some day.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The MBA is dying in the US. Students are increasingly wondering whether sky-high tuition fees and, in the case of international applicants, Trump’s politics, make the program worth it.
The UK needs to have a museum about empire. Despite its profound role in the construction of modern British identity, there is no museum dedicated to the British empire.
Learning to code will eventually be as useful as learning Ancient Greek. The more computers understand our language, the more useless programming will become.
Surprising discoveries
Tailor your alcohol to your preferred experience. A global survey found that hard liquor makes us feel energized (albeit a little ill) and red wine relaxes us.
A 1960s housewife’s sexually charged memoir is still banned. Thanks to the US Supreme Court, Lillian Maxine Serett’s groundbreaking “promiscuity handbook” exists only in digital format.
The doctor treating the North Korean soldier who defected is a superstar. South Korea’s own McDreamy (paywall) has inspired two soap-opera characters.
Feminist cheese is a growing movement. Womanchego (paywall) or Freya’s Wheel, anyone?
Utility companies in the UK still use divining rods to find water. The centuries-old technique lacks scientific backing, but inevitably stumbles upon pipes and leaks some of the time.
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