Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Pope Francis visits Myanmar. As the plight of the Muslim Rohingya minority spirals deeper into a humanitarian crisis, the Pope begins a six-day trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh. This will be his first visit to Myanmar, where he’s been advised to avoid using the word “Rohingya.”
A clash over appointees at the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. When agency chief Richard Cordray resigned Friday, he appointed Leandra English as acting director until a Donald Trump nominee can be confirmed by the Senate. But Trump said his pick, Mick Mulvaney—a big critic of the agency—will play the interim role. English filed a lawsuit last night to prevent that.
US holiday shoppers hit the internet. Black Friday sales numbers are beginning to surface as online retailers look to Cyber Monday to extend their disruption over brick-and-mortar stores. This second day of deals and discounts remains a bellwether for retailers of all stripes. Cyber Monday is predicted to hit a record-breaking $6.6 billion on its own.
Over the weekend
Meredith agreed to acquire Time for $2.8 billion. The Iowa-based publisher of Better Homes & Gardens will add Fortune and Sports Illustrated to its lineup of titles, giving it a bigger audience to compete for ad dollars. The billionaire Koch brothers—known for their support of conservative causes in US politics—injected $650 million into the deal.
The president of Honduras declared himself an election winner. Despite the opposition saying it was winning, Juan Orlando Hernandez claimed victory in his bid for a second term. Critics warn that Hernandez is tightening his grip on power, capitalizing on a controversial 2015 Supreme Court decision that overturned a constitutional ban on re-election.
Mount Agung shut down Bali’s main airport. Volcanologists warned the volcano, rumbling since September, has entered a new phase, with magma now visible and a larger eruption possibly imminent. Authorities extended the evacuation zone, raised the threat warning to the highest level, and closed the airport completely today following many canceled flights over the weekend.
The FBI failed to disclose Russian hacker activity for a more than a year. The Kremlin-aligned cyber-espionage group Fancy Bear was targeting Gmail accounts belonging to US government officials, but several targets weren’t warned for over a year, reported the Associated Press. The resulting DCLeaks email dump revealed hundreds of US lawmakers’ emails and phone numbers.
Nicolas Maduro named a new head for Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA. The Venezuelan president chose National Guard major general Manuel Quevedo, a former housing minister with no known energy experience, to lead the firm. The surprise appointment of a military man was seen as a bad omen for the nation’s already struggling oil industry.
Quartz obsession interlude
David Kaufman on the statistics of Malia Obama dating a white guy at Harvard. “Black women—particularly those with the most education like Obama—are faced with a limited pool if they seek to date within their race. Due to a host of societal conditions—from early death to mass incarceration—twice as many black women attend college as black men.“ Read more here.
Matters of debate
“Strategic stress” can improve your company’s performance. Deviations from the strategic plan might not be detrimental to corporate performance.
Sweden’s cooling housing market is a preview for others. Low interest rates and rapidly rising house prices have been making the central bank nervous.
Net neutrality can’t fix the internet. Internet providers have been abusing the world wide web for a long time.
Surprising discoveries
Three people still depend on iron lungs. The polio survivors live in different states in the central US and use the antiquated technology to survive.
Delhi rickshaw drivers are taking mandatory “gender sensitization” classes. They’re being conscripted in the fight to change traditional male mindsets and battle sexual violence.
Goats can become emotionally aroused and horses are a bundle of feelings. Science has a lot to say about animal sentience.
Sesame Street keeps on making awesome parodies. A video knockoff of the Netflix blockbuster Stranger Things is making the rounds on the internet.
A Swedish power plant is burning discarded H&M clothes for fuel. It’s burned about 15 tons of discarded clothing from the company so far this year.
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