Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Venezuela raises its minimum wage. Despite fears of more crippling inflation, the nation’s citizens will now earn roughly 800,000 bolivars a month—worth less than $10 on black market indexes. Amid mass protests, skyrocketing prices, and falling oil prices, widespread poverty is expected to get even worse. Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro blames the US for the situation.
India starts major divorce reforms. Legislation to improve marriage rights for Muslim women will now criminalize men for using triple talaq—fully legal divorce by three oral, written, or electronic messages. Passed last week, the bill will be introduced on Tuesday in the upper house of the Parliament of India, making the Islamic practice illegal. The new measures will also give women the ability to fairly seek alimony and child custody.
The first supermoon of the year rises. Monday night and Tuesday morning will mark the most visible point of early January’s lunar event, the second of three in two months. The supermoon set started on Dec. 3 and ends with a total-eclipse blue moon on Jan. 31.
While you were sleeping
Donald Trump says he’s cutting off Pakistan. The US president claims that America was “foolish” to give the Islamic Republic more than $33 billion over 15 years while getting “nothing but lies and deceit” in return. A National Security Council official confirmed $255 million in foreign aid is being withheld as the White House considers its next move.
More dead in Iran protests. At least 12 people (paywall) have lost their lives as violence escalates in protests against supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Hundreds have been arrested so far with 10 dying overnight as the crisis stretched into its fifth day, and government forces clashed against citizens in open combat.
Women in Hollywood start an anti-harassment league. The “Time’s Up” initiative—supported by over 300 actresses, professionals, and executives—plans to help (paywall) victims of harassment with a $13 million legal defense fund. That aid will also focus on working-class members of the entertainment industry overlooked in the #MeToo movement.
Record-low temperatures ice the US. Dangerous conditions threatened states between Canada and Texas, with multiple car wrecks, canceled New Year’s celebrations, and even widespread utility outages across the Deep South. In Milwaukee, two men were found dead Sunday, reportedly showing signs of hypothermia.
Gretchen Carlson is Miss America’s new boss. More than a year after settling her lawsuit against Fox and Roger Ailes, Carlson will lead a new board of directors replacing former Miss America CEO Sam Haskel and other board members outed for harassment against previous pageant competitors.
Quartz obsession interlude
Kelly Kasulis on the dark side of South Korea’s play culture. ”If there was a prize for the most stressed-out nation in the world, South Korea would make a good contender… In fact, Korea is somewhat unique because career building typically requires the act of stress relief.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Nobody is ready for the killer robot. A full-out arms ban won’t prevent the AI-weapons apocalypse, but an agreement to limit war robots just might.
The Chinese renminbi could be the next global supercurrency. The country’s monetary authority will have to prioritize internationalization (paywall) over domestic stability.
Iran can become a democracy. The Arab Spring showed that reform, not revolution (paywall), is the key to ushering in democracy.
People co-work to feel less lonely. The gig economy might come with flexible hours and no commute. But it’s left workers lonely, which hurts their health (paywall).
Surprising discoveries
Bitcoin wasn’t among the 10 best-performing cryptoassets of 2017. The currency may have shot up more than 1,000%, but it was left in the dust by Ripple, NEM, Ardor, and Dash.
There were at least 7.1 million robocalls in the US last year. The robocall menace is growing: The Federal Trade Commission got 1.8 million more complaints in 2017 than it did the previous year.
American doctors routinely prescribe pricey procedures that don’t work. Nearly half of medical procedures might not be based in sound science.
There’s a growing movement to get off the water grid, backed by millions of dollars in funding, sophisticated marketing, and supporters in Silicon Valley (paywall).
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