Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Stricter EU finance regulations take effect. A complicated thicket of new rules—called MiFID II—will force financial firms to disclose more detailed information about their trades. Banks and asset managers have already spent an estimated $2.1 billion to comply with the measures, which aim to increase transparency and strengthen investor protection.
The Fed releases minutes from its December meeting. Analysts anticipate they could show outgoing chair Janet Yellen being more frank about her views on the US economy and the need for further interest rate hikes.
Rite Aid reports results. The drugstore chain, which is selling nearly almost 2,000 of its outlets to Walgreens Boot Alliance, is expected to post a drop (pdf) in third-quarter revenue.
While you were sleeping
North Korea called South Korea on the border hotline… Kim Jong-un ordered the reopening of the phone line with the South, which was shut down two years ago. The line could be used for talks about sending a North Korean delegation to next month’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Trump’s UN envoy, Nikki Haley, dismissed the value of such talks.
…and Donald Trump taunted Kim about his nuclear button. After the North Korean leader warned he has a nuclear button on his desk, Trump tweeted that he also has one, ”but it is a much bigger & more powerful one… and my Button works.” US senator Ed Markey said the tweet “borders on presidential malpractice.”
The US president also threatened to cut aid to Palestine. In a busy day of foreign-policy threats via Twitter, the president said Palestine gave the US “no appreciation or respect” in return for aid, lumping the country together with Pakistan, which he attacked for its “lies and deceit” on Tuesday.
Germany’s unemployment rate hit a record low. In December, the jobless rate was at 5.5%, with just 2.44 million out of work. German companies are lamenting a shortage of skilled workers to fuel their booming businesses: 56% of them told a Chamber of Commerce poll that a lack of skilled workers was the biggest risk currently facing their business.
The US blocked China’s Ant Financial from buying MoneyGram. Authorities rejected the $1.2 billion deal over national security concerns. Ant Financial is partly owned by Jack Ma, the executive chairman of internet conglomerate Alibaba Group, who frequently appears with leaders of the Chinese Communist Party.
Quartz obsession interlude
Marc Bain on why the world’s largest clothing maker isn’t betting on automation. “Hong Kong’s Crystal Group makes clothes for many of the world’s clothing giants, including H&M, Gap, Fast Retailing (owner of Uniqlo), and L Brands (owner of Victoria’s Secret)… while robots in use in other industries can work easily with stiff materials, such as sheets of metal or plastic, they can’t yet can’t work with soft, flexible fabrics that stretch and distort during sewing.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Niche online communities are back. Our desire for community will lead us to abandon bigger social networks like Facebook.
Xi Jinping is making China great again. An expansionist China is gaining more global influence as the US does the opposite.
Iceland found a simple way to eliminate the gender pay gap. As of Jan. 1, it’s illegal to pay men more than women to do the same work.
Surprising discoveries
China’s space lab is crashing to Earth, but probably won’t hit you. Tiangong-1 is expected to re-enter the atmosphere in March, with surviving fragments landing who knows where.
It’s so frigid in the US that sharks are freezing to death. They’re victims of the “arctic outbreak” that’s shattering cold records across North America.
A taxi passenger tried to skip out on a three-country fare. On New Year’s Eve, a drunk man took a cab from Copenhagen to Oslo, where he left without paying what he owed—about $2,200.
The Dutch plan to build an artificial island to support the world’s largest wind farm. The island will be about 100 km (60 miles) off the coast of Yorkshire in the UK.
Half of Puerto Rico still doesn’t have power—over 100 days after Hurricane Maria. Some residents could go a total of eight months without it.
Last year was the most foul-mouthed in corporate earnings call history. A search for expletives in transcripts revealed a big spike as executives try to stay relatable.
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