Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Canada’s central bank reacts to US elections. Deputy governor Timothy Lane will talk about Canada’s economic outlook (paywall) in the wake of Donald Trump’s big win. Roughly three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the US.
India starts dyeing money-changers. Indelible ink, placed on the index finger, will be used to bar people who repeatedly try to exchange defunct banknotes. The measure is intended to ease crowding at banks since the Rs1,000 and Rs500 notes were banned to fight corruption and terrorism.
Chinese internet giant Tencent reports earnings. The owner of popular apps like WeChat and QQ is expected to post a 45% increase in profit (paywall) as it expands its advertising and mobile payments businesses.
While you were sleeping
France’s president wants to extend the nation’s state of emergency. Francois Hollande said that it should be prolonged to May, noting that the spring presidential election will come with many political rallies that could be targets for terror attacks. The state of emergency was introduced following the November 2015 Paris attacks.
The head of the NSA said a “nation-state” used Wikileaks to influence the US election. Michael S. Rogers, head of the National Security Agency, said that Wikileaks furthered a nation-state’s goals by publishing hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton’s campaign weeks ahead of the election. He didn’t name Russia, but he didn’t need to (paywall).
Singapore announced a blockchain project for interbank payments. Its central bank will launch the pilot project with the stock exchange and eight local and foreign banks. The city-state aims to become a “fintech” (financial technology) leader and has eased regulations to make the industry feel welcome.
Ford’s CEO vowed to proceed with new factories in Mexico. Mark Fields said the company still planned to shift production of small cars south of the border, despite Trump’s threat of heavy tariffs. Ford is also building a small SUV in India for import to the United States.
France and the UN warned Trump about climate change. French president Francois Hollande said that Trump’s threat to pull out of the Paris Agreement would be “disastrous for future generations” and “dangerous for peace.” UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon also called on Trump to drop his campaign pledge to disavow the treaty.
Quartz obsession interlude
Mike Murphy on Apple’s smart glasses. “Apple has explored at least one design for its glasses that looks similar to some popular sunglasses already on the market. In a design mockup shared with Quartz by a source with knowledge of the project, the glasses looked rather like a pair of sunglasses made by the online glasses startup Warby Parker.” Read more here.
Quartz haiku interlude
Iron, copper are down.
Like Trump, the surge in metals
was a bit too much.
Matters of debate
US cities will be the only effective counterweight to Trump. They are the only institutions still controlled by Democrats.
Humans and AI will be inextricably linked in less than a decade. “Symbiotic autonomy” will forever change the decision-making process.
Anger should not drive policy on free trade. NAFTA has driven job growth and increased competitiveness, says former US president George W. Bush.
Surprising discoveries
Argentina wants to exterminate its beavers. The invasive animals have wreaked havoc on its ecosystem.
A philosopher anticipated the rise of Trump in 1998. He also predicted his first move once elected: a truce with the ultra-wealthy.
Walmart is warning employees not to download a chat app. It was designed by a group trying to organize workers (paywall).
Coconuts are in danger. A bacteria is attacking palm trees in the Caribbean, just as the coconut market is booming.
Human blood can revive old mice. Plasma from teenagers improves memory, cognition, and physical activity in one-year-old rodents (that’s 50 in rat years).
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, healthy coconuts, and non-invasive beavers to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our iPhone app.