Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
It’s ECB day. Will Mario Draghi give banks an early Christmas present? Most investors expect the European Central Bank to announce (paywall) a six-month extension to its multi-billion-euro bond-buying program. If Draghi plays Scrooge, the sell-off could be severe.
Widespread strikes rattle Greece. The nation’s largest private sector union has called for nationwide strikes to protest austerity measures, which it says have squeezed wages, driven many out of work, and hurt the economy.
A two-day OSCE conference in Hamburg. The war is Syria is expected to be the main topic for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told his Russian counterpart that Moscow needed to be more cooperative in ending the humanitarian crisis in Syria.
While you were sleeping
SpaceX lost a major order. Inmarsat was planning to launch one of its satellites from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, but delays forced it to choose Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket instead (paywall). Elon Musk’s space company lost a Falcon 9 in September, when it exploded during refueling at its Cape Canaveral base; the resumption of flights has been pushed to January.
UniCredit offloaded its business in Poland. Negotiations dragged on for months, but the Italian bank finally agreed to sell its 32% stake in Bank Pekao, Poland’s second-largest bank, to a local development fund for around $2.6 billion (paywall). This makes the Polish government the biggest stakeholder in Pekao, and fits with its plans to increase local ownership in domestic lenders.
TUI was in a holiday mood. Europe’s largest travel company reported a 12% rise in profit, to $970 million, for its latest fiscal year. TUI said it expected to complete the sale of its Travelopia portfolio of specialist holiday brands—estimated to be worth up to $650 million—in the first half of next year.
New Zealand’s gets an English prime minister. That’s Bill English, who seems sure to win the confidence of MPs in his National Party after a majority declared their support. The current PM, John Key, abruptly announced his resignation earlier this week and named the finance minister as his preferred successor.
China reported upbeat trade figures. Both imports and exports surpassed expectations. Imports jumped the most in two years, which is especially welcome news in Australia, a key supplier of the raw materials that power China’s economy.
Michael Jordan won the rights to his Chinese name in China. The basketball legend finally emerged victorious in a long-running trademark dispute, with China’s top court overturning earlier decisions against him. On the losing side is local company Qiaodan Sports, which will have to give up its registration of the Chinese version of his surname.
Quartz obsession interlude
Anne Quito on the millions of 100-pound gift boxes Filipinos send their relatives every Christmas: “The word ‘balikbayan’ is a Tagalog compound word that translates to ‘return [to] country.’ As the most iconic symbol of the Filipino diaspora, the balikbayan box serves as an emotional bridge between parents and siblings who part with their families to earn a higher wage abroad collectively known as ‘Overseas Filipino Workers.’” Read more here.
Matters of debate
“Seasteading” could untether business from politics. Autonomous ocean platforms might sell health care and financial services to the rest of the world.
Identity politics is the politics of survival. For years, marginalized Americans have been repressed into silence.
If you give the poor cash, they don’t waste it. Direct transfers lead to more spending on children’s food and health—especially when women are in charge.
Surprising discoveries
Cheerleading and Muay Thai may be Olympic sports in Tokyo 2020. They were both provisionally recognized by a key committee this week.
Strobe lighting could fight Alzheimer’s disease. Flashing lights stimulate immune cells to absorb the sticky amyloid proteins that are a hallmark of the disease.
A robot is guarding the world’s biggest physics experiment. “TIM” is patrolling the long tunnel that houses the Large Hadron Collider.
Giraffes are facing a silent extinction. Conservation efforts focus on elephants and rhinos, but giraffe numbers have fallen by more than 30%; they’re now classified as “vulnerable to extinction.”
Japan loves it when the First Lady criticizes the president. Aki Abe describes her role as “a bit like an opposition party.”
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