Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Shinzo Abe and Vladimir Putin take a dip in a hot spring. The Japanese and Russian presidents are meeting at a traditional ryokan inn in Japan’s Yamaguchi prefecture, ahead of a more formal summit on Friday in Tokyo. They are expected to discuss a peace treaty that would finally end hostilities from World War II.
Super Mario Run crosses the finish line. The highly anticipated Nintendo game—its first true foray onto Apple’s iPhone platform—has already boosted the company’s stock price as investors salivate over pre-orders and pre-release hype.
An update on UK retail sales. Analysts expect a 5.8% increase—a show of strength that may not last if Brexit forces retailers to raise prices.
While you were sleeping
The Fed finally raised interest rates. The US central bank hiked its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage points, squeezing in an increase during the waning days of a year. The Fed hinted that it could raise rates three more times next year.
Beijing installed weapons in the South China Sea. Satellite images showed anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems on all seven of China’s artificial islands, according to a US think tank. A top US naval commander said he was prepared to “confront” China “when we must.”
The biggest names in tech met with Donald Trump. CEOs from Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Alphabet, Tesla and other Silicon Valley A-listers (but not Twitter) sat down with the president-elect and three of his adult children to discuss immigration policy, free trade, cybersecurity and taxes. He told the group to “keep going with the incredible innovation.”
Amazon made its first drone delivery. The e-commerce giant delivered a streaming media gadget and a bag of popcorn to a resident of Cambridge, UK just 13 minutes after he placed the order. Amazon is planning further tests in the area, but there’s no solution yet for tightly packed urban spaces.
Shelling resumed in Aleppo despite last night’s ceasefire. A Russia-Turkey deal to evacuate rebel fighters and their families broke down, and pro-government forces resumed their deadly bombardment of the east of the city. The UN said the Syrian government’s bombing of civilians was probably a war crime.
Quartz obsession interlude
Johnny Simon on what Americans ate 100 years ago during the holiday season. “Old school-crudité (especially celery) are common on most menus shown, as are oysters (preparation unknown). The tried and true roasts of turkey, beef or fowl are well represented, though the clear turtle consommé, maybe be harder to find these days.” Read more here.
Quartz haiku interlude
Rates rise, finally.
Yellen remains serene. But
for how much longer?
Matters of debate
Cash isn’t dead yet. Despite bitcoin and mobile pay, the number of dollar and euro notes has doubled since 2005.
You can beat climate change and get rich at the same time. But investors need better data to put money into the low-carbon economy.
There are no big lessons from the US election. Ideologues are using the results to “prove” whatever they believed beforehand.
Surprising discoveries
The secret to eating bugs is better utensils. A Japanese designer has created new tools including fingertip pincers and spear-ended chopsticks.
Google’s top “Holocaust” search result is to a neo-Nazi group. The company refuses to tweak its algorithm to remove holocaust-denier www.stormfront.org.
Wine brewed by monks is fueling Scottish brawls. Caffeinated Buckfast wine is quite profitable for a Benedictine monastery in Devon.
Africa will soon have to import half its grains. Despite being home to a quarter of the world’s arable land, the continent is becoming less self-sufficient.
China’s middle class is funding gentrification in Brooklyn. Investors are getting their money out of China and into New York’s outer boroughs.
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