Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Aleppo finishes up evacuations…maybe. Rescue operations are expected to conclude in the war-torn Syrian city, according to Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, though the Red Cross and Russia expect them to last a few more days. On Tuesday, Syrian TV reported a bomb explosion in government-controlled western Aleppo, where residents were attending a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.
The Bank of Thailand holds its last meeting of 2016. The central bank has left its benchmark interest rate of 1.5% unchanged since April 2015, and is expected to do so again. On Tuesday, the World Bank revised up its forecast for Thailand’s economic growth by 0.1 percentage point, to 3.2% next year. China will also release energy and commodity data for November.
Winter is coming—to the Northern Hemisphere. At 5:44 am ET (6:44 pm HKT), the December solstice will mark the moment when the north pole is tilted the farthest away from the sun. The Northern Hemisphere will experience its longest night and shortest day of the year, while the Southern Hemisphere celebrates its first day of summer.
While you were sleeping
ISIL claimed responsibility for the Berlin truck attack. The driver of a truck that killed 12 people and injured 52 after crashing into a Christmas market was a “soldier of the Islamic State,” according to the group, though ISIL’s specific involvement is unclear. The perpetrator is still at large after German authorities released a 23-year-old Pakistani asylum-seeker who was arrested on Monday, citing a lack of evidence linking him to the incident.
Turkey investigated the assassination of Andrei Karlov. The gunman who shot Russia’s Turkey envoy was killed at the scene, but Turkish authorities detained an additional seven people overnight (paywall) as the country remained on high alert. Eighteen Russian investigators also arrived in Ankara to assist with the investigation.
A UN official called for a murder inquiry into Rodrigo Duterte. United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said it’s “unthinkable for any functioning judicial system not to launch…judicial proceedings when someone has openly admitted being a killer.” The Philippines president claims to have killed three people while serving as mayor of Davao City.
Twenty people died during protests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Demonstrations erupted after president Joseph Kabila, meant to step down on Dec. 19 after two 5-year terms, refused to give up power. Hundreds have been arrested in the past week.
A search warrant in the Hillary Clinton email investigation was unsealed. The Oct. 30 warrant shows that the FBI confiscated Anthony Weiner’s laptop based on its contention that his wife, Huma Abedin, had exchanged “many emails” with Clinton containing classified information.
Quartz obsession interlude
Christopher Groskopf and Jason Karaian supply 10 charts to track Trump’s economic promises. “As president, Donald Trump’s pledge to ‘Make America Great Again’ will be judged largely along economic lines, whether it’s bringing back factory jobs, boosting wages, or renegotiating trade deals. Many of Trump’s promises appear implausible. But we don’t have to rely on guesswork or partisan punditry to evaluate his progress; we’ve got reliable data to gauge Trump’s success.” Read more here.
Quartz haiku interlude
The Dow got this close
To twenty K. Stopped short
Like a sneeze denied
Matters of debate
Women make better doctors than men. Researchers suggest women may be more deliberate in their approach to solving complex problems.
It’s time to rename the human species. The name Homo sapiens—wise man—no longer reflects the characteristics of modern humans.
Wall Street isn’t the enemy of Main Street. Without Wall Street’s ability to raise capital for startups, there wouldn’t be many of them.
Surprising discoveries
Parents and kids are more affectionate when reading physical books together. Children read from screens with their heads down, which makes it harder to get close.
The Nazis were inspired by US policy when planning their race regime. In 1934, leading Nazi lawyers debated bringing Jim Crow segregation to the Third Reich.
Anonymous artists created a tiny mouse cafe in Sweden. The miniature installation—called Noix de Vie, or “Nuts of Life”—features a window display of almonds, pistachios, and hazelnuts.
Pat Nixon predicted a Trump victory in 1987. “She is an expert on politics,” Richard Nixon wrote to Trump after the latter appeared on The Donahue Show. “She predicts that whenever you decide to run for office you will be a winner!”
Pregnancy changes the brain for as long as two years. In a neuroimaging study, researchers were able to identify mothers just from their brain scans.
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