Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Vladimir Putin holds his annual press conference. The event had been pushed back so that Putin could attend the funeral of Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey who was assassinated on Dec. 19 in Ankara. More than 14,000 journalists are accredited to cover the much-anticipated Q&A, which lasted 3 hours in 2015, touching on everything from the Russian economy to Putin’s private life.
India’s longest expressway opens to commuters. The new road cuts Agra-to-Lucknow travel time from eight hours to five. Inaugurated on Nov. 21, the six-lane highway spans 10 districts.
The United Kingdom gets a report card. The Office for National Statistics releases the UK’s third-quarter GDP numbers, and confirms whether the economy grew at a healthy 0.5%, as expected. ONS will also disclose how the UK’s services sector, which accounts for a large share of the economy, fared in October.
While you were sleeping
The Syrian military took control of Aleppo. Syria’s government said that the last of the civilians and rebel fighters were evacuated following a deal brokered by Russia and Turkey. The recapture of Aleppo, which ends four years of fighting there, marks president Bashar al-Assad’s most significant victory in the Syrian conflict so far.
Snowden is still talking to Russia… A newly declassified report from the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee revealed that the former National Security Agency contractor, who currently lives in Moscow under an asylum deal, “has had and continues to have contact” with Russian intelligence services.
…just as Putin threatened nuclear expansion… In a speech to Russia’s Defense Ministry board (link in Russian), president Vladimir Putin vowed to step up the country’s nuclear program. Putin said Russia must “strengthen the combat potential of our strategic nuclear forces” to respond to growing American capabilities.
…and Trump started tweeting about nukes. Hours after Putin’s speech, the American president-elect called for an expansion of US nuclear capabilities. Trump, who has never been a fan of disarmament, said that the US “must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”
German authorities found fingerprints in the market-attack truck. Local police matched prints found in the truck’s driving cabin to 24-year-old Tunisian suspect Anis Amri, and said they have additional information tying him to the attack. A manhunt for Amri has now spread across Europe.
Quartz obsession interlude
Leslie Josephs with a guide to premium-economy upgrades. “Leave it to the crafty airlines to invent a new product—called premium economy—to capitalize on passengers’ trauma of cramped cabins past. Taiwan’s EVA Air and the UK’s Virgin Atlantic were the ones who pioneered the in-between service class in the early 1990s, but the concept really took off this year as fares tumbled and airlines grappled with ways to drum up revenue.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Empathy in medicine is overrated. Doctors should alleviate patients’ pain, not mirror their distress.
Believing in Santa Claus is rational. Given all the “evidence,” children’s faith in St. Nick is actually scientific thinking.
Bad bosses are universal. Management theory makes too much of cultural difference as the driving force behind professional behavior.
Surprising discoveries
A university in Thailand is accepting rice as tuition. The school will put an above-market value on the rice to counter the lowest grain prices in a decade.
Teaching African girls about puberty keeps them in school. One study found a 17% drop in absenteeism when girls were given sanitary napkins, puberty education, or both.
Cowbirds are devious criminals. The shiny cowbird drops its egg in other birds’ nests, then punctures all the other eggs.
The hottest borehole ever made is almost complete. Iceland’s Deep Drilling Project could reach depths where the temperature is as high as 500C (932F).
Wrapping paper is only 99 years old. It all started when two brothers in Kansas ran out of red, white, and green tissue paper.
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