Q-MHI Daily Brief ;

Good morning, Q-MHI readers!

WHAT TO WATCH FOR TODAY

Sheryl Sandberg does damage control in DC. Facebook’s COO will meet lawmakers investigating Russia’s Facebook ads and give the company’s first public interview from a senior executive involved in the probe. Sandberg will also discuss racially inflammatory adswith members of the congressional black caucus.

Donald Trump moves to unwind the Affordable Care Act. The president will sign an executive order instructing federal agencies(paywall) to start easing insurance rules, say senior White House officials. Critics say killing the ACA will make health insurance more expensive, especially for older or sicker people.

Wall Street reports earnings. JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup kick off third-quarter earnings season (paywall). Big banks have signaled that trading revenues will be down by 15% to 20% from this time last year.

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

Trump twice threatened to shut down media outlets. After posturing to pull NBC’s broadcast license on Monday, the president sent another tweet saying network news licenses “must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked.” An NBC report about Trump reportedly wanting a tenfold increase in the country’s nuclear arsenal was what provoked his ire.

Gucci shed its fur. The Italian fashion brand, part of the Kering luxury group, said it will no longer use mink, coyote, raccoon dog, fox, rabbit, and other animals bred for their fur from 2018 onwards. It will auction off the remainder of its furs. The Humane Society International called the decision “a huge game-changer.”

Lufthansa clinched a deal with bankrupt Air Berlin. Germany’s flag carrier said it will sign the agreement today to buy a large part of what was the country’s second largest airline until it went bust in August. EasyJet’s plans to buy a bunch of Air Berlin’s planes are still up in the air.

SoftBank’s shopping spree drove its stock to a 17-year high. The Japanese firm surged around 3.6% in Tokyo as investors salivated over the deals it’s negotiating—including a big stake in Uber and the Softbank-controlled Sprint merger with T-Mobile US. A PwC report found SoftBank was behind four of the five biggest venture capital deals globally in the third quarter of 2017.

Colombia’s peace accord with the FARC got constitutional protection. A constitutional court in Bogota ruled that the 2016 accord between the government and the rebel group cannot be modified for 12 years. It protects the deal from potential changes should right-wing opponents of president Juan Manuel Santos take power after the election in 2018.

Q-MHI OBSESSION INTERLUDE

Zheping Huang on how news from China depends on anonymous local journalists. “Most foreign news organizations in mainland China rely heavily on Chinese nationals to navigate the country’s complex bureaucracy, flag important developments, and find people willing to be quoted in a foreign paper. But China bans its citizens from working as full-fledged journalists for these publications. Instead, they are only allowed to offer ‘assistance,’ after they sign employment contracts with agencies affiliated with the Chinese foreign ministry.”

MATTERS OF DEBATE

Suburban offices are hip again. As millennials move out of city centers, companies are starting to follow the talent. For millennials, the suburbs are the new city, and employers chasing young talent are starting to look at them a new.

“Intelligent” means different things in different cultures. IQ tests created in predominately white, Western societies can make global comparisons problematic.

SoftBank’s master plan is aimed at a robotic future. The seemingly random investments by Masayoshi Son’s $100 billion Vision Fund (paywall) all have a common thread.

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SURPRISING DISCOVERIES

A fake story about Google buying Apple briefly roiled the stock market. The Dow Jones article was meant to be an internal technology test (paywall).

The Swiss sewage system is clogged with gold. Researchers say gold flecks worth an estimated $2 million have been flushed by refineries and Swiss watch firms.

Leonardo da Vinci’s last painting once sold for $60. Salvator Mundi could make $100 million at auction next month.The painting is owned by Russian investor Dmitry Rybolovlev, whose estimated net worth is $7.4 billionand has been mired in many controversies—in the art world and beyond.

A court in Australia recognized an unsent text message as a valid will. Instructions included “put my ashes in the back garden,” along with a smiley face.

New Zealand police apologized for posting a meme about traffic deaths. “When you have to tell someone their family has died” was accompanied by a GIF from The Office.

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