What to watch for today
Cyclone Chapala hits Yemen. The giant storm, equivalent to a category 4 hurricane, is forecast to dump as much as eight times the average annual rainfall on the arid, war-torn country. Cyclones on the Arabian Peninsula are exceedingly rare.
Francois Hollande visits China to promote climate talks. The French president visits the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing, ahead of a later trip to Beijing. Hollande is expected to lobby his counterpart Xi Jinping ahead of a high-profile climate meeting in Paris.
Updates on the US and euro zone economies. In the US, the Institute for Supply Management will release October manufacturing and construction data. The euro zone’s purchasing managers’ index for October is due, with France expected to teeter on the dividing line between expansion and contraction.
The US weighs racial discrimination in jury selection. The Supreme Court will assess whether racial profiling was used in selecting the jury for a 1987 murder trial. Rights groups argue that profiling is still too common; evidence suggests that whiter juries are less likely to acquit suspects.
Earnings: Visa, Commerzbank, and Ryanair are among the companies reporting quarterly results.
While you were sleeping
Turkey returned to one-party rule. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party won a better-than-expected 49.4% of the popular vote, securing an outright parliamentary majority. The snap election came at the expense of Turkey’s largest Kurdish party, and there were violent election-day clashes in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir.
China’s premier set a 6.5% growth target for the next five years. Li Keqiang tried to ease fears about a slowdown by saying the Chinese economy was “was still increasing at an orderly pace.” Separately, Chinese manufacturing activity surprised economists by contracting for the third straight month.
Thousands turned out to celebrate Aung San Suu Kyi. The Myanmar pro-democracy politician appealed for votes ahead of an election Sunday (Nov. 8). Suu Kyi warned that the ruling party did not want genuine change; she promised that her party would enact faster reforms and offer better protection for minorities.
Japan, South Korea, and China “completely restored” trade and security ties. The neighboring rivals stuck mostly to economic issues at a trilateral summit that was halted since 2012 due to territorial disputes and historical grievances. The countries also discussed their goal of de-nuclearizing North Korea.
Egypt and Russia gathered clues about a downed airplane. A Russian official said that a Metrojet flight carrying 244 people “broke up in midair” before crashing in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Both “black box” data recorders have been recovered, and officials cast doubt on ISIL’s claim that it downed the aircraft.
Brazil’s oil workers went on strike. The largest union at Petrobras began an open-ended work stoppage to protest proposed asset sales at the troubled state-owned oil giant. The strike affects platform, refinery, and other workers, but not, Petrobras insisted, oil output.
Tunisia outlined plans to double foreign direct investment. Finance minister Yassine Brahim said that a new investment law, due to take effect early next year, will simplify doing business, in an attempt to encourage enterprises to move manufacturing to the country’s interior.
Quartz obsession interlude
Olivia Goldhill on the moral dilemmas of driverless cars. “Imagine you’re in a self-driving car, heading towards a collision with a group of pedestrians. The only other option is to drive off a cliff. What should the car do?” Read more here.
Matters of debate
China should ditch its GDP growth target. Now that it’s semi-capitalist, that number is out of the government’s control.
You should definitely take off your shoes inside. Forty percent of outsoles carry a drug-resistant microbe.
The case for bad coffee. Cheap instant stuff is one of America’s unsung heroes.
Germany’s design decisions affected the outcome of World War II. Nazi weaponry was over-engineered.
Surprising discoveries
There are whales alive today who are older than “Moby Dick.” Bowheads off the coast of Alaska can survive for centuries.
Antarctica is adding more ice than it’s losing. A NASA study challenges the conventional wisdom, though gains may not last long.
A caffeine-free coffee shop just opened in New York. Caffeine junkies aren’t too thrilled.
Dancing with friends is good for your health. It builds social cohesion and trust.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, ancient whale tales, and caffeinated coffee to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.