Good morning, Quartz readers!
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.
François 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.
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.
An update on the US economy. The Institute for Supply Management will release October manufacturing and construction data.
Earnings: Visa, AIG, and Fitbit 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.
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.
HSBC reported a blockbuster quarter on lower legal fees. The British bank’s third-quarter profit rose by a third from a year earlier to $6.1 billion, despite a 4% dip in underlying revenue. Extra spending on compliance and a reduction in compensation and fines helped HSBC weather an Asia slowdown.
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.
Euro-zone manufacturing growth disappointed. The Markit purchasing manager’s index inched upwards to 52.3 in October, from 52 in September, largely due to companies slashing prices to make sales; that casts some doubt on the European Central Bank’s stimulus program. But the UK index jumped to 55.5, beating expectations of a downturn.
Nissan raised its full-year forecast on strong sales. The Japanese auto maker reported a fiscal second-quarter operating profit of 201.2 billion yen ($1.7 billion), up 44% from a year earlier, mainly due to high North American sales. It increased its full-year outlook by 8%, to 730 billion yen.
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—who is constitutionally barred from the presidency—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.
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.
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.
Fan power can help soccer clubs rediscover their roots. The game has lost its soul due to the huge influence of money.
Surprising discoveries
There are whales alive today who are older than “Moby Dick.” Bowheads off the coast of Alaska can survive for centuries.
Scientists have created a urine test for malaria. Its early diagnosis could prevent thousands of unnecessary deaths.
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 pointless cups of coffee to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.