What to watch for today
Cyclone Chapala arrives on the Yemeni mainland. The cyclone, with winds equivalent to a category 3 hurricane, swept through the remote Yemeni island of Socotra yesterday, and is scheduled to hit the mainland this morning. The storm is predicted to drop 30 in (75 cm) of rain on the port city of Al Mukalla, which is currently held by Al Qaeda.
George Osborne argues for an EU do-over. The UK chancellor will make a speech in Berlin laying out the case for renegotiating Britain’s membership in the European Union. The ruling Conservative Party is planning a referendum on the UK’s EU membership no later than 2017.
Internet executives gather in Dublin. More than 40,000 people, including senior executives from Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Slack, are attending the annual Web Summit. Ireland’s status as a tax haven for big tech companies is coming under pressure, and the event will move to Lisbon in 2016.
Tesla drives into the red. Analysts are predicting revenue of around $1.26 billion, a 35% jump from the same quarter last year, but a 50 cent per share loss, compared to a small profit a year ago. Investors will be looking for updates on the new Model X SUV and the roll-out of semi-autonomous driving technology.
CBS kicks off a big week for media companies. America’s most-watched broadcast network is confronting the cord-cutting trend with its “All Access” online streaming service, which costs $5.99 a month in the US and will be the only place to watch CBS’s new “Star Trek” series. Analysts are predicting $3.27 billion in revenue, a 3% decline.
While you were sleeping
Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal spread to Porsche. The US Environmental Protection Agency said that Porsche diesel SUVs had a device to cheat emissions tests, along with additional VW and Audi models. Former Porsche head Matthias Müller stepped into the CEO role at Volkswagen in September, as part of a management shake up caused by the cheating scandal.
Watchdog groups condemned Turkey’s election. International observers said president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s crackdown on opposition groups and the press created an election characterized by “violence and fear.” Erdoğan responded by saying Turkish people voted for stability, and urged international critics to accept the results.
Visa’s consolidation was poorly received. The credit card processor’s shares fell after it agreed to buy its subsidiary, Visa Europe, and its fourth-quarter profit missed analysts’ estimates. The deal, valued at €21.2 billion ($23.4 billion), is expected to cut $200 million in costs by 2020.
The Vatican arrested two advisers for leaking documents. Vatican police detained Francesca Chaouqui, an Italian public relations executive, and Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, a Spanish priest, for mishandling classified information. The arrests come as the Roman Catholic church braces for two upcoming exposés about fraud and mismanagement.
The mystery behind Russia’s plane crash deepened. An official from Kogalymavia, which owned the downed plane, blamed a “certain impact” and said mechanical problems had been ruled out; Russian government officials quickly disputed that claim. Meanwhile, a source from the committee analyzing the flight’s data recorders said it was “not struck from the outside and the pilot did not make a distress call,” according to Reuters.
Quartz obsession interlude
Anne Quito on Pantone color chips as pop culture icons. “Unless you work in design, chances are your first encounter with the mythic New Jersey-based color standards company was via a color-coded mug, iPhone case or in a Sephora makeup counter. In recent years, the design of Pantone’s color chips has become a graphic trope: always a plain band of color with a white bar and some words and black numbers in Helvetica on the bottom.” Read more here.
Quartz events
Quartz’s The Next Billion is back in New York on Nov. 16, exploring the next wave of internet users in emerging markets and on mobile platforms. Speakers include Phil Libin of Evernote, Luis von Ahn of Duolingo, Catherine Hoke of Defy Ventures, and many more. We’re hosting a full day of live interviews, interactive demos, debates, and networking with local and international innovators and decision makers. Register today using the code QZBRIEF for a 40% discount.
Matters of debate
Indonesia is currently hell on Earth. Ignoring massive forest fires is a crime against nature and humanity.
Twitter is decaying in middle age. The social network is captive to the whims of a small group of users.
China is the next Mexico. Beijing should look to to the country’s history in the 1990s for cautionary tales about transformation.
Mobile phones should have a “driving mode.” It would disable all features except navigation and emergency communications.
Insider trading has quietly been legalized in the United States. A newly created loophole went unchallenged by the Supreme Court.
Surprising discoveries
The US spent $43 million on an Afghan gas station. It offered a fuel that Afghan cars can’t even use.
A Congolese man wants to send rats into space. His homegrown rocket program has nearly reached the stratosphere.
Whisky can help clean up radioactive waste. The discovery was made in Scotland, naturally.
A giant raptor was discovered in North Dakota. Dakotaraptor steini had 9.5 in (24 cm) claws.
A new animal species emerged while scientists watched. The coywolf has genes from dogs, wolves, and coyotes.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, radioactive whisky, and raptor claws to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.