Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The UN’s climate conference begins in Bonn. China is looking to take a lead role at the 23rd annual conference of the world’s nations, now that the US has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement. The Bonn meeting, which runs until Nov. 17, is about trying to set concrete goals to limit global warming—figuring out the nuts and bolts of the Paris deal.
The euro zone’s financial heads get together. The cohort of EU finance ministers known as the Eurogroup will meet in Brussels to discuss the completion of the banking union and prepare for December’s euro summit. They’ll also make a plan to appoint a successor to Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who steps down in January 2018.
Broadcom makes a $100 billion bid for its rival. The chipmaker is expected to unveil an unsolicited offer to purchase Qualcomm for $70 per share, amounting to the largest-ever technology acquisition. Qualcomm will likely rebuff the deal, paving the way for Broadcom to launch a proxy fight.
While you were sleeping
A gunman killed 26 people in a Texas church. At least 20 more were injured as the gunman, identified as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley, opened fire at the First Baptist Church (paywall) in Sutherland Springs on Sunday, and died as he fled the scene. Donald Trump called it a “mental health problem” not “a guns situation.”
The Paradise Papers uncovered the global elite’s hidden wealth. The huge data dump of offshore financial accounts held by the world’s wealthiest people is similar to last year’s Panama Papers leak. Discoveries include Wilbur Ross’ stake in a shipping company tied to Putin and the Kremlin’s investments in Facebook and Twitter.
Donald Trump scolded Japan. On the first stop of his Asia tour, Trump had a hamburger, played a round of golf with prime minister Shinzo Abe, and over-fed some koi carp. On Monday, the president lashed out at Japan’s “unfair” trade practices, saying the US had “suffered massive trade deficits at the hands of Japan for many, many years.”
The “Warren Buffett of the Middle East” was caught in a Saudi crackdown. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was one of at least 10 princes detained on Saturday in an alleged corruption crackdown that appears to be part of a consolidation of power by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. Alwaleed has substantial investments in Apple, Citigroup, and 21st Century Fox.
Sprint and Arm boosted SoftBank. Sales at the US wireless carrier and UK processor arm lifted Softbank’s operating profit to $3.5 billion in the second quarter. On Saturday, Sprint and T-Mobile US abandoned their merger talks. SoftBank—which has the world’s largest tech investment fund—is looking to buy a $10 billion stake in Uber.
Catalonia’s ousted president turned himself over to Belgian authorities. Carles Puigdemont and four former ministers were granted conditional freedom within the country, where they fled after Spain issued an arrest warrant against them. They could face extradition back to Spain to face charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds.
Quartz obsession interlude
Allison Schrager, Christopher Groskopf, and Scott Cunningham on how the internet changed sex work. “Elle works in different cities, so she adjusts her prices to match the local market conditions. ‘I will also look at the places that I travel to for work, go to the ads on Backpage.com or Eros.com, and then check out their websites,’ she said. ‘Most girls will have their prices listed.’ Prices are cheaper in the Midwest, at about $200 an hour, but on the coasts she charges $260.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
There’s too much emphasis on STEM studies in college. Signaling that art, political science, and philosophy are less valuable will erode civility.
The Paradise Papers are really about income inequality. The ultra-wealthy are abusing offshore accounts which, while legal, are unfair.
The British don’t know what Britain is anymore. Citizens are divided over its national narrative, and it’s driving the country into irrelevance (paywall).
Surprising discoveries
More and more Americans are giving up their citizenship. For the third year in a row, US expatriation is on track to eclipse the previous year’s record.
Corporate lobbies were behind America’s daylight savings time. Farmers didn’t demand an extra hour of sunlight at the end of the day—the sellers of candy, barbecues, and golf did.
North Korea has its own black market street food. Alongside smuggled electronics and homewares, vendors sell snacks made of rice, soybeans, and sugar.
A vegetable was mistaken for an unexploded bomb in Germany. Authorities called to a backyard expecting to see a WWII-era explosive found a massive, 16-inch-long (41 cm) zucchini instead.
Invisible “rivers” in the atmosphere can affect the weather on earth. They drop vast amounts of rain in some places and not others, causing a patchworks of flooding and drought.
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