Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin might meet in Vietnam. Both leaders are scheduled to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Danang today, but it’s not clear whether they plan to have a dedicated meeting. The US-Russia relationship has soured somewhat since July, and possible topics could include North Korea, Syria, and Ukraine.
Alibaba preps for China’s huge shopping holiday. Singles Day, created to encourage lonely Chinese consumers to shop, far outstrips Black Friday in the US. Alibaba has recruited 600,000 stores nationwide to help sell and deliver goods, and Citigroup is estimating Nov. 11 sales of 158 billion yuan ($24 billion).
The US will perform a rare naval exercise in the Sea of Japan. The three-aircraft-carrier maneuver is the first of its kind in the Western Pacific since a 2007 drill near Guam. From Saturday to Tuesday, the strike force will perform air defense drills, sea surveillance, and more in a show of strength to North Korea.
While you were sleeping
US senate candidate Roy Moore allegedly assaulted a 14-year-old girl. Leigh Corfman accused Moore (paywall)—an assistant district attorney in Alabama in 1979, the year of the incident—of removing both of their clothes, touching her over her underwear, and guiding her to touch him in return. Three other women also alleged that Moore, who denies the accusations, pursued them when they were teenagers.
Comedian Louis CK was also accused of multiple incidents of misconduct. As many as five people have come forward to substantiate years of rumors that Louis CK masturbates in front of unwilling women. The Thursday night New York City premiere of his film I Love You, Daddy was canceled.
Musical.ly was bought for as much as $1 billion. Founded three years ago, the Shanghai-based venture makes a lip-syncing app that’s taken off with teens in the US and elsewhere. The buyer is Beijing Bytedance Technology, one of China’s hottest tech startups and maker of the news app Toutiao. GGV Capital and Greylock Partners are among the investors in Musical.ly.
US Senate Republicans revealed their tax bill proposal. The Trump administration said Democrats will like it more (paywall) than the House’s proposal. The plan differs (paywall) by getting rid of state and local tax deductions; keeping mortgage interest deductions, medical deductions, and estate tax; delaying lowering the corporate tax rate; and giving breaks to more small businesses.
Disney disappointed then cheered investors. Revenue fell 3% on-year in the quarter ending in September, and for its financial year Disney recorded a 4% drop in profits, its first such decline since 2009. As online video surges, the media giant is grappling with declining cable subscriptions. But shares rose following the announcement of a new Star Wars trilogy.
AT&T says it will fight to buy Time Warner. The US Justice Department rejected the $85 billion purchase on antitrust grounds, saying the telecom giant would have to sell DirecTV or Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting unit, which includes CNN. CEO Randall Stephenson said he was willing to go to court rather than lose either.
Quartz obsession interlude
Dan Kopf on the region that’s growing older a lot faster than anywhere else in the world. “East Asia’s aging population is a cause for celebration, as it mostly reflects improved living conditions. Yet it also presents a big challenge. As Quartz’s Isabella Steger writes, countries like South Korea face a demographic time bomb. Since working-age populations are shrinking in comparison with the ranks of retirees, younger East Asians will bear the brunt of paying for old-age benefits for their parents. Opening up to immigration from still-youthful places like Africa and South Asia is the best option to redress the balance.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Beijing played Trump like a fiddle. He’s particularly susceptible to its tactic of flattering foreigners with over-the-top ceremony and then refusing to change.
Stopping global food waste is a matter of diet. Reducing meat production would save precious resources and energy—and get more vegetables on plates.
Horoscopes aren’t stupid. Astrology may be not be scientific, but our long history of looking at the stars can still encourage plenty of mental and personal benefits.
Surprising discoveries
A driverless shuttle in Las Vegas got in an accident in its first hour of service. It was caused by the other vehicle’s human driver, which, the shuttle’s sponsor says, proves its point.
Netflix is going to test new ideas by publishing comic books. The publisher Millarworld, which it recently acquired, will help it do so.
Gender parity might happen in space before it does on Earth. Three women and three men are sealed a simulated spacecraft in Moscow for 17 days to help determine proper ratios for future missions.
T-Mobile’s CEO is a cult-hit cook. Millions of fans swear John Legere’s “Slow Cooker Sunday” recipes are worth trying (paywall), making the YouTube series an oddly compelling publicity stunt.
Poland wants its citizens to mate like rabbits. The government released a hare-raising video ad telling parents to follow the example of nature’s most prolific breeding machine.
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