Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Malaysia’s general election. The closely fought election, Malaysia’s 14th, pits prime minister Najib Razak against nonagenarian Mahathir Mohamad, a former PM who was once his mentor. Overseas Malaysians are going to great lengths to get their ballots in, despite what they say are efforts by the government to suppress their votes.
Companies battle to test US drones. Companies including Amazon, Apple, Intel, and Airbus have partnered with state and local governments to test unmanned aerial vehicles at night, over populated areas, and beyond the operator’s line of sight. The federal government will choose 10 winners to host the tests from more than 200 companies.
Leaders of Japan, South Korea, and China meet. The summit in Tokyo, where the North Korean issue tops the agenda, comes a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un paid a surprise visit to China and met with president Xi Jinping. It’s also the first visit by a South Korean leader to Japan in over six years.
While you were sleeping
Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal. As expected, the US president said he would introduce new sanctions on Iran despite pleas from major US allies, with some of Europe’s biggest companies facing a Nov. 4 deadline to withdraw from the country. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said he would seek to keep the nuclear arrangement in place by negotiating with the other signatories. Oil prices jumped (paywall) on the news.
Three Americans detained in North Korea could soon return home. Media reports, citing a South Korean official, said that US secretary of state Mike Pompeo is expected to return from Pyongyang with the three detainees. Pompeo arrived in North Korea today.
A company linked to a Russian oligarch made payments to Michael Cohen. Trump’s longtime lawyer reportedly received $500,000 in payments into his shell company after the 2016 election. The payments came from Columbus Nova, an affiliate of the Renova Group, which is controlled by Viktor Vekselberg, recently the target of US sanctions.
Recruit will acquire Glassdoor. The Japanese HR services provider said it had agreed to buy the California-based job-site operator for $1.2 billion, giving it access to a wealth of employer information including salaries.
The Democratic Republic of Congo declared an Ebola outbreak. Health authorities said they have confirmed at least two cases of the disease out of five suspected patients, and 17 deaths. It’s the ninth outbreak of Ebola in the country.
Quartz obsession interlude
Sarah Todd on the under-appreciation of dinosaurs. “It was only once the dinosaurs were wiped out that mammals got a chance to to take their evolutionary shot… ‘Dinosaurs were so good in their ecological niche at a large size. They were like the incumbents—a politician who’s been in office 30, 40 years. The moment the T. Rex disappeared, mammals started to evolve like crazy.’” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Google’s latest ad ban is deeply misguided. A prohibition on ads for bail bonds will only result in more poor people rotting in jail.
California cuisine is what immigrants cook up. The state’s food ethos is a combination of cultures (paywall).
The US can eliminate its trade deficit or run the world’s dominant currency—but not both. America provides the rest of the world with liquidity and a safe place to store assets.
Surprising discoveries
A Chinese music-video social network is the world’s most downloaded iPhone app. Douyin has a huge following thanks to lip-syncing internet celebrities.
Female Afghan coders are creating games about opium and inequality. Developing software gives women a rare chance to join the professional workforce.
An obscure Australian study is the star citation on Wikipedia. The climate change research has been referenced 2.8 million times.
Researchers put a crocodile in an MRI and played it classical music. The results showed that reptiles process stimuli much like birds and mammals.
The gender pay gap starts with babysitting. Girls who are emotionally attached to the children they care for receive the lowest raises.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, babysitting jobs, and Chinese lip-syncing videos to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Isabella Steger and edited by Alice Truong.