Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Theresa May visits Brussels to push ahead on Brexit. The UK prime minister meets European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker to hammer out details of Britain’s ties with the EU after it leaves in March. Last week’s draft exit agreement was met with a flurry of cabinet resignations, but an effort to bring a no-confidence motion against May failed.
Deere reports its fourth-quarter earnings. The US farm machinery firm is expected to have had a solid quarter, but all eyes are on its 2019 forecast to ascertain how the US-China trade war is likely to impact both crop and machinery prices.
The OECD’s global growth forecast. Analysts expect a dampened economic outlook for 2019, after the group’s interim report in September cited the negative impact of heightened trade policy uncertainty, and a possible peak in expansion.
While you were sleeping
Interpol elected a new president. The global police agency chose acting head Kim Jong Yang from South Korea to replace Meng Hongwei, who was suddenly detained by Chinese authorities in October on corruption allegations. Russian law enforcement chief Alexander Prokopchuk was a frontrunner for the job, but had been accused of abusing Interpol’s arrest warrant system.
Japan backed the Nissan-Renault alliance. After the shock arrest of chairman Carlos Ghosn on Monday on fraud allegations, the government said it would work to keep the automotive alliance alive. Japanese media said that Ghosn will be detained for another 10 days. According to the Financial Times, Ghosn was pushing to merge Renault and Nissan—against Nissan’s wishes—before he was arrested.
The US trade representative said China hasn’t mended its ways. Robert Lighthizer slammed Beijing for not changing its “unfair, unreasonable and market-distorting practices” and continuing to illicitly obtain US tech via cybertheft and espionage. Despite Trump’s threats and tariffs, the US is tracking to post the largest trade deficit ever with China in 2018.
A whistleblower accused US banks in a money-laundering scandal. The ex-employee who brought the alleged €200 billion Danske Bank scandal to light said nearly all the money involved passed through US banks. Denmark’s biggest bank is under investigation over payments made through its small Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015.
A US aircraft carrier arrived in Hong Kong. Two months after China denied a similar request from a US warship, the USS Ronald Reagan made a port call, accompanied by three ships from its strike group. China may be trying to calm diplomatic waters ahead of Trump and Xi Jinping’s meeting at the G20 summit.
Obsession interlude
Morning routines set the tone for the day. We have an insatiable fascination with the routines of the rich and famous, from Barack Obama’s early workouts to Gwyneth Paltrow’s almond milk smoothies. But just as there is no single path to success, there’s also no one-size-fits all morning routine—except getting out of bed, eventually. Wake and up shine with today’s Quartz Obsession.
Quartz membership
Netflix balance-sheet breakdown: The streaming-video giant expects to close out 2018 with more than 146 million subscribers, but all that growth comes at a cost. The scariest number is Netflix’s negative free cash flow—the company expects to bleed about $3 billion this year. Check out other parts of our deep dive into the future of television here, including the streaming wars state of play, and a QZ&A with Hulu CEO Randy Freer.
Conversation starter
“Three guesses what MBS is thankful for this Thanksgiving—but you’ll only need one. If that.”
—Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, on the Trump administration’s decision not to punish Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi killing.
Surprising discoveries
Everyone is naming their dog “Bella.” Canine naming trends suggest pet owners are treating their animals like human children.
A turkey has met the press more often this month than the White House press secretary. Sarah Huckabee Sanders last held a press briefing in October.
Saudi women are wearing their clothes inside-out. It’s a protest against the garments they’re required to wear outside of the home.
Plastic killed a sperm whale. Six kilograms of garbage were found inside the whale, including flip-flops, bags, and 115 plastic cups.
Termite mounds the size of Britain have been discovered in Brazil. The cluster of 200 million mounds, some as high as 10 feet tall, was built over the centuries by a single termite species.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, dogs named Bella, and media-savvy turkeys to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app or becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Jill Petzinger and edited by Jackie Bischof.