Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
China releases trade data for September. Amid increasing pressure on the economy from the US trade war, analysts expect drops in both exports and imports. Exports slowed sharply in August.
And the winners are… Two prestigious awards will go out today: the Nobel Prize in economics and the Booker Prize for literature. The clear favorite for the latter is Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale.
Finance ministers and central bankers meet in Washington, DC. Expect much hand-wringing about the deteriorating global economy at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
Over the weekend
Japan was inundated. Typhoon Hagibis made landfall Saturday after millions were evacuated from Tokyo and the surrounding area. At least 30 people were killed in the storm and tens of thousands remain without power.
Violence in Hong Kong. Protesters popped up across the city in flash-mob demonstrations against Chinese interference, clashing with police, with one officer reportedly slashed. Visiting US senator Ted Cruz, a critic of China, met with protestors but not chief executive Carrie Lam, who canceled a sit-down with him.
Chaos rattled Syria. Turkish forces continued pushing into territory abandoned by US soldiers, battling Kurdish militias and committing war crimes. Hundreds of captured ISIS fighters escaped from prison camps, and a Syrian democracy advocate was murdered. German leader Angela Merkel called for an end to the conflict.
Brexit negotiations fell short again. EU officials said the latest proposals from Boris Johnson didn’t move the needle on Northern Ireland’s border or customs agreements. The UK prime minister warned his cabinet to prepare for a no-deal exit from the bloc on Oct. 31.
Eliud Kipchoge ran a sub-2-hour marathon. The Kenyan distance runner, accompanied by an elite pacing team of 42 athletes, pushed the boundaries of human achievement by running 26.2 miles in 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 40 seconds—an average pace of 4:34 per mile.
Quartz Obsession
The cobra effect is a hell of good intentions. It’s a particularly brutal form of unintended consequences in which incentives to fix a problem only make the problem worse. The fail is so named because an attempt to eliminate actual cobras ended up with way more cobras, and while it’s not typically that freaky, it can get much worse. Survey the damage at the Quartz Obsession.
Matters of debate
Join the conversation on the Quartz app!
Thomas Edison’s greatest invention wasn’t the lightbulb. He created the worldview behind what we call R&D.
Why hasn’t America banned dolphin shows? Big companies and other countries are halting entertainment featuring the intelligent sea creatures, but the US hasn’t followed suit.
A carbon tax won’t stop climate change. Plans to address global warming that don’t deal with inequality are dead on arrival.
Surprising discoveries
A stalker used a Japanese pop star’s selfies to find her. The reflections in her eyes gave away her regular train station.
California just banned little shampoo bottles in hotels. The move will reduce the number of single-use plastics ending up in landfills.
The UK’s Royal Mint now offers a $23,000 payment card. Owners of the solid-gold offering won’t be charged foreign exchange and transaction fees.
Doodles in a New York dive bar could be worth millions. Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara drew them on the walls of Niagara (after a few drinks) in 2009.
A newly unveiled pair of shoes costs $20 million. The solid gold heels replicate Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, shampoo refills, and reasonably priced footwear to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Steve Mollman and Tim Fernholz.