Amazon ripped off Indian products

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Here’s what you need to know

Amazon manipulated search results and copied products to boost sales in India. Internal documents reviewed by Reuters show the e-commerce giant used data to promote its own goods over Indian sellers. Amazon denies the accusations.

The EU will end most checks on British goods heading to Northern Ireland. The proposal would scrap 80% of spot checks and require half the usual paperwork.

The US is expanding hours at the Port of Los Angeles. The Biden administration hopes extra shifts will remedy supply chain clogs that are hindering the country’s post-pandemic economic recovery.

Moderna or Pfizer boosters may be better for Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients. The finding, from preliminary data based on a small study, comes as a US Food and Drug Administration panel votes on whether to recommend authorization for J&J’s booster Friday.

Norway’s new government is committed to the oil and gas sector. While leaders want to cut the country’s carbon emission by 55% by 2030, they plan to do so gradually as oil and gas is “developed, not dismantled.”

Russia saw a record drop in population last year. Numbers fell by 997,000 since last October, the largest decline during peacetime, mostly because of Covid-19.

What to watch for

Today, China publishes its September inflation figures, which investors will be watching closely as they try to assess the state of the world’s second largest economy. China rebounded strongly from the pandemic, but growth is slowing as the country grapples with turmoil in its property sector and a power crunch.

🛍 Analysts expect fairly subdued CPI (consumer price index) inflation, which measures changes in the price of consumer goods and services. Consumption appears to be weak in China at the moment, but a stronger number may mean that’s not really the case.

🏭 PPI (producer price index) inflation, which shows changes in so-called factory gate prices—that’s the price of goods before they leave the facility and go on their merry way—is expected to be high because of surging commodity prices, which have been hurting production.

🔁 China’s September trade data published yesterday presented a mixed picture with export growth unexpectedly accelerating, while imports lagged behind expectations.

The UK has more job vacancies than ever before

Northern Ireland border checks aren’t the only Brexit headache the UK is (still) dealing with. The country has a record-high number of unfilled jobs—there were more than 1.1 million job vacancies in July through September of this year—and businesses blame the messy divorce from the EU.

While the UK government has tried to play down Brexit’s impact on staffing shortages, one in four businesses struggling to hire said that a reduced number of EU applicants was a factor, the UK Office for National Statistics reported. In the transport and storage sector, almost half (46%) said it was a factor.

Mindbody booked an appointment with ClassPass

Wellness appointment-booking software company Mindbody announced yesterday it’s acquiring ClassPass, the fitness subscription startup. The easing of pandemic restrictions has more people thinking about heading back to the gym, and with plenty of companies desperate for their business, it makes sense for ClassPass to find a partner to help cut costs and scale.

Recently, we asked ClassPass CEO Fritz Lanman who he feels are the company’s primary competitors:

SoulCycle: People love the mantra-driven, cult-like cycling business, which is owned by Equinox and valued at more than $900 million, in part for its strong community.

Peloton: As more people turn to working from home, cycling on a $2,000 bike at home sounds more appealing than ever.

Netflix: ClassPass sees “Netflix and chill” as a threat to working out (which, same).

Airbnb: With the short-term rental company building up its experiences business, Airbnb could come into competition with ClassPass.

Dive deeper into the future of fitness with the ClassPass Company email, exclusive to Quartz members. ✦ Exercise your brain with a subscription to Quartz—sign up today and get 40% off with code QZEMAIL40.

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😡 Investors still favor male startup founders in Africa by a wide margin

Surprising discoveries

We’re being unfair to spiders. Humans tend to feel a lot better about killing things when their faces don’t look remotely like ours.

A meteorite woke up a Canadian woman by crashing onto her pillow. She’s letting scientists do their thing for a while, but then she plans on keeping it.

Something in the galaxy’s center is sending out very unusual radio waves. It doesn’t match the behavior of known celestial objects, so we’re sure everything is probably 100% fine.

Conjoined turtle twins were found in Massachusetts. Each of their two heads controls three legs, and they swim and come up for air together.

If a flatworm wants a twin, it just rips itself in half. The piece without the brain grows a new one—and everything else it needs.

Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, galactic guesses, and spider friends to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Jane Li, Cassie Werber, Michelle Cheng, Morgan Haefner, Susan Howson, and Liz Webber.