China’s economic growth slows down

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Here’s what you need to know

China’s third-quarter GDP growth slowed to 4.9%. That was down from 7.9% the previous quarter as its economy felt the drag of a real estate slowdown, a crackdown on internet firms, and an energy shortage. (Read more below.)

Xi Jinping won’t attend COP26. The Chinese leader hasn’t left the country for nearly two years, and doesn’t plan to head to Glasgow for the climate summit. ​

The US is reopening its border to vaccinated travelers from dozens of countries on Nov. 8. President Joe Biden will provide more detailed guidance—including information about “very limited exceptions”—by the end of October.

The Hollywood strike is off. A deal agreed on Saturday means around 60,000 workers will not walk out, and productions can continue.

Squid Game is worth close to $900 million to Netflix. According to Bloomberg, the hit South Korean drama generated $891.1 million in impact value, which Netflix uses to assess a show’s performance.

What to watch for

Who will run the UN’s pandemic recovery effort in Africa?

Matt Hancock, who was sacked by UK prime minister Boris Johnson following an affair with an aide, and had been criticized for his role in Britain’s own pandemic response as health secretary, was offered the job. But after a wave of criticism, Maxine Betteridge-Moes reports—partly over the appointment of a non-African—the offer was swiftly withdrawn.

So the role is still open, and whoever comes in has a lot of work to do: Less than 5% of the African population is fully vaccinated, and the economic forecast for the continent is bleak.

Sign up to the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief here for news and analysis on African business, tech, and innovation in your inbox.

The climate debate that riveted TED

An oil baron really has no chance on a TED stage with two angry climate activists, as performative as the whole set-up might be.

In Edinburgh last week, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden faced off with Engine No. 1’s Chris James, and Lauren MacDonald, who shouted at the executive and stormed off.

It’s almost impossible to be a moderator in these situations, unless you happen to be Christiana Figueres, the Costa Rican diplomat widely celebrated as the hero of the COP25 Paris agreement. When a conversation escalates as it did, Quartz’s Anne Quito asked Figueres, what can anyone do?

Could China’s economy collapse?

For almost half a century, China has seen one of the greatest economic transformations in human history, from collectivized farms and famine to world-leading tech companies and gleaming megacities connected by super-fast trains.

But the economy is now at another turning point.

• The government has deliberately swept the legs out from under giants like Alibaba and Didi, wiping out billions of dollars of market value
• Evergrande, the massive property developer, is on the brink of collapse
• An electricity crunch could wear down manufacturing and industry

What would a contracting Chinese economy mean, for both China and the world? Quartz’s Jane Li, Samanth Subramanian, and John Detrixhe guide you through the key challenges.

For more assessments of the global economy, read The Forecast email every week. You’ll need a membership—sign up today and get 40% off with code QZEMAIL40.

Handpicked Quartz

We messed up the Handpicked Quartz links in Friday’s edition of the Daily Brief, so here are a few extras today, with our apologies.

🐝 Why rejection stings so hard for internal job applicants

🩺 US doctors keep lobbying for things that make American healthcare so expensive

🚛 US consumer spending in September suggests supply chain strains will persist 

🚢 Hundreds of port workers in Italy are striking against a new vaccine mandate

🍏 Apple’s plan to fight child sexual abuse is sounding an alarm for privacy champions 

🚓 One of the world’s most popular iOS apps right now was developed by Chinese police

🩸 How Safeway and Walgreens fell for the Theranos pipe dream

💰 What has Paystack done one year after joining Stripe?

Surprising discoveries

Animals already practice social distancing and quarantining. Some bees are even dragged out of the nest if they’re sick. ​​

Kids who want a Tonka truck may instead be stuck with boring soft toys. They’re easier to transport in a shipping crisis.

Or you could buy them a trench-warfare miniature. These models bring to life the horrors of the Somme.

Baseball’s arrival in Japan could be a year earlier than everyone thought. The 150th anniversary is supposed to be in 2022, but a historian argues it should be this year.

It’s common to blame a teammate for a defeat. But don’t knock them to the ground.

Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, Tonka trucks, and vintage baseball bats 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 Tripti Lahiri, Lila MacLellan, and Hasit Shah.