Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Iran starts taking bids for energy projects. With global sanctions being lifted, the oil-rich country hopes to revitalize a hobbled energy sector by inviting foreign investors to develop its oil and natural gas fields.
ZTO kicks off a global investor roadshow. The Chinese logistics company will try to drum up excitement before it goes public in New York later this month. It is expected to raise around $1.3 billion (paywall), which would make it the biggest US IPO this year, and the largest by a Chinese company in the US after Alibaba.
Bank of America releases its third-quarter results. The bank will likely face questions about how its consumer banking sales incentives compare to those of Wells Fargo (pdf), which has been rocked by revelations that it opened unauthorized credit and deposit accounts.
Earnings season ramps up. Netflix (paywall) reports its third-quarter results today, as do IBM, United Continental, and toy company Hasbro.
Over the weekend
Iraqi forces launched an assault on Mosul. The operation to recapture the country’s second-largest city, which has been under ISIL control since 2014, has the UN worried for the safety of the 1.5 million people living in the area. US, British, and French special forces are on the ground to aid the Iraqi troops.
Leaders met to talk about Russia and Syria. Representatives from 11 countries met in London on Saturday to discuss ways to pressure Syrian president Bashar Assad and his main ally, Russia, to halt the bloody Aleppo offensive. US secretary of state John Kerry said Russia was participating in “crimes against humanity on a daily basis.“
China launched its Shenzhou-11 rocket. The spacecraft is carrying two astronauts to the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab, where they’ll stay for a month. The is the longest crewed mission China has conducted so far and brings the country a step closer to establishing its own space station by 2020.
Elon Musk postponed announcing a mysterious new Tesla product. Musk, missing another deadline, teased his big announcement for Monday, but has now postponed it until Wednesday as it needs “a few more days of refinement.” Many believe the new product will be an updated autopilot system for Tesla’s electric cars.
Thailand shut down some tourism hotspots. A list of temporary closures was announced and tourists were cautioned to behave respectfully as the country entered a year-long mourning period for King Bhumibol. Crown prince Maha Vajiralongkorn said he would delay taking the throne until he had mourned his father, and appointed a 96-year-old adviser of the late king to act as regent for the time being.
Quartz obsession interlude
Elijah Wolfson on how aerospace engineers learned to predict where the cream ends up when you twist an Oreo, with 100% accuracy. “When you’re a kid, you constantly need ways to make quick, unbiased decisions on issues like who gets first pick in the recess basketball draft […]. One quick way was introduced by Nabisco in a mid-1990s TV ad campaign for Oreos, their famous cream-filled cookie sandwich: Hold one side of the cookie while your friend holds the other, twist, and see who ends up with the cream.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Guaranteeing pension returns is a terrible idea. The risks grow as more people sign on.
WikiLeaks has gone from being a liberal beacon to a tool for Trump. By leaking Clinton’s emails, WikiLeaks has undermined the Democratic candidate and helped Trump fight back.
The sun has set on libertarianism. Big government is now just one among many threats to personal freedom.
Surprising discoveries
Boris Johnson argued in February for staying in the EU. The op-ed, by Britain’s now foreign secretary and pro-Brexit campaigner, was never published (paywall).
A crowdfunding campaign raised $13,000 to rebuild a firebombed Republican campaign office. The kicker? The campaign was led by Democrats.
How to earn $10 extra per night on your Airbnb listing? Offer a hair dryer.
Karl Lagerfeld designed a $3,000 set of colored pencils. There’s already a waiting list.
Russian hackers used a simple phishing scheme to hack the Democratic National Committee. More than 20 staffers fell for it.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, luxury pencils, and Oreos to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our iPhone app.