Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
Trade ministers from 16 countries gather in the Philippines. Members of the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free-trade agreement—including India, China, Australia, Japan, and ASEAN countries—are meeting to discuss a single-tier system of import duties. India is expected to take a hard line on service tariffs. The China-led deal is considered an alternative to the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Berkshire Hathaway reports its earnings. Warren Buffett’s conglomerate is expected to have benefited from improved insurance underwriting and recent acquisitions. Investors want to know whether it will keep (pdf) its 10% stake in Wells Fargo following a scandal in which the bank opened unauthorized customer accounts.
The US releases its last jobs report before Election Day. Higher wages and the effects of Hurricane Matthew could put a dent in October’s employment data. Analysts expect job additions to be around 173,000, in line with the average growth this year.
Daylight saving time ends in the United States. In most states clocks will be set back an hour at 2am on Sunday, Nov. 6.
While you were sleeping
Turkey detained elected officials from the nation’s third-largest party. In a major escalation of its crackdown on opponents, the government apprehended the leaders and at least 11 parliamentarians of the leftist HDP, or Peoples’ Democratic Party. Widespread difficulty using social media followed. Authorities accuse the party of being linked to a Kurdish militant group.
South Korea’s president apologized over a political scandal rocking the nation. A deeply contrite Park Geun-hye said she will cooperate with prosecutors looking into the influence wielded over her by spiritual adviser Choi Soon-sil, who is believed to have leveraged the relationship to meddle in state affairs and gain access to classified documents. Park also denied being involved with a cult.
Dalian Wanda Group agreed to buy Dick Clark Productions for $1 billion. The move will be Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin’s first foray into television production, and will add shows like So You Think You Can Dance to his growing sports and entertainment empire. Wang has been snapping up Hollywood assets.
GoPro reported a steep loss and lowered its sales target. The maker of action cameras posted a third-quarter loss of $104 million and a revenue drop of 40% from a year ago, much worse than analysts expected. The company has suffered from production issues and not enough new products for most of the year.
Quartz markets haiku
Cubs losing streak ends
and the S&P wants to
begin another one.
Quartz obsession interlude
Madhura Karnik on teachable moments at Indian business schools. “It’s been just two weeks since Tata Sons, India’s largest conglomerate, fired its chairman Cyrus Mistry. But the corporate battle—one of the ugliest in India—is already on its way into MBA syllabi at the country’s top business schools.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The latest attacks on the internet are just the beginning. Hackers are learning how to take down the network, whenever they want.
The International Criminal Court is flawed, but not by racism. African countries who opt out are motivated by the fear of being held accountable (paywall).
Sociopathic capitalism rules the world. But it doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game.
Surprising discoveries
Backwards running is a sport. World champion Aaron Yoder can run the mile in under 6 minutes.
The FBI is investigating one of its own Twitter accounts. @FBIRecordsVault has been releasing sensitive information about Trump and Clinton.
A buff 80-year-old model walked the runway in China. Wang Deshun, aka “China’s hottest grandpa,” is reshaping the country’s perception of aging (paywall).
A call of nature uncovered a 49,000-year-old settlement in Australia. An Aboriginal elder needed a pit stop while driving through the remote area.
“You’re all going to die” is the best pep talk. Thinking about death motivates athletes to excel.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, backwards mile times, and morbid pep talks to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our iPhone app.