Quartz Daily Brief—Hong Kong protest violence, France’s budget plan, Intel’s PC rebound, football disruption drones
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Emmanuel Macron’s budget proposal. The French economic minister unveils details of a plan that the European Union hopes will bring France’s deficit in line with the EU-mandated maximum 3% of GDP. Parliament won’t vote on the plan until January, so the plan may be merely a stab at setting expectations.
Iran’s hot potato. US secretary of state John Kerry meets Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna to discuss Iran’s nuclear ambitions as a deal deadline looms. Iran says it doesn’t want to make weapons, but the rest of the world is dubious.
America’s shrinking budget deficit. US Treasury data is likely to show the deficit has decreased for the fifth straight year. But a six-year streak looks unlikely due rising entitlement spending and the Federal Reserve’s plan to raise interest rates next year.
Data, data, and more data. Numbers to look out for: German inflation, the UK job market, and US retail sales.
Earnings, earnings, and more earnings. American Express, Bank of America, BlackRock, eBay, and Netflix are among the big US companies scheduled to report their quarterly results.
While you were sleeping
Hong Kong police roughed up protestors. After three weeks of mostly tolerating pro-democracy protests, police arrested 45 demonstrators and used pepper spray against those who refused to vacate a busy road in the early hours of Wednesday morning. One handcuffed opposition party member was beaten by police for four minutes—and the attack was caught on camera.
New Ebola cases may reach 10,000 per week by December. The disease is still accelerating in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, and the WHO warned that the current infection rate of 1,000 per week could increase tenfold by December 1. Separately, Doctors Without Borders said 16 of its staff have been infected with the virus, and nine have died.
Renewed PC demand rubbed off on Intel. The chipmaker’s fourth-quarter revenue forecast of $14.7 billion was better than analysts were expecting, as PC sales demand grew. But Intel’s mobile and communications division is still struggling: it reported third-quarter revenue of just $1 million and an operating loss of $1.04 billion.
China’s factory prices fell yet again. The producer price index dropped 1.8% in September, marking the 31st consecutive monthly decline—the longest protracted fall since the Asian financial crisis. Consumer prices rose 1.6% in the month, following a 2% rise in August.
Converse got tough on copycats. The American shoe maker responsible for the Chuck Taylor sneaker, a high-top basketball shoe introduced in 1917, is taking action against companies in Canada, Australia, Italy, Japan, and China for allegedly selling imitations of its classic design. The sneaker lost popularity as a sports shoe in the 1970s, but later found life again as the shoe of rockers and punks.
Quartz obsession interlude
Jenni Avins on tech companies paying women to freeze their eggs. “By helping to give women the choice of putting their biological clocks on the back burner, these companies would seem to be on the forefront of female empowerment. But perhaps equally empowering, if not more so, would be a the creation of career tracks that are more amenable to parenthood (and motherhood in particular), along with more generous policies regarding parental leave and childcare.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Americans are addicted to extreme sports. Because they are painfully bored at work.
Atheists are wrong about Islam. Morals are a product of culture, not religion.
Obama isn’t scary enough. His desire to be liked is hurting his ability to get things done.
Hong Kong’s protestors need to go home. Without any long-term goals and a strategy, all they’re doing is taking up space.
Surprising discoveries
A British-accented parrot who was lost for years returned to his California owner. He now speaks Spanish and calls for a man named Larry.
Your smartphone can detect cosmic rays. Crowdsourcing software harnesses the vast computing power in our pockets.
Innovations in rubber band design. A cubic update from Japan improves upon the classic band that dates back to the 1600s.
Knowing two languages improves your ability to focus. Bilingual students are better at tuning out noisy distractions.
A drone attack ended a Serbia-Albania soccer match. The drone carrying a Kosovo banner sparked an on-pitch skirmish.
Click here for more surprising discoveries on Quartz.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, innovative office supplies, and cosmic ray detection apps to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.