Most Read on the Bloomberg Terminal:
Turkey Begins Offensive in Syria After U.S. Stands Aside (Bloomberg)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially announced the start of the operation, code named ‘Peace Spring,’ on Twitter as Turkish forces first entered Syria.

Brexit Countdown – 22 Days to Go.

What Markets Say: Five Charts That Suggest Brexit Won’t Go Boris Johnson’s Way (Bloomberg)

With three weeks and one day before the U.K. is scheduled to quit the European Union, the sense in markets is that it’s not going to happen. At least not yet.

Across a range of assets, key indicators show investors are positioned for relative calm around the end of month, with bets on fireworks pushed back as the Brexit standoff endures.

Today’s Headlines.

Millions Brace for Unprecedented Power Cuts in California’s Bay Area Amid Fire Fears (Bloomberg)

The outages will hit 800,000 homes and businesses representing 2.4 million people, including much of the San Francisco Bay area, triggering a scramble by residents to prepare for what may be days without power.

The shutoff is a key strategy for preventing its power lines from sparking deadly — and costly — wildfires. Never before have California utilities intentionally put so many people out of power for their own safety. Nor have they darkened heavily populated cities in addition to rural areas.

U.S. Loses Top Spot in Competitiveness Report as Singapore Ranks #1 (Bloomberg)

The U.S. dropped based on growing uncertainty among business leaders and a decline in trade openness.

Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Switzerland made up the rest of the top five, according to the WEF survey published on Wednesday.

UN Warns It May Default on Salaries by November in a Cash Crisis (Bloomberg)

This year, 129 of the UN’s member states have paid $2 billion toward the organization’s 2019 regular budget, the UN said. But about $1.4 billion remains outstanding. Among the 64 nations that have yet to pay their 2019 dues in full are Argentina, South Korea, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and the U.S.

Margrethe Vestager Vows Big-Tech Clampdown in Audition for New EU Job (Bloomberg)

Vestager’s new job’s extra firepower adds to her already hefty role as antitrust enforcer, where she has unusual autonomy to take decisions without giving in to political pressure. She’s overseen a massive back-tax bill for Apple Inc., billions of euros in fines for Google and a veto for a prized French-German rail deal.

Cashing In on Impeachment: The Trump Campaign Places Massive Facebook Impeachment Ad Buy (A‭xios)

False, Misleading Content is Okay: Facebook’s Hands-Off Approach to Political Speech Gets Impeachment Test (New York Times)

2020 Poll Watch (Hindsight 2020)

Quinnipiac Poll – National Democratic Primary
Warren 29 (+2)
Biden 26 (+1)
Sanders 16 (0)
Buttigieg 4 (-3)
Harris 3 (0)
Yang 3 (+1)

Quinnipiac Poll – National General:
Biden 51 – Trump 40
Sanders 49 – Trump 42
Warren 49 – Trump 41

Today in Climate News.

Climate Finance: Corporations Told to Draw Up Climate Rules or Have Them Imposed (The Guardian – UK)

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney gives firms two years to agree rules for reporting climate risks.

Carney said companies should use their next two annual financial reports to road test how they document the impact of the climate emergency on their businesses.

He said progress had been made by many of the largest banks and energy companies to harmonise how they report their risks.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Takes Green New Deal Global (The Guardian – UK)

Ahead of the C40 Cities World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, global mayors announce backing for US congresswoman’s bold proposal to fight climate change.

Trade Rules Emerge as Weapon to Fight Climate Change in Europe (Bloomberg)

European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen wants to craft a carbon border tariff for the EU, the world’s biggest single market, as part of a Green Deal to battle the more frequent heat waves, storms and floods tied to global warming.

Big Box Retailers Embracing Solar (New York Times)

Target and Walmart are trying to out-green each other in proving to customers they are environmentally responsible businesses.

The Green Revolution Spreading Across Our Rooftops (New York Times)

Green roofs have become increasingly popular with an estimated increase of about 15 percent in the number of green roofs in North America since 2013.

AirPod News.

Tech Tip: Everyone’s AirPods Will Die – Here’s How to Replace Them (Washington Post)

Each one of those white sticks contains a rechargeable battery marching toward an untimely death in as little as two years, and Apple’s plan to deal with that reality is just to sell us new ear buds.

When your AirPods’ day comes, the only option is to ask Apple for discounted replacements: The key phrase at the Apple store is “Battery Service.”

Best of Late Night.

On the return of the McRib at McDonald’s:

“Some good news – starting today the McRib is back at McDonald’s! Apparently customers were asking for an alternative meat option and McDonald’s was like, ‘Yeah, done. Here you go!’”
— Jimmy Fallon

“Krispy Kreme is coming out with three Halloween themed donuts that they’re calling ‘The Monster Batch’. While Dunkin’ is going a step further and selling donuts made 100 years ago tonight!”
— Seth Meyers

“I saw that Instagram is launching a new app called Threads, where you can send photos to your closest friends. It’s for when you don’t think the vacation photos you posted publicly made them jealous enough.”
— Jimmy Fallon