Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
India’s GDP data. The economy is expected to have grown 7% in the quarter ended Dec. 31, up from 6.3% in the previous three months, as the manufacturing and construction sectors add to the country’s recovery.
Apple hands over operation of its Chinese iCloud servers. The iPhone maker is partnering with Guizhou-Cloud Big Data, owned by the provincial government, to comply with strict new rules for foreign tech companies. Apple says it will maintain control of users’ encryption keys, but privacy advocates are leery.
The EU releases a flash estimate on inflation. Investors await the February number after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi warned on Monday that economic slack—bigger than previously thought—could slow the rise of inflation despite the euro zone’s growth.
While you were sleeping
A challenger to Nicolas Maduro stepped forward. Henri Falcon, a former governor and retired military officer, will challenge the Venezuelan president in a vote scheduled for April. By registering as a candidate he broke ranks with an opposition coalition refusing to participate in the election unless the government takes steps to ensure it will be fair and transparent.
Amazon agreed to buy Ring for about $1 billion. The retail giant wants to become a bigger player in home security, which explains its interest in Ring, a maker of video doorbells and security cameras. The move will improve Amazon’s strong position in internet-connected home devices, epitomized by its Echo line of smart speakers.
Jared Kushner lost access to top secret documents. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser will no longer receive highly classified briefings until he gets a permanent clearance. Chief of staff John Kelly is restricting interim clearances as he tries to impose discipline in the White House.
A lawsuit against Trump’s border wall came up short. US district judge Gonzalo Curiel said the ruling was not a reflection of whether the decision to build the barrier was “politically wise or prudent.” But the Trump administration does have the authority, he decided, to waive environmental laws and other regulations to begin construction.
“China’s Netflix” registered to go public in the US. iQiYi, which has over 50 million subscribers, filed for an offering of $1.5 billion on Nasdaq. Search giant Baidu is a controlling shareholder in the fast-growing firm, which plans to invest about half the proceeds from the IPO in content offerings.
Quartz obsession interlude
Ananya Bhattacharya on Indian tech workers now chasing the Canadian Dream. “Canada currently admits far more high-skilled workers than the US—one permanent skilled visa for every 409 Canadian residents in 2016, nearly six times more per capita than the US… ‘The wait time for getting a green card is over 20 years. This makes it as good as never.'” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Trending content needs to die. Online systems that don’t account for quality are too easy to manipulate.
China’s Anbang takeover is a “too big to fail” moment. The troubled financial firm would cause chaos (paywall) if it couldn’t repay investors.
Ride-sharing increases congestion. Instead of creating efficiencies, Uber and Lyft are putting more cars on the street.
Surprising discoveries
Quebec doctors are turning down raises. More than 250 physicians have called for the provincial government to increase pay for nurses, orderlies, and other medical staff instead.
SoftBank’s board thinks its CEO’s investments have gotten out of control. Masayoshi Son has showered $37 billion on more than 40 tech companies (paywall) in the last year alone.
Japan’s “Mario Kart” tours could be nearing the finish. A hit-and-run go-karter was part of a group tour navigating Tokyo’s congested streets.
Bitcoin’s self-styled inventor has been accused of stealing $5 billion. The family of Craig Wright’s deceased business partner says Wright forged contracts to obtain about 300,000 bitcoins.
An Egyptian pop star was sentenced to jail for insulting the Nile. Sherine Abdel-Wahab made an offhand comment that the river contains parasites and people should “drink Evian” instead.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, magnanimous doctors, and Japanese go-karts to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Steve Mollman and edited by Alice Truong.