Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Iran pressures Europe to save the nuclear deal. President Hasan Rouhani will meet with Austrian and Swiss leaders, seeking an agreement that can survive US opposition. Germany, France, and the UK are also seeking a solution.
India cracks down on shell companies. The BSE will delist up to 222 companies and ban their directors from accessing the securities market for 10 years, in an attempt to limit the flow of illicit funds.
The ex-Malaysian PM is expected to face embezzlement charges. Najib Razak, arrested at his mansion yesterday, is accused of taking hundreds of millions of dollars from a state-owned investment fund. He has denied any wrongdoing.
While you were sleeping
The Trump administration cleared ZTE to operate… The Commerce Department granted the Chinese telecom giant a temporary license to resume business activities (paywall) while it considers ending a seven-year ban, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg. Military leaders and Congressional Republicans have both opposed the administration’s stance.
….As confusion swirled around a US chipmaker in China. Taiwan-based United Microelectronics Corp. claimed that a Chinese court had issued an injunction banning Micron Technology from selling its chips (paywall) on the mainland due to a patent dispute. Micron’s shares plunged, even after it disputed UMC’s allegation.
Brazil’s once-richest man was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Disgraced commodities and logistics mogul Eike Batista was convicted of paying a $16.6 million bribe (paywall) as part of the country’s “Carwash” scandal, which also brought down former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Tesla stock plummeted on production fears. Shares fell 7.2%, their biggest decline since March, after an analyst questioned the quality and pace of the automaker’s jury-rigged Model 3 production line. According to Business Insider, Elon Musk ordered engineers to suspend a critical brake safety check to save time.
Google’s Cloud COO abruptly left the company. Diane Bryant spent less than a year with the search giant. The reasons for her departure are unknown (paywall), but she previously worked 32 years at Intel—which is currently looking for a new CEO.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Chelsea Catlett and Akshat Rathi on the aquatic nightmare with superpowered blood: “Virtually anyone who’s received an injection has benefited from the horseshoe crab. But can we break our addiction to their blood so that this ancient creature can survive another eon?” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Penalty kicks carry too much weight in soccer. When low scoring is the norm, basing it all on one kick defeats the purpose of the game.
Asking an opinion is the only way to understand someone. Putting yourself in another person’s shoes only helps you see how you’d react.
Indian marriages are changing. Growing independence for women means they require more emotional, not financial, support.
Surprising discoveries
Trump-shaped ecstasy pills are popping up. Indiana police discovered orange tablets that feature the US president’s face and the words “great again.”
A British testmaker was fined for confusing Capulets with Montagues. OCR was slapped with a £175,000 penalty for mixing up Shakespeare’s feuding families.
Japan’s World Cup team left a spotless locker room and a note. The one-word message thanked the Samurai Blue’s Russian hosts after Japan was eliminated.
An app is busting Chinese deadbeats. A district court made music videos of offenders’ faces and posted them on the popular app Douyin.
Canada’s most notorious killer wants you to swipe right. A Tinder-like service believes that if inmates can find love, they’ll reform more quickly.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, miffed Capulets, and lonely hearts 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 Aisha Hassan, Susan Howson, and David Wexner, and edited by Adam Pasick.