Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Najib Razak’s 1MDB fallout. Malaysian authorities will likely transfer the former prime minister to court, where he’ll face new charges related to abuse of power. Najib, arrested Wednesday, has already been charged with money laundering and criminal breach of trust for allegedly siphoning millions from the state-run investment fund.
India’s $19 billion energy bill. Lawmakers and lenders will convene to renegotiate 1.4 trillion rupees (paywall) in debt across India’s power industry, hopefully avoiding large-scale bankruptcies. India’s central bank already gave lenders a 15-day grace period to resolve the loans.
A Venezuela-China oil deal. President Nicolás Maduro will finalize a contract with the China National Petroleum Corporation, pledging additional oil exports of up to 1 million barrels per day. The agreement follows Maduro’s recent Asia tour, including a meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing.
While you were sleeping
John Hancock went digital. North America’s oldest life insurance company said it will only offer policies that are tied to activity trackers and other health-monitoring devices. Customers will get a free Fitbit or a discounted Apple Watch—provided they log enough exercise to qualify.
Hackers exploited a crypto flaw. A software vulnerability inadvertently leaked by the US government is letting cyber criminals mine digital money with other users’ computer systems. An industry report found that illegal crypto mining has surged over 450% in 2018 (paywall), with 85% of activity targeting the popular Monero asset.
The European Union targeted Amazon. Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager confirmed that the bloc is conducting preliminary investigations against the retail behemoth for suspected antitrust violations. If the case turns up hard evidence, Amazon—much like Apple—could end up owing massive fines.
Jack Ma reneged on his pledge of 1 million Alibaba jobs in America. The US-China trade war prompted the billionaire to walk back his deal with Donald Trump—though analysts didn’t expect the agreement, made in January 2017, to hold up anyway.
Danske Bank’s CEO is quitting. Thomas Borgen announced plans to resign after authorities tied €200 billion ($234 billion) in laundered funds to Denmark’s largest bank—the biggest such crime in European history. Danish lawmakers look set to approve an outright ban against €500 notes.
Quartz Obsession interlude
Zoë Schlanger on the animal victims of Hurricane Florence: “Millions of animals left on farms in North Carolina during the record-breaking rainfall have drowned in the flooding. As of Tuesday (Sept. 18), the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services… says 3.4 million chickens and turkeys have died so far, along with 5,500 pigs… Meanwhile, 13 hog manure lagoons are overflowing from rainfall.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Apple is a massive redistribution scheme. The company’s enormous wealth generation has gone almost solely to the richest investors.
Society is looking at obesity in entirely the wrong way. Overweight people need to be supported, not shamed.
Characterizations of generations are always wrong. Social science is powerless to assess personality traits of specific age cohorts.
Surprising discoveries
A Texas granny avenged her miniature horse by killing the alligator who ate him. Judy “Nana” Cochran is also the mayor of her town.
Cathay Pacific spelled its own name wrong on a plane. The Boeing 777 traveled to Hong Kong emblazoned with the name “Cathay Paciic.”
Donald Trump wanted Spain to build a wall across the Sahara. Spain’s foreign minister politely declined the suggestion for stemming migration into Europe.
Kidney stones are weirdly beautiful. The painful crystalline deposits look like kaleidoscopic coral reefs (paywall) under a microscope.
Hundreds of golf drawings helped a wrongfully convicted prisoner win his release. Valentino Dixon, who has never played the game, won the support of editors at Golf Digest magazine.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, golf art, and miniature horses 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 and edited by Adam Pasick and Steve Mollman.