Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The US ratchets up tensions with Iran. The Trump administration is expected to announce its intention to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a “foreign terrorist organization.” Such a move against a national armed force would be a first, and might put US personnel in the region at risk.
Yet more Brexit drama. The House of Lords will consider the remaining stages of a bill that would let the UK parliament set the length of any Brexit extension prime minister Theresa May requests at this week’s EU summit.
India’s Supreme Court considers barring a Narendra Modi biopic. The opposition Congress party earlier objected to the planned release of a movie about the Indian prime minister, claiming that it disrupts the playing field just days before the country’s general election kicks off on April 11.
Global banking and finance leaders gather in Washington, DC. The IMF and World Bank kick off their week-long annual spring meetings, with 2,800 delegates and 800 journalists attending. IMF chief Christine Lagarde is expected to announce slashed global growth forecasts this week on the meeting’s sidelines.
Over the Weekend
The US homeland security secretary resigned. Kirstjen Nielsen, who was responsible for implementing the proposed border wall and the separation of migrant families, left her post just days after Trump visited the border. A US government court filing Friday said it could take two years to potentially identify the thousands of children separated from their families at the border.
Britain proposed new social media laws. Regulators unveiled sweeping rules to penalize tech and social media giants like Google and Facebook if they fail to stop the spread of harmful content online. Last week, Australia introduced aggressive legislation with steep fines and jail time for social media companies that fail to quickly remove violent content.
Justin Trudeau threatened to sue the opposition. Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer released a letter he had received from the Canadian prime minister’s lawyer over critical comments made in relation to the SNC-Lavalin affair engulfing Trudeau’s government. Trudeau is facing accusations of interfering in a corruption case against the Quebec engineering company.
Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to right-wingers. The Israeli prime minister said that if reappointed in tomorrow’s general elections, he will annex Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move that would further enrage Palestinians and draw international condemnation.
Oil prices got pumped up. Brent crude reached a five-month high early Monday, partly the result of a continued supply cut agreement between OPEC countries and major producers. Fighting for control of Libya’s capital Tripoli, and sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, also contributed to higher prices.
The Maldives’ president declared a landslide victory. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s party appeared to have won more than three-quarters of the seats in parliament in yesterday’s elections, strengthening his mandate to restore political freedoms, tackle corruption, and investigate the former government’s ties to China.
Quartz Obsession
Disney fans can’t “Let It Go.” The musical centerpiece of Frozen is the most-streamed song in the studio’s catalog, getting 280 million streams as of March 10, which is 94 million more than the second-place song, “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana. How did it grab us? It captures the “terrifying, exhilarating, and a little bit selfish” freedom of letting it go, while musically mirroring the movie’s traditional yet subversive story. Crystallize your thoughts at the Quartz Obsession.
Membership
IPO season starts. Quartz’s Alison Griswold takes a close look at more than a dozen global firms expected to go public this year, and has written up a spotter’s guide to acquaint you with all the new stock symbols you’ll be seeing. And in the inaugural episode of “Because China,” our new, member-only video series, Quartz reporter Nikhil Sonnad examines how the country is changing the world of recycling.
Matters of debate
Join the conversation with the new Quartz app!
Octopus farms are unethical. The animal is too intelligent to be kept in captivity, among other issues.
Pregnant people shouldn’t go to prison. It puts innocent children at risk for long-term health problems.
Don’t seek meaning from your job. Meaning is not found, but made.
Surprising discoveries
Apple was fooled by a fake-iPhone scam. Two college students allegedly tricked the company out of nearly $900,000 using counterfeits from China.
An 18th-century American war hero may have been biologically female or intersex. The plot twist in Casimir Pulaski’s story comes courtesy of DNA analysis.
Landlocked Mongolia joined the International Surfing Association. The sport, which will debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, can now be enjoyed inland and even indoors.
Scientists made better-tasting basil via machine learning. Among their discoveries: The plants tend to taste better when exposed to light 24 hours a day.
The Northern Lights aren’t just a treat for our eyes—but also our ears. Finnish scientists think they’ve discovered why the auroras sometimes crackle and hiss, and it has to do with charged particles.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, enhanced herbs, and indoor surfing tips to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Adam Rasmi and edited by Jackie Bischof.