Good morning, Quartz readers!
Here’s what you need to know
Trade between China and the US held strong last year despite rising tensions. Two-way trade hit a record $690.6 billion in 2022.
Turkey declared a three-month state of emergency. The death toll from two powerful earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday has now passed 7,800.
Microsoft launched an AI update to Bing. The search engine has been integrated with the technology behind ChatGPT as the tech giant takes on Google’s market dominance.
Nintendo’s earnings dipped. The Japanese company saw strong sales for Switch console games, but chip shortages led to fewer machines being sold than a year ago.
BP reported record-high profits. The UK energy giant more than doubled its profits year on year, bringing in $27.7 billion in 2022, and announced a roll back on its net zero goals.
Iraq revalued its currency. The exchange rate has been set at 1,300 dinars per USD in an effort to cut back on the illegal siphoning of dollars to Iran.
What to watch for
Investors are getting ready to complete Bob Iger’s first scorecard since he returned to the helm of Disney, which posts its fourth-quarter earnings today (Feb. 8).
Iger, who was CEO from 2005 to 2020, made a surprise comeback in the aftermath of a bleak earnings report last quarter, when the company’s stock price took a dive and subscriber growth for the Disney+ streaming service stalled. If one were feeling poetic, one could style the returning leader as the prince to the company’s Sleeping Beauty—since Iger’s return, Disney has since upped subscription prices and launched a cheaper ad-supported tier. He’s also been much more open to licensing Disney content to competitors, a reversal of his predecessor’s streaming strategy.
Iger will also likely ride the wave of Avatar: The Way of Water. The James Cameron sequel didn’t exactly flood the Oscar nominations to the extent of the original, but, seeing as it’s the highest-grossing box office hit of 2022 and the fourth-highest grossing film of all time, does anyone holding the purse strings actually care?
Adani’s man in London
Since Adani Group was accused of pervasive fraud two weeks ago, the Indian billionaire’s sprawling business empire has been under intense scrutiny. One piece of the puzzle lies in London, where a man sits at the center of all UK operations: Sanjay Newatia.
The ex-Credit Suisse banker is the director of no less than 56 active subsidiaries of Adani Energy Holdings. He also runs a “bespoke consultancy” called SKN Advisors—a firm that showed up in a cache of documents leaked out of offshore service providers in 2021 called the Pandora Papers.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. To dive deeper, we’ve got the reading list for you:
😨 Adani has been accused of pulling “the largest con in corporate history”
🤔 Who is behind Hindenburg, the research firm targeting the Adani group?
😰 Adani has turned to nationalism to shield itself from fraud allegations
😬 After canceling its share sale, Adani will have to rein in its spending
The rain in Spain falls mainly on the… pigs?
Spain dominates pork production in Europe. Taking off in the 1980s, the industry is mostly concentrated in Catalonia, Aragon, and Castile and Leon, and has transformed the regions.
The country’s also third in the world for pork production, and global demand has only been increasing: in 2021, pig slaughtering was up 40% for Spain from a decade earlier. But not all Spaniards are thrilled about the uptick in porcine production. Quartz’s Michelle Cheng explains why.
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Surprising discoveries
People are shelling out for jars of sand. Allegedly, they’re from the exact spot where quarterback Tom Brady announced his (second) retirement.
An endless AI Seinfeld episode finally met its end. Twitch banned the channel after AI Jerry pulled a Dave Chappelle.
Whisky is good for more than just a nightcap. Its byproducts could also be beneficial for your skin.
Tweet emotions may vary by location. Watch out, Londoners tend to be testier Tweeters around public transit.
Something nutty was found in the walls of a California home. Woodpeckers used it to store 700 pounds of acorns.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, whisky night cream, and the will of a woodpecker to hi@qz.com. Reader support makes Quartz available to all—become a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Diego Lasarte, Sofia Lotto Persio, Michelle Cheng, Samanth Subramanian, Julia Malleck, Morgan Haefner, and Susan Howson.