Quartz Daily Brief—North Korea’s internet crash, Alstom’s bribery fine, 2014’s M&A boom, Japan’s solo weddings
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The Greek parliament tries again to pick a president. If ruling party candidate Stavros Dimas doesn’t get enough votes, there will be a general election that would could topple the government and destabilize the euro zone.
US growth gets an upward revision. Economists expect third quarter GDP growth to get a lift to 4.3%. Cheap oil could be a factor, though low-priced crude isn’t benefiting everyone equally.
Ukraine unveils its finances. The country needs to present a fiscally sound budget (paywall)—including a big increase in defense spending to ward off Russian predations—to secure its next bailout payment from the IMF.
Narendra Modi wins over India’s Muslims. An election in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state, is expected to give the prime minister’s predominantly Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party more than 30 seats in the assembly. That would be the most that the BJP has ever won there, which could give him more clout in talks with Pakistan.
Jack Ma cedes his crown. Real estate mogul Wang Jianlin will be keeping an eye on the IPO (paywall) of his flagship company, Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties. A 30% jump in shares would make him China’s richest man once more, supplanting Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who seized the title in September (paywall).
While you were sleeping
North Korea’s internet mysteriously went down. The 10-hour outage came after US president Barack Obama promised a “proportional response” to the North Korea-supported cyberhack of Sony Pictures. Other explanations—such as cybervigilantes acting against North Korea, or Kim Jong-un’s regime taking down its own internet to prevent an attack—are also possible.
Hong Kong property tycoon Thomas Kwok was jailed. The 63-year-old former co-chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties was sentenced to five years in jail and was ordered to pay HK$500,000 ($64,000) for paying bribes to Rafael Hui, the city’s former number-two leader. Hui was jailed for seven and a half years and ordered to pay HK$11.2 million.
TripAdvisor was fined for “misleading” reviews. The travel website was ordered to pay €500,000 ($613,000) by Italy’s competition watchdog for failing to make sure its reviews are “authentic and genuine.” The company was given 90 days to respond.
Mergers and acquisitions hit a seven-year high. This year saw $83.9 billion in company tie-ups and purchases, up from $78.4 billion in 2013, according to Thomson Reuters data. Banks pulled in $26 billion in M&A fees, up 15% on last year.
BMW launched a national US recall over Takata airbags. The luxury carmaker will replace airbags in 140,000 vehicles across the United States. Takata itself has so far refused requests to implement a nationwide recall, despite reports of at least five deaths caused by its airbags deploying improperly.
Alstom agreed to a record bribery fine. The French engineering company agreed to pay the US Justice Department a record $772 million, after it pled guilty to paying $75 million in bribes to win contracts worth $4 billion in countries including Indonesia, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Its UK unit is facing similar charges in Britain.
Quartz obsession interlude
Abu Zafar on how terrorists have subverted the real meaning of jihad. ”The term Jihad is often defined as a ‘fight,’ or a ‘holy war,’ but it actually means a struggle, not just against others but against desire, ambition, and human aspirations to follow what is preached by Islam… In the post 9/11 era, the term Jihad has been twisted by the gangs that commit acts of terror in the name of Islam.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Obama has given up on bipartisan deals. And that’s a good thing for getting things done.
China is set for another year of missed opportunities. President Xi Jinping’s promised reforms are unlikely to materialize.
The Sony hack is a wake-up call. If a country can take down a movie studio, it can threaten power grids, financial systems, and water supplies.
Turkey is moving backwards. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s retrograde policies are sabotaging the country’s future (paywall).
Saudi Arabia is moving forwards. Progressive attitudes are gaining ground, at least in the capital.
Surprising discoveries
There is a Christmas catalogue for Scientologists. It includes a $5,000 e-meter with “accuracy guaranteed for eternity.”
Who says it takes two to marry? ”Solo weddings” are now a thing in Japan.
Orangutans have rights in Argentina. A court has ruled that Sandra, a resident of the Buenos Aires zoo, is a “non-human person.”
Exercise changes your DNA. People who exercised one leg but not the other had different gene expressions on each leg.
Kentucky spotted its first puma since the US Civil War. A wildlife official promptly killed it.
Click here for more surprising discoveries on Quartz.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, puma sightings, and solo wedding invitations to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.