🌍 Putin’s on the move

Good morning, Quartz readers!

Here’s what you need to know

Russia ordered the mobilization of 300,000 troops to fight in Ukraine. It also renewed its warnings of a nuclear threat. Flights out of Russia have sold out following the call on reservists.

The US dollar hit a 20-year high. Meanwhile, the British pound sank to a 37-year low ahead of the Fed rate hike and an escalation in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Japan Investment Corp. is seeking to buy out Toshiba. The state-backed fund is in talks with Bain Capital to jointly bid on the conglomerate.

The UK announced a 6-month energy bill cap for businesses. The emergency package, starting Oct. 1, is intended to support companies through the winter amid soaring prices. In other energy news, South Africa continues to face nationwide blackouts. 

The Adani Group will develop a $3.1 billion port in Eastern India. The billionaire-owned firm, India’s largest private port operator, has also recently secured projects in Israel and Sri Lanka.

Amazon announced 71 new renewable energy projects. The multinational e-commerce giant aims to run all operations on 100% renewable energy by 2025.

What to watch for

⚽ Has the Glazer family had enough of Manchester United? The English football club’s owners always seem to be flirting with the idea of giving up all or part of their stake, but this year feels different.

Shareholders and analysts will be watching Manchester United’s fourth-quarter earnings today, to see what shape the club is in—and what kind of price a stake sale can command. Football-wise, it’s been a cold streak, and the club’s books are heavy with debt. On top of that, the stadium needs as much as £1.5 billion in repairs. Who could blame the Glazers for wanting to bounce?

The World Bank president isn’t sure climate change is real

“I’m not a scientist.” —David Malpass, World Bank president, when asked if he accepted the “scientific consensus that the man-made burning of fossil fuels is rapidly and dangerously warming the planet” at a New York Times panel earlier this week

Of course, one needn’t be a scientist to answer this question, as thousands of scientists around the globe have, over and over again, assured the rest of us non-scientists that the answer is an unequivocal “yes.”

But here’s a real stumper: If climate change isn’t real, why is the World Bank spending billions on it? The Bank does also spend billions of dollars per year on direct and indirect support for fossil fuel projects, so perhaps Malpass is hedging his bets. But it’s costing him supporters: both Al Gore and Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, had been critical before the panel, and now others are joining the call for the Bank to make a change.

The panel coincided beautifully with the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York. Stay up to date on what many of the world’s most important leaders are saying—and get it translated into normalhumanspeak—by subscribing to our Need to Know: UNGA 2022 newsletter.

The way you draw a circle says a lot about you

In November of 2016, Google released an online game called Quick, Draw!, in which users have 20 seconds to draw from prompts like “camel” and “washing machine.” You shouldn’t be too too surprised to learn that the game is fun, yes, but its real aim was to use sketches to teach algorithms how humans draw.

We did some analysis on the public database from Quick, Draw! that suggested the way we draw a simple circle is linked to geography and cultural upbringing, deep-rooted in hundreds of years of written language, and significant in developmental psychology and trends in education today.

Curious? Use our tool to draw a circle, and we’ll tell you what it means.

✦ This week we’re celebrating Quartz’s 10th anniversary by taking a look back at the projects that defined our decade. Celebrate with us and take 50% off a Quartz membership when you sign up today.

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Surprising discoveries

A new world record was set for most pubs visited in 24 hours. British retirement account manager, Nathan Crimp, who visited 67 establishments in 17 hours, reported he was often “too bloated to speak.”

A 330 million-year-old mystery may at last be solved. Fossils of an ancient blob-like fish that once swam in Montana provided toothy clues.

Neptune’s rings got their close-up. New photos from the John Webb Space Telescope are the clearest view we’ve had in 30 years.

Hilton is helping to build a space hotel. Voyager Space’s Starlab accommodations will be exclusively available at low-Earth orbit.

Pressing “thumbs down” on YouTube may not do much. The algorithm probably cares more about how long you watch videos.

Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, thumbs, and rings to [email protected]. Reader support makes Quartz available to all—become a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Samanth Subramanian, Tim McDonnell, Julia Malleck, and Susan Howson.