Tuesday: Criminal charges for Goldman Sachs

Russian Campaign, Taliban Talks, WWI Revisited View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Tuesday, December 18, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( ADVERTISEMENT Asia Edition [Your Tuesday Briefing]( By ALEXANDRA MCGUFFIE Good morning. Goldman Sachs charged, Taliban talks, World War I revisited. Here’s the latest: Richard Drew/Associated Press • Malaysia files criminal charges against Goldman Sachs over 1MDB scandal. It accused the bank of [making false and misleading statements]( a rare rebuke of an institution that has long represented the pinnacle of money and power. The Malaysian authorities also charged several individuals in connection with the [multibillion-dollar investment fraud]( that ensnared Goldman and led to [the ouster of Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak](. The government said it would seek criminal fines in excess of $2.7 billion. → Go deeper: The charges relate to a Malaysian state investment fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, from which officials and employees are suspected of looting billions of dollars. The money funded [an enormous spending spree]( according to U.S. federal prosecutors. _____ Mstyslav Chernov/Associated Press • A Russian campaign to influence African-Americans. A deeper look at Russian efforts to sway the 2016 U.S. election exposed an [extraordinary effort to target black Americans]( and suppress turnout among Democratic voters, according to a new report commissioned by the Senate. “Very real racial tensions and feelings of alienation exist in America, and have for decades,” one researcher said. “The I.R.A. didn’t create them. It exploits them,” referring to the Internet Research Agency, above. The report also argues that the Russian presence on Instagram had been underestimated and might have been as effective or more effective than its Facebook efforts. → More powerful than a Russian troll army: Now that the supermarket tabloid The National Enquirer has admitted to prosecutors that it did political dirty work for Donald Trump, our media columnist[takes a look at its unlikely power](. _____ Noorullah Shirzada/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • The Taliban sit down to talk — but not to Afghan officials. Representatives of the Taliban, the U.S. and several Asian countries met in the United Arab Emirates, and some officials saw a potential route to formal talks to [end the 17-year war in Afghanistan](. Above, the aftermath of a suicide bombing in Kabul last month. Afghan officials traveled to the U.A.E., but were not invited into the meeting. They met with other delegations and said efforts to join the discussions continued. Any peace process would be long and complicated, given the war’s duration and its regional players, including Russia and Iran. Meanwhile, [President Trump stepped into a complicated legal case]( tweeting that he would review the case of Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, a Green Beret charged by the Army in the killing of a man linked to the Taliban. The case goes to the heart of the fraught politics of the U.S. military’s rules of engagement in Afghanistan. _____ Reuters • Videos dispute Nigeria’s account of violence. The country’s military has long been accused of human rights abuses, with punishment rare. In October, it said its [soldiers were acting in self-defense]( they fatally shot members of a minority Shiite organization marching near the capital, Abuja. [But our close review of video]( from the protest shows the military opening fire on unarmed demonstrators, sometimes shooting indiscriminately at close range. Interviews with more than a dozen witnesses bolstered the conclusions. The Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, is facing re-election in February, and his critics are pointing to a new unraveling of the security situation across the country. _____ Business Drew Angerer/Getty Images • U.S. stocks fell to a new low for 2018 as [investors braced for a Federal Reserve decision]( on interest rates this week. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets]( which caught their breath on Monday. • Nissan’s board met but did not name a new chairman [to replace Carlos Ghosn]( who was indicted along with the company on charges of underreporting his compensation in violation of Japanese financial laws. The chief executive said the board should not “hurry” its decision or “be slipshod.” • “Yellow Vests” protests have cut sharply into the [luxury-goods industry in Paris]( during its most important month of the year. • Google said it would [open a $1 billion campus in New York City]( allowing it to double the size of its 7,000-employee work force there over the next decade. In the News Kyodo News, via Associated Press • An explosion at a Japanese restaurant, above, that injured 42 people was caused, the police said, by gas leaking from 100 deodorizer spray cans being discarded by a real estate office. The deodorizer was used on properties. [[Kyodo News]( • Saudi Arabia lashed out at the U.S. for blaming the Saudi crown prince for the murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in an unusually strong statement. [[The New York Times]( • Antigovernment protesters in Hungary gathered in one of the most sustained demonstrations against the far-right prime minister, Viktor Orban, since he took office eight years ago. [[The New York Times]( • Two former associates of Michael Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, were indicted as part of an investigation into a secret 2016 lobbying campaign by Turkey. [[The New York Times]( • The 2018 Miss Universe title went to Catriona Gray, a Philippine-Australian, in a competition that also saw its first transgender contestant. [[CNN]( • “Your dad is one of the happiest people I’ve ever met,” Charles Barkley told a woman whose father, a Chinese-American cat-litter chemist, had an unlikely friendship with the basketball star. [[WBUR-Boston]( Smarter Living Tips for a more fulfilling life. Julia Gartland for The New York Times • Recipe of the day: For dinner in 10 minutes, [hot honey shrimp](. (Our [Five Weeknight Dishes]( newsletter delivers fast recipes to your inbox.) • How to dress up for [that night out]( (or in). • Going step by step makes it possible to [write that nonfiction book.]( Noteworthy Warner Bros. Entertainment, via Associated Press • The director Peter Jackson restored century-old World War I combat footage from the archives of Britain’s Imperial War Museum and culled veterans’ stories from hundreds of hours of BBC interviews to create the documentary “They Shall Not Grow Old.” The result is [nothing less than visually astonishing](. • In memoriam: Meng Lang, a poet and publisher who [promoted the works of Liu Xiaobo]( and other dissident Chinese writers. He was 57. • The 4,400-year-old tomb of a royal priest and his family was [discovered in Egypt in near-perfect condition](. It’s a “one of a kind” find, the authorities said. Back Story Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Today, Keith Richards turns 75. Many would consider it a miracle. The musician’s career has been littered with near-death experiences. In 1965, the year the picture above was taken, he was electrocuted during a Rolling Stones concert in Sacramento. He recalled lying in the hospital and [overhearing a doctor say]( “Well, they either wake up or they don’t.” While in the throes of heroin addiction in the ’70s he barely escaped several house fires. He fell asleep at the wheel; he popped in and out of jail on drug charges. In 2006, he fell from a palm tree in Fiji, fracturing his skull. Two years later, he taunted death once more, snorting his father’s ashes. “Ashes to ashes, father to son,” he wrote in his memoir. But Mr. Richards seems to be mellowing: Last week he said he had [mostly stopped drinking](. “It was time to quit,” he said. “Just like all the other stuff.” Here’s to the next 75. Andrew Chow, from our Culture Desk, wrote today’s Back Story. _____ This briefing was prepared for the Asian morning. You can also [sign up here]( to get it by email in the Australian, European or American morning. You can also receive [an Evening Briefing]( on U.S. weeknights. LIKE THIS EMAIL? 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