Iran deal fallout, Malaysia’s election, jumping spiders

[Quartz Daily Brief]( Sponsored by Good morning, Quartz readers! What to watch for today Malaysia holds a general election. The[closely fought election]( pits prime minister Najib Razak against Mahathir Mohamad, a 92-year-old former PM who was once his mentor. Overseas Malaysians are[going to great lengths]( to get their ballots in, despite what they say are efforts by the government to suppress their votes. Companies compete to test US drones. Companies including Amazon, Apple, Intel, and Airbus have partnered with state and local governments to[test unmanned aerial vehicles]( at night, over populated areas, and beyond the operator’s line of sight. The federal government will choose 10 winners to host the tests from more than 200 companies. Donald Trump’s controversial CIA nominee faces the Senate. Gina Haspel is accused of [running detention centers where prisoners were tortured]( and later destroying evidence about it. She [will tell]( the Senate Intelligence Committee that if confirmed, the CIA will not restart such interrogation programs. Haspel succeeds Mike Pompeo, [who last month was confirmed]( as secretary of state. Sponsor content by Oracle New technologies are sparking new ideas—and vice versa. But no matter where you are in the world, it takes more than a great idea to get a new product to market. Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator breaks down the barriers that limit success, [enabling growth and innovation for startups](. [Advertisement] While you were sleeping Europe scrambled to salvage the Iran nuclear deal. After Donald Trump pulled the US out of the agreement, and promised to [impose new sanctions on Iran]( (which extend to companies doing business there), European powers said not all was lost. The US cannot play “economic policeman of the planet,” [said France’s economy minister]( France, Britain, Germany and Iran will meet next week to discuss the next steps. Major European companies [considered their options]( ahead of a Nov. 4 sanctions deadline, as [oil prices jumped]( (paywall). China, Japan, and South Korea teamed up to convince North Korea to give up its nukes. A summit in Tokyo, the first trilateral meeting since 2015, came on the heels of [another secret visit]( to China by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The countries also [agreed to work toward]( a three-way trade deal. Softbank continued to mint money. The Japanese conglomerate [reported record annual profits]( as its sprawling private equity arm has invested nearly $30 billion in 25 tech firms, including Uber and Didi Chuxing. The behemoth has raised nearly $100 billion for its Vision Fund, making it the largest private equity fund in the world. A company linked to a Russian oligarch made payments to Michael Cohen. Trump’s longtime lawyer reportedly received[$500,000 in payments]( into his shell company after the 2016 election. The payments came from Columbus Nova, an affiliate of the Renova Group, which is controlled by Viktor Vekselberg, recently the target of US sanctions. Recruit acquired Glassdoor. The Japanese HR services provider said[it had agreed to buy]( the California-based job-site operator for $1.2 billion, giving it access to a wealth of employer information, including salaries. Quartz obsession interlude Sarah Todd on the under-appreciation of dinosaurs. “It was only once the dinosaurs were wiped out that mammals got a chance to to take their evolutionary shot… ‘Dinosaurs were so good in their ecological niche at a large size. They were like the incumbents—a politician who’s been in office 30, 40 years. The moment the T. Rex disappeared, mammals started to evolve like crazy.’” [Read more here](. Matters of debate Ditching the Iran deal brings us closer to war. The deal [stokes conflict]( with America’s European allies, strengthens China and Russia, and emboldens Iranian hardliners. Google’s latest ad ban is deeply misguided. A prohibition on ads for bail bonds will only result in[more poor people languishing in jail](. The US can eliminate its trade deficit or run the world’s dominant currency—but not both. America[provides the rest of the world with liquidity]( and a safe place to store assets. Surprising discoveries A Chinese music-video social network is the world’s most downloaded iPhone app. Douyin has a huge following thanks to[lip-syncing internet celebrities](. An obscure Australian study is the star citation on Wikipedia. The climate change research has been referenced[2.8 million times](. The gender pay gap starts with babysitting. Girls who are emotionally attached to the children they care for[receive the lowest raises](. Scientists trained a spider to jump on command. Learning more about the spider’s physiology will help develop micro-robots [inspired by nature](. In some cities, cocaine is delivered faster than pizza. The online drug trade has put many street dealers [out of business](. Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, suggestible spiders, and Chinese lip-syncing videos to hi@qz.com. You can follow us[on Twitter]( for updates throughout the day or download our[apps for iPhone]( and[Android](. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Jenny Anderson and edited by Jason Karaian. Enjoying the Daily Brief? Forward it to a friend! They can [click here to sign up.]( If you click a link to an e-commerce site and make a purchase, we may receive a small cut of the revenue, which helps support our ambitious journalism. See [here]( for more information. To unsubscribe from the Quartz Daily Brief, [click here](.