Quartz Daily Brief—HSBC’s Swiss leaks, China businessman executed, Samsung’s snooping TVs, vacuum robot rampage

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Good morning, Quartz readers! What to watch for today The Ukraine crisis rumbles on. German chancellor Angela Merkel will meet US president Barack Obama in Washington, DC, following a failed attempt to reach a peace accord with Russia this weekend. Merkel remains opposed to a military solution, which is gaining traction in the US. Can Frozen save Hasbro? The second-largest US toymaker acquired the rights to make toys for Disney’s latest blockbuster in September, and has ramped up spending on development during its fourth quarter. Those factors could hurt margins when it reports quarterly results, but investors will still be hoping for some Frozen magic. The G20 meets in Istanbul. Finance ministers and central bankers from the 20 richest nations begin a two-day summit. Elsewhere, the Thai and Japanese prime ministers meet in Tokyo. India reports controversial GDP figures. The government is likely to show strong economic growth in the final quarter of 2014, but analysts will struggle to determine what that means, following a contentious change to the way India calculates its economic growth. Over the weekend HSBC’s Swiss banking secrets were exposed.Investigative journalists published a long list of account holders, including drug dealers, royals, arms dealers, sanctioned Russian businessmen, and on-the-lam politicians trying to evade taxes—along with music icons Tina Turner, Phil Collins, and David Bowie. The bank acknowledged that its standards were once “significantly lower than they are today.” Nissan raised its profit forecast. A weak yen and strengthening US demand allowed the Japanese automaker to double its fiscal third-quarter operating income to a better-than-expected 156 billion yen ($1.3 billion), and raise its full-year forecast. But in China, where Nissan is the biggest Japanese auto company, sales rose only 0.5% due to heightened competition. Samsung’s TVs are listening to your every word. The company disclosed that its smart TVs will automatically capture all nearby conversations as part of its voice recognition features, and potentially transmit sensitive data to a third-party service. George Orwell saw it coming years ago. China executed a former mining tycoon. Liu Han, once one of China’s richest men, was convicted of murder and running a “mafia-style gang” last year. Liu was an associate of Zhou Yongkang, China’s former top security official, who is also under investigation for corruption. Alibaba got into smartphones. The Chinese e-commerce giant paid $590 million for a stake in Meizu, a low-cost Chinese handset maker. That could potentially help Alibaba’s mobile OS, which has a market share of less than 1%, to gain some traction in a crowded market. The world’s most expensive painting was sold. A portrait of two Tahitian girls by Paul Gauguin brought in nearly $300 million for its Swiss owner (paywall). The buyer is reportedly from Qatar, according to the New York Times, which cited two anonymous dealers with knowledge of the matter. NBC anchor Brian Williams stepped aside, for now at least. The anchor is temporarily leaving NBC Nightly News, citing distractions to the network after it emerged that he lied about a 2003 helicopter incident in Iraq. The network is reviewing the accuracy of Williams’ previous reporting. SPONSOR CONTENT BY CATHAY PACIFIC 11 essential things to see in Singapore. Kopi (coffee) culture, the architecture of Moshe Safdie, and farm resorts are among them. See the full guide to find out how to travel well in the city-state. Quartz obsession interlude Kabir Chibber on how the anti-Islamic far-right is spreading in Europe—and going mainstream. “The growing acceptance of far-right subject matter as part of political discourse in Europe may just be a sign of our more polarized times. But it could also mean that Europe will have to come to accept voices like Pegida in the mainstream for the foreseeable future.” Read more here. Matters of debate Rand Paul is the most dangerous 2016 candidate. He has exhibitedincredible ignorance about the economy. The US should take guns away from young male minorities. So says media mogul and ex-New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. Greece’s debt repayment idea is worth listening to. Linking payments to GDP growth should be the future of international lending. British accents are the world’s most attractive. The American accent came in second in a global poll; French came in a lowly fifth place. Fat is a flavor. Recognizing it along with sweet, salt, sour, bitter, and umami could help battle obesity. Surprising discoveries Science answered how to find Waldo. Hint: He doesn’t spend much time on the left page. A South Korean vacuum robot tried to devour its owner…Firefighters were called after it consumed some of her hair and refused to let go. …Yet Japan is still launching a robot hotel. A 72-room getaway will open this summer, staffed by 10 multilingual humanoids. The biggest superstar in menswear is a dog. He’s a shiba inu named Bodhi. Hurricane Sandy brought Antarctic bacteria to New York. Andsplashed it all over the subway. Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, stylish canines, and Waldo location techniques tohi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day. You’re getting the Americas edition of the Quartz Daily Brief. To change your region, click here. We’d also love it if you shared this email with your friends. 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