Good morning. A $260 million late-night settlement between four drug companies and two Ohio counties averted a trial over who is to blame for the opioid crisis, clearing the way for broader talks aimed at resolving thousands of opioid-addiction cases nationwide.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs and companies said the settlement could be an important step toward a multibillion-dollar deal that brings closure to 2,500 lawsuits and sends needed money to communities hard hit by opioid addiction. Municipalities have balked at a comprehensive settlement negotiated by state attorneys general that includes $22 billion in cash and up to $26 billion in donated addiction-treatment drugs and services, saying it isn’t enough money and that they want some control over how it is spent.

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For now, Monday’s deal will direct $215 million to Ohio’s Cuyahoga and Summit counties from the country’s top drug distributors: McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. The counties—which encompass the Cleveland and Akron metropolitan areas—will also receive $20 million in cash and the donation of $25 million in addiction-treatment drugs from Israel-based drug manufacturer Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

A fifth defendant, Walgreens Boots Alliance, didn’t reach a deal. The trial against it was postponed.

The Trump administration has restricted the leasing of commercial aircraft to Cuban state-owned airlines, a move intended to further pinch revenue to the Cuban government, Risk & Compliance Journal’s Mengqi Sun reports.

The move follows U.S.-imposed travel curbs on Cuba in June, barring American cruise lines, yachts, sailboats and private flights from going to the island in an attempt to dry up income derived from visitors.

For more than five years, Ukrainian tycoon Dmytro Firtash has been marooned in Vienna, fighting extradition to the U.S. on bribery and related charges.

This past summer, when it appeared he might lose that fight, Mr. Firtash and his lawyers adopted a new strategy, according to court documents and individuals close to the case: He began to portray his prosecution as part of a larger political conspiracy that includes a purported pressure campaign in Ukraine by former Vice President Joe Biden and alleged irregularities in the probe into Russia’s 2016 U.S. election interference.

The new tack has aligned Mr. Firtash with allegations made by President Trump and has brought the tycoon to the edges of the Democrats’ impeachment probe.

• A Massachusetts judge let a stringent state ban on vaping products stand, but also found problems with the ban that, if not fixed, could soon put nicotine vaping products back on sale. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker launched a four-month sales ban on all vaping products in September, including tobacco and marijuana, while declaring a public health emergency. This marked the most aggressive state measure yet targeting the rise in lung illnesses and fatalities linked to vaping.
   
• A former insurance subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sparred with the California Department of Insurance on Monday about whether its recent sale violated state insurance regulations. Applied Underwriters, a workers’ compensation insurer, said Wednesday that its co-founder Steve Menzies and Quadrant Management bought the company, including the 81% owned by Berkshire, for $920 million. 
   
• The fallout from the college-admissions cheating scandal entered a new phase with the emergence of a new potential cooperator, as accused parents continued to separate themselves into distinct camps: those who plead guilty and those who will fight.
   
• European air-safety regulators officially have shelved the idea of lifting the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX jets simultaneously with the U.S., according to people familiar with the details, a major setback to American regulators’ desire for a coordinated global response. Meanwhile, Boeing shares fell for the third straight session as the company was hit with analyst downgrades and growing scrutiny in Washington.
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• Venezuela can afford to make a payment to bondholders next week, avoiding a $913 million debt default that would cost the country control of Citgo Petroleum Corp., according to a lawyer for creditors circling the Houston-based refiner.

U.S. companies are preparing for tensions with China to extend far beyond the status of continuing trade discussions, an executive for the U.S.-China Business Council said Monday.

“When we talk to companies, there’s a realization that no matter what happens with this trade deal, we’re going down a trajectory of a much more confrontational relationship with China that’s very unlikely to shift in the opposite direction in the future,” Jacob Parker, vice president of China operations for the council, said during a panel at a conference organized by the Association of Financial Professionals.

• Lagarde Says U.S. Is at Risk of Losing Global Leader Role

• Prime Minister Boris Johnson was set to put his Brexit deal to a vote in Parliament on Tuesday, in the first test of whether he has won over enough lawmakers to his plan to pull the U.K. out of the European Union. 
   
• Californians are facing a potential second round of pre-emptive power outages, with PG&E working to prevent its equipment from sparking wildfires as hot, gusty winds are forecast later this week. 
   
• An array of business challenges are hitting low-rated companies across the U.S. economy, driving selling in the bottom tier of the corporate-debt market that contrasts with gains in stocks and other riskier assets. 

UPS is striking a series of drone-delivery agreements with health-care groups as it develops new technology pitched to the growing medical market.

The plans include expanding the use of drones to deliver cargo such as medical samples and supplies on hospital campuses in Utah and elsewhere, and an agreement with CVS to evaluate the use of drones for home delivery of prescriptions and other products, UPS said Monday.

The agreements are the first UPS has announced since the package delivery giant won U.S. regulatory approval to operate commercial drone flights through the company’s Flight Forward subsidiary. The nod from the Federal Aviation Administration paves the way for UPS to scale up operations as it competes with FedEx, Amazon and others vying to develop drone delivery services in the U.S.

• As hyped-up, limited-run sneakers from brands like Nike and Adidas become increasingly difficult to obtain, some shoppers are instead buying inauthentic “replicas” that are so well-made they could fool almost anyone.
   
• Facebook said it was taking additional steps to protect the integrity of the 2020 U.S. elections, including clearer identification of state-run media on its platform. The social-media giant, which held a conference call Monday with reporters about election preparedness, also said it removed four networks of accounts—three of which originated in Iran—for inauthentic behavior.

Charles Scharf, who started Monday as CEO of Wells Fargo, is the first outsider to run the bank in decades and the fourth person to lead it since a 2016 fake-account scandal left its image in tatters. The firm is still in hot water with overseers, who have curbed its growth and slapped it with fines.

Top regulators believe Mr. Scharf, who previously ran Bank of New York Mellon and Visa, likely will reshuffle the bank’s executive ranks, people familiar with the matter said.

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Send comments to the Risk & Compliance editor, Jack Hagel, at jack.hagel@wsj.com.