What to watch for today
Greece submits its homework a day late. To secure the four-month loan extension that was granted on Friday, Greece was supposed to send a detailed list of reforms for reducing its debt to European finance ministers on Monday. The plan will be sent on Tuesday morning, instead.
Details on Hewlett-Packard’s impending split. The computing company is expected to report strong sales, but analysts will pay more attention to how assets will be divvied up as it splits into two later this year. Some observers are skeptical, but the separate parts of HP could interest buyers.
Barack Obama vetos Keystone XL. The proposal for the $8 billion pipeline, which would carry more than 510,000 barrels of oil a day between Nebraska and Alberta, Canada, reaches the president’s desk. He’s rejected it since 2010—to the chagrin of the Republicans and Big Oil—and isn’t planning to change that habit.
Janet Yellen speaks to Congress. Her remarks are expected to signal how soon—June, perhaps?—the Federal Reserve plans its first benchmark interest rate hike since 2007. The price of US 10-year notes inched up in anticipation Monday, as the yield dropped to 2.07%.
Entertainment earnings: Comcast and Dreamworks. America’s largest cable operator is expected to report a rise in revenue, thanks to political ad sales as election campaigning ramps up. The animation studio, on the other hand, had to cut 500 jobs last month, and Penguins of Madagascar didn’t do so well at the box office.
While you were sleeping
Honda said its CEO would step down. Late on Monday the carmaker said Takanobu Ito would make way for Takahiro Hachigo, a senior engineer, in June. Honda has struggled as it has lost appeal in its key US market and dealt with a wave of airbag-related recalls.
Google Wallet got a leg up. Google’s mobile payment system, which hasn’t really taken off since its launch in 2011, will soon come pre-installed on Android phones sold by three of the US’s biggest carriers, helping it square off agains the newish Apple Pay. Google also bought intellectual property from Softcard, the tap-and-pay app these carriers were using.
Binyamin Netanyahu has some explaining to do. Newly published leaks showed that Israel’s prime minister contradicted his own intelligence service in 2012 when he told world leaders about Iran’s nuclear program. That could make his controversial speech to the US Congress next week a little more interesting.
A US jury held Palestinian organizations liable for terrorist attacks in Israel. The jury awarded $218.5 million in damages, which will be automatically tripled to $655.5 million (paywall) according to a special terrorism law, to 10 American families affected by six bombings and shootings in Israel between 2002 and 2004.
Egypt sentenced an iconic activist to five years in jail. Blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah was one of the most prominent secular figures in the 2011 revolution against Hosni Mubarak, and one of several pro-democracy activists put on trial since the 2013 overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi.
Quartz obsession interlude
Anne Quito on the Oscar-winning graphic designer behind The Grand Budapest Hotel. ”Working closely with Anderson and the film’s production designers Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock, Atkins meticulously hand-crafted almost every of piece of ephemera shown on camera. ‘Every piece I made began with showing Wes a collection of real examples from the period,” she explained. “We looked at hundreds of pieces of design from Eastern Europe at the beginning of the last century as reference’.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Should a national anthem be gender-neutral? Canada’s parliament is divided.
Arab armies are not going to take down ISIL. Their track records don’t inspire confidence, and they’re not good at cooperating with each other.
It’s time for China to drop the yuan-dollar peg. It served the country well for two decades, but the economy’s now too big to peg to one currency.
Don’t call someone ”OCD” like it’s an amusing quirk. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a scary, distressing and even crippling condition.
Large group dinners should be banned. In fact, it should be illegal to make tables that seat more than 10.
Surprising discoveries
Alcohol is about 114 times more deadly than marijuana. That’s according to a new study quantifying the risks of various controlled substances.
How skiing became a pastime for the masses. Thank ski lifts, snow cannons, and plenty of dynamite.
Alaskans are among the happiest and healthiest people in America. A seven-year-long study points to the benefits of cold winters and long nights.
A Disney World ticket is about to go over $100. Even adjusted for inflation, it’s now four times as expensive as it was 40 years ago.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, Alaskan workout videos, and spare Disney World tickets to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.