Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The US commerce department rules on Boeing vs Bombardier. Boeing claims that, thanks to Canadian government subsidies, Montreal-based airplane maker Bombardier was able to sell its C-Series aircraft at unfairly low prices. A ruling in favor of Boeing could result in duties on Bombardier, making its planes more expensive.
The SEC chief answers some awkward questions. Jay Clayton appears before the US Senate banking committee over the 2016 cyber hack of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s corporate filing system. The Wall Street regulator said last week that hackers may have used info stolen from its EDGAR system for illicit trades.
Janet Yellen speaks. The US Federal Reserve chair give a speech on “Inflation, Uncertainty, and Monetary Policy” in Cleveland, Ohio. Investors are looking for clues on whether Fed officials think inflationary pressures are strong enough for another rate increase this year.
While you were sleeping
At least six close Trump advisers used private emails for White House business. The New York Times reported (paywall) that former White House strategist Steve Bannon, former chief of staff Reince Priebus, as well as current staffers Gary Cohn and Steven Miller used their private accounts for work-related emails. It emerged at the weekend that Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner used his private email for official matters about 100 times.
Nestlé is following a new strategic recipe. The world’s largest food and drinks company set a target for profit margin growth (paywall) for the first time—until now, it has set sales targets. The Swiss company has been under pressure from activist investor Daniel Loeb to shake up its “old ways.”
More NFL teams defied Donald Trump. The row over football players kneeling during the US national anthem continued. Players from the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals locked arms with teammates before a game in Arizona in response to Trump’s comments over the weekend. Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones, a Trump supporter, kneeled with the team before the anthem but not during.
The ADB was optimistic for Asia. The Manila-based Asian Development Bank predicts the continent will grow 5.9% in 2017, up from an earlier forecast of 5.7%, thanks to an improvement in global trade conditions.
Twitter refused to delete Trump’s North Korea tweets. The social media platform said the president’s provocative tweet—that Kim Jong-un and his foreign minister “won’t be around for much longer”—was “newsworthy,” and didn’t violate its terms of service. Trump’s Sunday tweet that Iran had “just fired” a ballistic missile turned out to be false.
Quartz obsession interlude
Katherine Foley on the scientists who finally figured out how to build a better microwave. “The microwave was invented in 1947 and soon became an American household staple. The devices sped up the heating and reheating process in the kitchen, and flew off store shelves and onto countertops by the millions in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. But in recent years, sales have started to stagnate and decline. In part, that’s because the convenience they offer comes with the cost of uneven cooking.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The US national anthem shouldn’t be played before sporting events. America might do better at national healing if it did not thrust overt patriotism into people’s faces.
The age of antibiotics has ended. There’s already some amount of pre-existing resistance to nearly all of the 50 new antibiotic treatments currently in development.
Trump can’t win a fight against the NFL. African-Americans make up nearly 70% of NFL players—without their allegiance, the NFL’s business model would collapse.
Surprising discoveries
Earth’s last snowstorm may be red. Winter-packed algae rises to the surface of snow, adding a red tint, and causing it to melt faster.
A Saudi Arabian history book ran a photo of Yoda next to a former king. The culprits, the Saudi education department is trying to find.
Walmart wants to stack groceries in your fridge. The company is testing a service that would give delivery workers access to customers’ kitchens (paywall).
You can now pay $350 to control your phone with a jean jacket. We wanted flying cars; instead, we got a wearable technology product from Google and Levis.
No one knows why Chad was included in Trump’s latest travel ban. “It makes no sense whatsoever. I wonder if there wasn’t some sort of mistake made,” said a former US ambassador in the region.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, musical jackets, and red snow to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android.