Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for
Theresa May talks Brexit with Donald Tusk. The UK prime minister will convene with the European Council president in London ahead of a meeting with the bloc’s 27 other leaders later this week. Meanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron lays out his vision for the EU’s future.
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—JetBlue has urged the US to rule against Boeing.
Donald Trump hosts Spain’s prime minister. Mariano Rajoy will meet the US president in Washington for the first time. Issues such as terrorism and NATO are key on the agenda—but Rajoy’s visit is overshadowed by events at home as Catalonia plans to hold an independence referendum this weekend.
Janet Yellen delivers a speech. The US Federal Reserve chair will 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
More NFL teams defied Trump. The row over football players kneeling before the US national anthem continued, as 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.
US House of Representatives members opened an investigation into Jared Kushner. Republican Trey Gowdy and Democrat Elijah Cummings asked for more information on the email use of Trump’s advisor and son-in-law, after reports surfaced that Kushner and other members of the administration had been using private emails for official correspondence.
Kurds celebrated an independence referendum in Iraq. Turnout for the peaceful vote, which took place on Monday, is expected to be over 70% and a “yes” verdict is highly likely. Regional officials staunchly cautioned against the potentially destabilizing effects of the vote, with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning that he could cut off the Kurds’ oil export pipeline.
The ADB lifted its growth forecast for Asia. The Manila-based Asian Development Bank said it predicts the continent will grow 5.9% in 2017, up from an earlier forecast of 5.7%, citing an improvement in global trade conditions. It also upgraded its growth forecast for China for this year to 6.7% from 6.5% previously.
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.
Markets haiku
Markets kicking their / tech-stock addiction. Result? / Wall Street gets deFANGed
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.
Engineers in India are unfit for high-level programming jobs. Coding education in India is still overwhelmingly focused on legacy languages like C, C++, Java, and Visual Basic.
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 Saudi education department is the culprits trying to find.
Walmart wants to put your groceries in the fridge for you. The company is testing a service that would give delivery workers temporary 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. In fact I wonder if there wasn’t some sort of mistake made,” said a former US ambassador in the region.
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