Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Storm Stella whips the US Northeast. The monster snowstorm, expected to bring winds of up to 60 mph and reduce visibility to zero, put 31 million people under a blizzard warning and has already resulted in the cancellation of over 7,000 flights and the Falcon 9 rocket. CNN predicts the heaviest snow between 6am and 9am ET. The storm also caused Donald Trump’s Tuesday meeting with Angela Merkel to be rescheduled for Friday.
A memorial for legendary statistician Hans Rosling. The Swedish doctor and self-described “edutainer,” who became a rock-star statistician (paywall) through his use of amazing graphics and visualizations, died in Sweden on Tuesday aged 68. A live-streamed memorial service for the professor takes place at 1pm ET.
China flirts with the TPP. Chinese delegates will attend a ministerial-level meeting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership in Chile, but the country has not changed its position on the trade agreement. With the TPP all but dead in the water, China hopes to push its own rival Asia-Pacific pact.
While you were sleeping
The EU ruled it legal to ban Islamic headscarfs in the workplace. The European Court of Justice said an employer has the right to prohibit staff from wearing a headscarf at work. The ruling was watched especially closely in France, where one of the cases originates.
Sterling had another Brexit freakout. The pound hit an eight-week low Tuesday morning—dropping by as much as 0.9% against the dollar—after politicians on Monday night cleared the way for prime minister Theresa May to start EU divorce proceedings during the final week of March.
The Dutch prime minister was pretty chilled about Turkish sanctions. Mark Rutte described Turkey’s sudden freeze on all diplomatic relations between the two countries—no economic measures have been taken—as “not too bad.” After the Netherlands blocked Turkey’s foreign minister from landing in the country on Saturday for a pro-Erdogan rally, Turkey did a tit-for-tat on Monday night, banning all Dutch diplomats Turkish soil.
Vegetable prices pushed up German inflation. The country’s annual inflation rate surged to 2.2% in February, driven by a 21% rise in the cost of vegetables (paywall). Bad weather in Spain and Italy, the main growing countries for lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and aubergines created a shortage and a price spike that has hit Brits as well as German consumers.
Toshiba missed its reporting deadline for third-quarter earnings—again. The electronics conglomerate postponed the report a month ago, amid problems at its Westinghouse nuclear subsidiary—it’s considering selling its controlling stake in the unit. Toshiba risks being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange if it fails to release its numbers after a second extension.
Prudential had a storming year. The British insurer posted record operating profit of £4.3 billion ($5.2 billion) for 2016 thanks to double digit growth in Asia and the US, which helped offset weakness on its home turf. Its share price shot up to a two-year high on the news.
Quartz obsession interlude
Cassie Werber on the end of an era of American global domination of language: “With the election of Donald Trump as US president, however, the country’s rhetoric has become decidedly more isolationist. Murphy asks both whether its words and its culture will flow so freely abroad as before, and whether the rest of the world will be as receptive to them.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Preet Bharara is no hero. The recently fired US attorney for New York was tough on corrupt politicians, but he was soft on Wall Street.
Progressive economics will not defeat the extreme right. Robust social welfare programs are not enough to tamp down xenophobia.
South Korea’s protest culture is nothing to envy. It shows that Koreans strongly distrust their leaders and institutions.
Surprising discoveries
Dogs are surprisingly good liars. A clever study exposed their ability to deceive people to increase the likelihood they would get a treat.
Japanese techno-toilet maker Toto is getting into bathtubs. If they’re as confusing as their toilets, bath time should be an adventure.
A man in Las Vegas was arrested after attempting to murder a mannequin. Police set up a sting operation after the brutal killings of two homeless men.
NASA found an Indian lunar probe that had been missing for years. The search involved techniques that will be useful in tracking space junk.
A DNA computer has a trillion siblings and replicates itself to make a decision. It could explore solutions exponentially faster than modern devices.
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