Quartz Daily Brief—Greece’s failed deal, Rolls-Royce and Petrobras, Britain in Chinese, Martin Luther toys
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Fear and loathing in Europe’s markets. Greece on Monday rejected a proposed ”technical extension” of its existing bailout package, and the euro fell sharply. The country’s creditors said one more summit could be held on Friday; if that fails, Greece may run out of money at the end of February and have to leave the euro.
Will Ukraine’s peace deal last another day? While the fighting has stopped in much of eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian separatists surrounded Ukrainian troops in the town of Debaltseve on Monday, shelling it heavily. The rebels there have said they will not observe the internationally-brokered truce agreed last week.
Vladimir Putin drops by Hungary for a visit. The Russian president stops in Budapest to talk energy with prime minister Viktor Orban in a rare visit to an EU member state. Analysts say Putin wants to show he still has allies in Europe, despite Russia’s meddling in Ukraine.
A look at the future of energy. BP launches its Energy Outlook 2035 with the “most likely” path for global energy, based on “economic and population growth, as well as developments in policy and technology.”
China announces property prices for January. The country is in a real-estate slump with new home prices falling 4.3% in December (paywall). Other data include Korean and Indonesian central bank interest rates, and UK inflation, which is expected to show a slowdown.
While you were sleeping
Denmark arrested two men after a weekend of violence. They were charged with aiding the 22-year-old gunman who went on the rampage at a cafe and a synagogue in Copenhagen, killing two people and injuring several police officers. The attacker himself was killed in a shoot-out with the police.
Rolls-Royce was accused of bribing Petrobras. In the latest twist in Brazil’s massive corruption scandal, a former executive of the state-run oil company alleged that the British engineering firm coughed up some extra cash (paywall) to secure a $100 million gas turbine contract. Rolls-Royce said it would cooperate with any investigation.
More deaths were ascribed to GM’s ignition switches. The faulty technology caused 56 deadly accidents (paywall), up from 52, and 87 injuries, up from 79, according to administrators for General Motors’ compensation fund, after reviewing new claims filed in the run-up to a Jan. 31 deadline. The company has recalled 2.6 million cars.
An indictment in the US Muslim murder case. The man accused of shooting dead three young Muslims in North Carolina will be charged with first-degree murder, a grand jury decided. The police are investigating whether the killing, which allegedly began as a parking dispute, was a hate crime.
France detained teenage anti-Semites. The five youths are suspected of vandalizing a Jewish cemetery over the weekend, defacing some 300 tombstones with swastikas and other graffiti. That prompted a set-to between Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and European leaders over whether Jews are safe in Europe.
Quartz obsession interlude
Cassie Werber on how the UK is renaming its famous sites to attract Chinese tourists. “Among the new names are Zhai Xing Ta (A Tower Allowing Us to Pluck Stars From the Sky), formerly known as the office tower The Shard; Yong Heng Zhi Ji (Wall of Eternity), once known as Hadrian’s Wall; and Wan Bo Tao Ci (Diverse Ceramics), also known as Stoke-on-Trent.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Greece could be the next Cyprus. It risks having money sucked out of it, as Cyprus did in 2012, unless it imposes capital controls (paywall).
Don’t hope for too much from China’s central bank. Its leeway for lowering rates and staving off a Chinese economic slowdown is much smaller than it seems.
ISIL’s “Libya front” is deceptive. The terrorist group’s recent killing of 21 Copts says more about the West’s failures in Libya than the extent of ISIL’s power.
50 Shades of Grey is a hit, and that’s a good thing. It may be a lousy movie, but it demonstrates the influence of female audiences.
Surprising discoveries
The Japanese love their flip-phones. Smartphone sales are declining, but old-fashioned flip-phones are on the rise.
A foreign name makes American investors distrust you. Funds whose managers have ”foreign-sounding names” have annual flows 10% lower than those run by the Smiths or Joneses.
Menopause lasts a lot longer than you think. Women may experience effects such as hot flashes for up to 14 years (paywall).
Martin Luther is still popular. A plastic toy figure of the 16th-century German theologian sold out in no time.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, flip-phone messages, and Martin Luther figurines to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.