Quartz Daily Brief—Greek tax spies, Apple Watch details, Obama in Selma, Mercedes wows SF
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Apple unveils its watch plans. CEO Tim Cook will reveal highly anticipated details about Apple’s new wearable device. Here’s what to expect, and how to watch the live event.
ECB OKs QE. The European Central Bank begins buying sovereign bonds in an attempt to lift the euro zone’s moribund economy. The ECB will buy €60 billion of debt a month until at least 2016.
GM settles with an activist investor. Harry Wilson is prepared to give up his request for a seat on the auto maker’s board, in exchange for the company agreeing to buy back billions of dollars worth of shares.
A solar-powered plane begins an around-the-world journey. The Solar Impulse-2 takes off from Abu Dhabi for the first of 12 flights that will take it across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Over the weekend
Obama tells a Selma crowd: “Our march is not yet finished.” The US president marked the 50th anniversary of the Alabama city’s “Bloody Sunday” protests with a speech discussing the “long shadow” that racism casts over the American Dream.
Tesla cut back in China. Elon Musk’s electric car maker will let go of 180 of its 600 China-based staff in the wake of lackluster sales. A spokesman told Bloomberg the downsizing is intended to “better respond to the Chinese market.”
Greece wants tax spies. The debt-ridden country proposed a series of reforms to euro zone finance ministers, including enlisting students and tourists to root out tax evasion. Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said the prospect of informers making audio and video recordings “has the capacity to shift attitudes very quickly.”
Japan grew more slowly than expected. Fourth-quarter annualized GDP growth was revised down to 1.5% from 2.2%. And business investment fell for the third consecutive quarter, which could hamper the government’s plan to spur inflation by raising wages.
China’s exports got a boost. February exports jumped by 48% versus the previous year, but combined January-and-February exports, adjusted to take account for Chinese New Year, rose by only 15%. China’s export growth target this year is just 6%, as it tries to tilt its economy toward domestic consumption.
Boko Haram pledged allegiance to Islamic State. An audio message posted to Boko Haram’s Twitter account proclaimed the Nigerian terrorist group’s allegiance to ISIL. Meanwhile, four suicide bombs and a car bomb hit the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, killing at least 54 people and injuring 143.
Two suspects were charged with the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. Police identified the men, both from the Caucasus region, through cell phone records and DNA evidence from the suspected getaway car, according to a statement from the head of Russia’s internal law enforcement agency.
Quartz obsession interlude
Kabir Chibber on the leadership lessons you can learn from managing in the English Premier League. “Last year, 12 managers were fired by the end of the season—and there are only 20 teams in the league. A manager has been fired every year since the Premier League was created in 1992. ” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Let China devalue its currency. The world needs its second-largest economy to achieve a soft landing.
The world’s time zones are a mess… Crossing from China to Afghanistan can gain you three and a half hours.
…And Daylight Saving Time needs to go. It doesn’t save energy, so what’s the point?
“Magic” elevators are a farce. Elevators that can go up, down, and sideways will do nothing to improve our cities.
Surprising discoveries
A driverless Mercedes-Benz is cruising around San Francisco. The sleek prototype is blowing everyone’s minds.
Vincent van Gogh’s red paints are turning white. The culprit is a rare mineral he used as a pigment.
Florida banned the term “climate change.” Some blame climate change deniers in state government, including Gov. Rick Scott.
A start-up makes new employees scrub toilets. The business wants workers to empathize with housecleaners.
Tokyo may legalize noisy playgrounds. Yet it may receive pushback from the country’s aging population (paywall).
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, driverless Mercedes, and gold Apple Watches to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.