Quartz Daily Brief—US cyberhacks exposed, Greece’s deal deadline, China’s housing bounce, Japan flip-phone love

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Good morning, Quartz readers! What to watch for today Deal or no deal? After talks on extending a bailout program for Greececollapsed in acrimony, it is now up to Athens to present a counter-proposal. Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said that “an honorable settlement” could be reached in 48 hours. Investors and euro zone finance ministers will believe it when they see it. Vladimir Putin drops in on Hungary. The Russian president visits Budapest to talk energy with prime minister Viktor Orbán. The rare Putin visit to an EU member state is an attempt to show he still has allies in Europe, despite Russia’s meddling in Ukraine. What’s next from Switzerland? The head of the Swiss central bank, Thomas Jordan, gives a speech on “recent upheavals in the global financial and monetary markets,” not least his own decision to scrap the Swiss franc’s ceiling against the euro. What else might he have in store? While you were sleeping Ukraine and its Russian-backed rebels missed a deadline. Both sides were supposed to pull back heavy weapons under a ceasefire agreement, but it didn’t happen. Ukraine said it would wait until the rebel groups stopped shelling the town of Debaltseve, and the rebels said they would “discuss the possible withdrawal of the weaponry later Tuesday,” the AP reported. A judge blocked Obama’s immigration plan. The US president’s executive action to offer work permits and protection from deportation to millions of undocumented immigrants was temporarily halted by a federal judge in Texas, at the request of 26 states who sued to stop the initiative. Some legal scholars suggested the ruling would be quickly overturned on appeal. US cyber-hacking operations were exposed. Russia’s Kaspersky Lab (pdf) detailed how the NSA and other US spy agencies—referred to as the “Equation Group”—infiltrated hundreds of targets in Iran, Russia, China, and other countries over 14 years. In some cases the US burrowed deep into the code that operates hard drives and computers, even if they weren’t connected to the internet. Four prostitutes dropped their lawsuit against Dominque Strauss-Kahn. They said there wasn’t enough evidence against the former IMF chairman to proceed with the civil suit, increasing the chances that DSK will be acquitted on criminal charges of “aggravated pimping.” China’s real estate market showed signs of recovery. New home prices in 70 major cities fell 0.4% in January from the previous month—the ninth straight monthly decline. But prices in bigger cities like Beijing and Shanghai stabilized as mortgages became easier to obtain, suggesting the government’s stimulus efforts were having an effect. A US train crash caused a fiery inferno. A train carrying crude oil through West Virginia derailed in a snowstorm, causing a massive explosion. Hundreds of residents were evacuated but amazingly no injuries were reported. SPONSOR CONTENT BY LEXUS Explore the influence network of product design in tech. You'll be surprised by the interconnectedness of the innovations made in the fields of electronics + communication over the past 20 years, visualized in this interactive. 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 massive financial outflowsunless it imposes capital controls (paywall). Utility companies should be scared of Elon Musk. His solar panels and home batteries could disrupt the industry. Wall Street is scared of Rand Paul. The presidential hopeful hasdangerous ideas about the Federal Reserve. Don’t count on China’s central bank. It doesn’t have much leeway to stave off an economic slowdown. 50 Shades of Grey’s box office win is a good thing. It demonstrates the influence of female audiences. Surprising discoveries DARPA is developing a “cortical modem.” It would create a direct neural interface between brains and computers. Japan loves flip-phones… Smartphone sales are falling andoutmoded “dumbphones” are making a comeback. …And giving back misplaced money. Tokyo residents handed in 3.3 billion yen ($278 million) to police last year. George Washington gamed anti-slavery laws. He shuffled his slaves between states to avoid having to free them. Penguin poop is visible from space. Antarctic guano stains are used to track the birds by age and species. Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, vintage flip-phones, and tell-tale penguin droppings tohi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.