GlobalPost Morning Chatter - Feb. 14

Morning Chatter What we're hearing Need to know: Egyptian state employees, from ambulance drivers to policemen and transport workers, protested to demand better pay and conditions. Learn the story behind Egypt's revolution: social media, secrecy and strategic maneuvering. Want to know: China's economy surpassed Japan's as the world's second largest. Japan's was worth $5.474 trillion at the end of 2010; China's was closer to $5.8 trillion. And the easing of tensions in Egypt has removed a worry for global markets and could encourage short-term gains. Dull but important: If the internet is the new battlefield in the standoff between Cuba and the U.S., then jailed contractor Alan Gross is the conflict's first POW.   No more cocoa because of a political crisis? Ivory Coast's presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara said he will extend indefinitely a one-month ban on cocoa exports if his rival does not leave power. Just because: The origins of St. Valentine are lost, but one myth suggests he was a priest in third-century Rome who defied the emperor Claudius II and  married young lovers. It took nearly 1,000 years for the first Valentine to appear. It was in the mid-18th that lovers sent each other handwritten notes. Have we now lost the art of writing love letters?   Groupon has grown rapidly in Japan, but its growth has not come without missteps. Groupon, whose name is a combo of "group" and "coupon," specializes in providing customers with discounts purchased in bulk. Wacky: A supercomputer is to face two human contestants on Jeopardy tonight. Watson will pit its wits against two of the game's most successful players. At stake is a $1 million prize and the reputation of the field of artificial intelligence.   And fun pictures of the day: a year with Britain's intelligence service.

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