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Ukraine accused Russia of massacring people in Bucha. Pressure is growing on the international community to intensify sanctions against Russia due to new evidence of war crimes, which Russia has denied.
Shanghai’s lockdown pain is growing. Reports of children quarantined separately from parents, and food delivery shortages, are leading to rising anger. Separately, Tesla’s factory, halted when the financial hub went into lockdown on March 28, remains at a standstill.
Hungary’s pro-Russian leader won a fourth term. It was a landslide win for Viktor Orbán’s right-wing Fidesz party. Meanwhile, the first round of France’s election is next weekend, and Pakistan may be heading to early elections after prime minister Imran Khan dissolved the parliament.
Carrie Lam won’t seek a second term as Hong Kong’s leader. The city changed irrevocably under her rule after an authoritarian crackdown followed its biggest protests since the handover to China.
The WHO suspended the United Nations’ supply of Covaxin. The announcement came a day after Bharat Biotech said it would slow production of the covid vaccine.
What to watch for
The UN is set to publish guidance today on the steps the world can take to curb climate change. But with negotiations over the language to be used in the report’s summary only 70% complete as of Sunday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is cutting things close.
One sticking point in the talks, according to the Associated Press: India argues that since emerging economies’ share of overall carbon emissions is less than that of advanced economies, they shouldn’t have to make the same cutbacks.
India’s share of annual global emissions is 7%, making it the world’s third-biggest contributor. China, the world’s largest emitter, contributed 27%, while the US share was 11%.
The report—the last in a series of three IPCC studies—will lay out measures that countries can take to limit the rise in global temperatures by 2030, as well as approaches for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
A union fight at Amazon
In recent years, Amazon has sought to quash unionization efforts across the country, spending millions of dollars on consultants focused on dissuading workers from organizing. But that didn’t stop organizer Chris Smalls from clinching a union win for Amazon workers last week.
While the contract still needs to be hammered out, Amazon employees at a Staten Island, New York City warehouse voted by a roughly 10% margin to form a union, marking the first successful labor campaign at the retail giant. The effort comes during a growing wave of worker activism across the US that has been met by plenty of pushback from Amazon:
$4.3 million: Amount Amazon spent on anti-union consultants in 2021
2: Times a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama voted against unionizing
2,600+: Number of Staten Island employees who voted to unionize
$30: Hourly minimum pay the union wants
$18: Current starting hourly pay rate
The first true meme stock company
AMC Entertainment recently made a $27.9 million investment in a gold and silver mine. What does the movie chain have to do with precious metals? Basically nothing. But if you think of AMC as a meme stock, its strategy becomes clearer. ✦ The first true meme stock was the topic of our Weekend Brief, a member-exclusive email. Support our journalism and try out membership free for a week!
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Surprising discoveries
It’s snowing microplastics in the ocean. All that material ends up on the seafloor, where scientists have found 10,000 times more microplastics than on the water’s surface.
A German man got up to 90 covid shots to sell vaccination cards. It’s unclear if the jabs affected the man’s health.
Row, row, robot boat. An uncrewed vessel will hang out right above the submerged opening of the volcano that erupted in Tonga to learn more about January’s explosion.
A Native American tribe got its land back. The 465 acres at Virginia’s Fones Cliff were returned to the Rappahannock Tribe, which was displaced from the area nearly 400 years ago.
Birds are laying eggs a month early. Scientists studying a 120-year-old collection of eggshells at the Chicago Field Museum attribute it to climate change.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, remote-controlled boats, and Whoppers Robin Eggs to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Courtney Vinopal, Sarah Todd, Katherine Bell, and Morgan Haefner.
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