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Here’s what you need to know
Ukraine and Russia are moving troops east. A large battle in the Donbas region is expected, with refugees fleeing. On Friday, 57 civilians were killed by a strike on a railway station in Kramatorsk.
Emmanuel Macron led the first round of France’s election. Exit polls showed the president leading with 28.1% of the vote, while his far-right opponent Marine Le Pen got 23.3%. The two will face off on April 24.
Shanghai will again test its entire population for covid. The financial hub reported 23,000 new covid cases on Saturday for the prior day, the eighth straight day of record highs.
Moderna recalled thousands of covid vaccines in Europe. The drugmaker’s decision affected a 765,000-dose lot that contained one vial with an unspecified foreign body in it.
Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan was ousted. Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif will likely be selected as his replacement today.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won the Australian Grand Prix. The event, canceled the past two years because of the pandemic, drew a crowd of more than 400,000.
What to watch for
Indonesian payments and ride-hailing giant GoTo starts trading in Jakarta today. The tech company, which has the backing of the likes of SoftBank and Alibaba, raised $1.1 billion through its IPO, one of the largest since the beginning of the year.
Here’s a look at the super app’s public debut, by the numbers.
$27.8 billion: GoTo’s valuation based on its IPO pricing
4%: Proportion of GoTo shares it’s selling, some of which it’s offering to merchants and drivers
2.5 million: Number of GoTo drivers
55 million: Annual number of users who make transactions on the app
$1 billion: Revenue in the 12 months through September
$330 billion: Expected size of Indonesia’s digital economy by 2030, five times larger than in 2021
Twitter x Elon
Just five days after taking a seat on Twitter’s board, Elon Musk has been publicly ruminating on changes to the social media platform.
Suggestions from the SpaceX and Tesla CEO range from the serious—lowering the price of Twitter’s subscription offering, Twitter Blue—to the strange (and misogynistic)—changing the company’s name to “Titter”.
Quartz visual journalist Amanda Shendruk mocked up what Twitter could look like if Musk’s polls and ponderings get a pass from his fellow board members. Take a look at the suggestions.
Our reliance on natural gas
Europe is the hottest new market for liquified natural gas exporters, but it wasn’t supposed to be. ✦ Quartz’s latest Weekend Brief drilled into why we just can’t quit natural gas and how the war in Ukraine is locking in LNG reliance. Members get exclusive access to the Weekend Brief. Support journalism that seeks to make business better by subscribing today.
Handpicked Quartz
☹️ Shanghai lockdown: “We’re more scared of government measures than of the virus”
💸 Canceling student debt would be recession insurance for Joe Biden
🎩 Russia isn’t even close to being the world’s largest caviar exporter
🚀 SpaceX has flown more people to space than China has
🇸🇴 Somalis changed the face of money transfers worldwide
🤑 Is Walmart really turning trucking into a six-figure-salary job?
Surprising discoveries
The Weather Channel is the most trusted news outlet in America. It’s hard to argue with a chance of rain.
The world’s skinniest skyscraper is ready for move-in. Unit prices aren’t so slender—a studio in New York City’s Steinway Tower will set you back $7.8 million.
Fear can have transgenerational effects. Sparrows that listened to a horror playlist of predator sounds were less likely to reproduce, and their offspring less likely to survive.
Space pollution is complicating research—and wish-making. One out of every 15 points of light in the night sky will likely be a satellite within the decade.
Researchers rejuvenated a 53-year-old’s skin cells to the equivalent of a 23-year-old’s. The technique is far from clinical use, but there’s hope it could extend health.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, controversial weather reports, and names for satellite constellations 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 Amanda Shendruk, Ana Campoy, and Morgan Haefner.