🌍 Germany’s new oil goal

Plus: Airbnb’s five rules for remote work Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Sign up here]( [Quartz]( May 02, 2022 [View in browser]( Sponsored By Good morning, Quartz readers! Here’s what you need to know Germany is on track to quickly quit Russian oil. The country said dependence on the foreign fuel could cease as [soon as late summer](, bringing [an EU-wide embargo]( closer to reality. More top US officials visited Kyiv. US lawmakers, including congressional leader Nancy Pelosi, pledged support to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy until “[victory is won](.” Narendra Modi is in Europe. India’s leader is visiting Germany, Denmark, and France [to talk about]( trade and renewable energy. Meanwhile, Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida is [touring southeast Asia](, with a focus on China. Beijing tightened covid restrictions. Residents [must now test negative]( to enter public spaces and transit. Another Amazon union vote count is expected today. Following successful efforts [to organize a union]( at one Staten Island warehouse, a victory at another facility would signal the [labor movement’s growing strength](. Kenya raised its minimum wage. It was 13,500 Kenyan shillings ($116.68) per month, but will be increased by 12% to [help workers]( facing high inflation. Sponsor content by Accenture Today, more than ever, purpose has risen to the top of leadership agendas. Leaders and change makers are sparking disruption and challenging all of us to step up to help shape a more equitable future. This means a willingness to have the hard conversations – deepening our understanding and committing to action. [Learn more]( and get uncomfortable with Jimmy Etheredge, CEO – North America, Accenture, and Emmanuel Acho, FS1 Sports Analyst & New York Times Bestselling Author and a host of unexpected guests, as they tackle tough topics that require our attention to ignite change.[Advertisement] What to watch for [A image of a monkey wearing a red, white, and blue helmet is reflected in a glass circle.] Reuters/Florence Lo The crypto and NFT world is known for high volatility, but the past few days have been record-breaking. What’s driving the market chaos? The advent of the monkey-verse—in layman’s language, on Saturday [the Bored Ape Yacht Club]( (BAYC) launched a new block of NFTs representing virtual land in their own metaverse, Otherside. The mint was the largest NFT launch ever, [raising $320 million](. These “Otherdeeds” were priced at roughly $6,000 per parcel of virtual land, but with demand so high, the cost needed to perform a transaction on the Ethereum blockchain (called “[gas](”) soared, with some purchasers paying as much in fees as for the NFT. Etherscan, a popular tool for tracking ether transactions, [crashed]( during the frenzy. All the parcels of land were sold and prices on the secondary market were starting at $19,944 (7.2 Eth) at the time of publication. BAYC’s shakeup of crypto markets is expected to continue when it reveals what is on Otherside’s newly-minted virtual land. Airbnb’s five rules for remote work Travel company Airbnb has [gone all in on work from anywhere](. CEO Brian Chesky has been jumping from rental to rental himself, and must have enjoyed it, because he announced one of the most flexible work-from-anywhere policies at a big tech firm to date. 1️⃣ Workers can choose to use the office, or not. 2️⃣ Staff can move anywhere without their pay changing. 3️⃣ Employees can work in 170 countries for up to 90 days a year in each place… 4️⃣ …but most will need to meet in person for a week each quarter. 5️⃣ To stay coordinated, Airbnb said it’ll plan around a multiyear roadmap with two annual major product releases. Implementing these rules will be harder than writing them for Airbnb, but its leadership seems to get that work-from-anywhere will require fundamental changes. Plastic’s grip on produce We have bad news. Gleaming piles of tomatoes, greens, and other produce loosely stacked at your local grocer are anything but plastic-free. In fact, even if your favorite salad greens aren’t wrapped or packaged in it, plastic is present in [just about every step]( of the growing process, from how seedlings are planted to how they’re protected once in the ground. [A picture chart showing how salad greens are grown in plastic. The visual shows that first, seeds are planted in plastic trays. Then, seedlings are transplanted into soil covered with plastic film that detracts pets and maximizes yield. Then, outer mature leaves are harvested for bags of salad, but the core is left to regrow.] Quartz reporter Clarisa Diaz looked at [alternatives]( to make plastic-intensive farming less so. ✦ Love stories like these? Support our mission by [becoming a member](—use code MAKEBIZBETTER to take 50% off. Handpicked Quartz Stories readers especially liked. 🇨🇫 [Bitcoin becomes an official currency in the Central African Republic]( 😶‍🌫️ [Delhi’s landfill fire is destroying air quality in the city]( 🤑 [Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance may soon acquire UK retailer Boots]( 📱 [Snapchat doesn’t care if you buy its new selfie drone]( 🛑 [A total European ban on Russian oil is coming]( 😟 [IMF: The Ukraine war could hit Africa harder than the pandemic]( Sponsor content by Accenture Today, more than ever, purpose has risen to the top of leadership agendas. Leaders and change makers are sparking disruption and challenging all of us to step up to help shape a more equitable future. This means a willingness to have the hard conversations – deepening our understanding and committing to action. [Learn more]( and get uncomfortable with Jimmy Etheredge, CEO – North America, Accenture, and Emmanuel Acho, FS1 Sports Analyst & New York Times Bestselling Author and a host of unexpected guests, as they tackle tough topics that require our attention to ignite change.[Advertisement] Surprising discoveries A dangerous turkey is terrorizing the US capitol. A plump bird with a penchant for attacking passers-by is being targeted by [half-a-dozen federal agencies]( in Washington, D.C. Scientists are blasting earth’s location out into the universe to reach aliens. We [hope they’re friendly](. Arkansas sued the Family Dollar retail chain after a “massive and long-lasting” rodent infestation at a distribution plant. They allege the store knowingly [sold ratty goods](. The Taliban’s leader appeared in public for just the second time in six years. Hibatullah Akhundzada [spoke briefly]( at a mosque while Afghanistan continues to suffer from sectarian violence and food shortages. Would you want your nation’s debt texted to you every day? One US senator has an aide do just that, but is that number really helpful? The latest [episode of the Quartz Obsession podcast]( explains why it’s not. 💸 Listen on: [Apple Podcasts]( | [Spotify]( | [Google]( | [Stitcher]( SPREAD THE WORD Over 500k readers and counting. You already know why half a million people read the Daily Brief, so why not spread the word? [Share the Daily Brief today]( and get rewarded. Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, terrorizing turkeys, and friendly aliens 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 Ciku Kimeria, Tim Fernholz, and Morgan Haefner. [🌐 View or share this email online.]( [📬 Check out our emails]( [👀 Read Quartz’s latest stories]( [📈 See what stories are trending]( 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl New York, NY 10010 Copyright © 2022 Quartz, All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe](