Quartz Daily Brief—Mujica departs, Korean drills, Samsung Pay, Iceland’s cold babies
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
A new era begins in Uruguay. Tabare Vazquez begins his first week as president after Jose Mujica stepped down on Sunday. Mujica, sometimes called the world’s poorest and most radical world leader, abstained from the luxury of the presidential palace and drove around in a beat-up VW Beetle.
Russia and Ukraine talk gas. Russia, Ukraine, along with the European Union, will discuss energy in Brussels—another small step towards more normal relations after a war last year that is only just in the midst of a shaky ceasefire. Gas from Russia is delivered to the EU via Ukraine.
Korean military drills begin. The US and South Korean militaries begin their annual joint winter drills in South Korea—an event that North Korea hates. The drills involve hundreds of thousands of American and South Korean troops.
Global economic data. Look for the latest manufacturing PMI figures from the euro zone, UK, US, China and Japan, as well as fourth-quarter Japanese capital spending. The euro zone will release its latest unemployment figures, with the jobless rate expected to stay above 11%.
Over the weekend
China cut interest rates—again. The rate cut from the People’s Bank of China was the second time in less than four months that the central bank axed interest rates. The move suggests the government is getting more aggressive in its effort to bolster growth in the face of growing deflation risks and a sagging property market.
Russians mourned Boris Nemtsov. Thousands of Russians gathered to pay respects to the fallen politician, who was shot dead on Friday near the Kremlin. Nemtsov, 55, was deputy prime minister under Boris Yeltsin and a prominent critic of Vladimir Putin. His killing resembles other Russian contract hits.
Venezuela announced limits on US diplomats. President Nicolas Maduro announced steps to limit the number of US diplomats in the country and require Americans wishing to visit the country to apply for visas.
Estonia went to the polls. Estonians cast ballots in parliamentary elections dominated by economic issues and security concerns surrounding an increasingly aggressive Russia. Once a Soviet republic, Estonia is today a member of NATO, though a large percentage of the population is ethnically Russian.
Samsung hit back. The South Korean company unveils the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, its latest attempt to counter the huge success of the iPhone 6. It also introduced a mobile payments system. The S6 and its sibling will be on sale around the world from April 10th.
Quartz obsession interlude
Kabir Chibber on the world’s craziest financial contract. “Essentially, George could invest at last week’s prices knowing what was going to happen in the future. The contract has been compared to Grays Sports Almanac, the sports bible that the villainous Biff gives to himself in 1955 to become a billionaire in Back to the Future Part II.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Reduce your dependence on Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Put more trust in communities than corporations.
The key to success in the global workplace is being culturally fluent. Learn about polyculturalism now.
Do you really need a phone company? You maybe be able to go wi-fi-only.
Training to be a doctor is not creative enough. Instead of medicine, study computer science.
Schedule all your meetings for 30 minutes. An hour-long meeting will go on for an hour but why should it?
Surprising discoveries
Canadians are “Spock-ing” their banknotes. In honor of Leonard Nimoy.
Albums are released on Tuesdays in the US. But it’s moving to Friday this summer.
Sugar addiction is real. And so is sugar withdrawal.
Icelandic babies spend a lot of time outdoors in the freezing cold. You can see ”abandoned” prams everywhere in Reykjavik.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, Spock-ed banknotes, and sweet, sweet sugar (just pump it straight to our veins) to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.