🌍 Airbnb forgot the taxes

Good morning, Quartz readers!

Here’s what you need to know

Airbnb was ordered to pay €779.5 million ($836.4 million) in a tax probe. The short-term rental company’s Italian unit allegedly didn’t withhold and pay a required landlord tax.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese met with China’s Xi Jinping. The two leaders are attempting to thaw relations amid trade and security disagreements.

Bidders are trying to relaunch the crypto exchange FTX. The firm, started by the convicted criminal Sam Bankman-Fried, is drawing attention from a co-owner of the bankrupt lender Celsius, among others.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 10,000 people have died since Israel began bombing the territory last month. The attacks have come after the terrorist group killed 1,400 people and kidnapped more than 200 people on Oct. 7.

Car use will be restricted in Delhi next week. India’s largest city is dealing with dangerously unsafe air pollution.

Will United Auto Workers set their sights on Tesla?

Tesla’s biggest labor union fight is happening in Europe—unionized Tesla mechanics in Sweden have been on strike for more than a week, and now, out of solidarity, dockworkers in the country are readying to stop deliveries.

In isolation, the Swedish movement has little impact on Tesla’s operations. The company doesn’t manufacture cars in the country, where it employs just a few hundred people. But if the Swedish union gets its way, the EV giant could face growing labor unrest elsewhere, including in the US.

So far, Tesla workers in the US have failed to unionize. However, after United Auto Workers successfully negotiated deals with the big three Detroit automakers—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis—Tesla is likely among the next names on the list.

Food insecurity is worsening in the US

Food insecurity—the inability to acquire enough food because of insufficient money and resources—is a growing concern in the world’s largest economy. Last year, 17 million households at one point struggled to get food, up from 13.5 million in 2021.

The problem is being exacerbated by the sunsetting of government programs that increased food benefits for low-income households during the pandemic. Quartz’s Clarisa Diaz explains.

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Surprising discoveries

The catalytic converter theft craze is over. Instances of stealing are down by half compared to last year, and the reason could be purely economic.

A tiny Pacific island is the capital of the world’s cybercrime. It all comes down to Tokelau’s .tk domain.

Heat-tolerant microalgae might save coral. While the tiny organisms would have eventually evolved to a warming climate, speeding up the process in a lab could help bleaching now.

US regulators advised drivers to refrain from sticking rhinestone emblems on their cars’ steering wheels. The decals turn into dangerous projectiles if airbags are deployed.

CEOs sometimes write pretty good books. Or at least, their ghostwriters do. Do you have one you particularly like? Drop us a line—we’re rounding up reader and newsroom favorites!

Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, super-evolved microalgae, and ghosts that are writers to [email protected]. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner.