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Here’s what you need to know
Wildfires are destroying parts of Greece. The EU has mounted its largest-ever firefighting operation to battle the blaze that led to mass evacuation from the island of Evia, the latest in a string of extreme weather events set to become more frequent. Read more below.
A Jeffrey Epstein victim is suing Prince Andrew. In a suit filed yesterday in the US, Virginia Guiffre alleges that the British royal abused her at the home of the millionaire who died awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Prince Andrew has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
TikTok is now the world’s most downloaded social media app. Facebook is no longer king—not even in the US.
The US military is ordering troops to get vaccinated. Inoculation rates have been relatively low, which makes deployment to other countries more challenging.
India’s antitrust probes into Amazon and Flipkart will proceed. The country’s Supreme Court ruled against the e-commerce giants, who had appealed to the court to dismiss the investigations.
China punished more than 30 local officials for the delta variant’s spread. After an outbreak at an airport led to cases in most of its provinces, Beijing said it won’t tolerate incompetent management.
Samsung’s leader will be free on Friday. Lee Jae-yong, who was convicted on embezzlement charges, will be paroled along with hundreds of prisoners to ease overcrowding in South Korea’s prisons.
What to watch for
Coinbase will report its second-ever earnings today. The crypto trading platform’s stock has fallen since its initial public offering in April, down to $278 from its opening price of $381, but has enjoyed a recent rally in concert with bitcoin’s bounce-back and additional investment from Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest.
At the same time, the crypto market is under intense scrutiny in major markets, including the US, with the Security and Exchange Commission and Congress poised to add regulatory hoops. This pressure could complicate Coinbase’s core business and stock performance beyond how the public numbers play out.
Charting extreme weather events
A major new climate change report is a “code red for humanity.” The growing number of severe heatwaves, droughts, floods, and wildfires that have been plaguing the planet are almost certainly a direct result of human greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
234 scientists from 66 countries worked for eight years on the authoritative, exhaustive report—and they’ve finally added world politics to their climate models (and world governments have endorsed the report). It’s also a more diverse, representative group than usual.
The latest report is unequivocal that climate change is already happening, and that the odds of holding off catastrophic levels of future warming are rapidly vanishing. But it also makes clear that every fraction of a degree counts—and it’s not too late to prevent the worst.
Welcome to the metaverse
What is the metaverse?
- A network of virtual worlds
- The internet, but skeuomorphic
- A completely nonsense rebrand of “the internet”
- The Beyond section of Bed, Bath & Beyond
Yeah, we’re not sure either. But some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley, from Mark Zuckerberg to Satya Nadella, are betting it’s the future of computing.
✦ Become a Quartz member to read our Forecast email explaining what we suspect the metaverse is, and what it could be in the future. Get 40% off a membership with code QZEMAIL40.
Handpicked Quartz
💉 A failed German Covid-19 vaccine could be the answer to the global vaccine shortage
🙅 A rape allegation at Alibaba has prompted an outpouring in China about toxic work culture
🎬 A Nigerian internet scammer is becoming an action-movie villain
🗣 What are the best approaches to engage the vaccine-hesitant now?
🧼 Indian social media influencers are marketing cryptocurrencies like soap and shampoo
👶 Corporate America’s next big social impact project: Easing the plight of working parents
Surprising discoveries
South Africa granted a mundane-sounding patent. But it granted it to an AI inventor, not a human.
A 1,000-year-old grave showed a highly revered, probably non-binary person. DNA analysis of the Iron Age remains indicated Klinefelter syndrome.
Japanese parents can send a baby-faced bag of rice to relatives. Can’t hug someone’s newborn due to Covid restrictions? Please accept this rice bag of identical weight.
There’s too much weed in Canada. Legalizing cannabis hasn’t made it as sellable as growers had hoped.
IKEA made a candle that smells like meatballs. It comes with a jar, wax, and a wick for you to assemble yourself—just kidding (we think?).
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, rice babies, and excess weed 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 Tripti Lahiri, Scott Nover, Hasit Shah, Marc Bain, Susan Howson, and Liz Webber.