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Here’s what you need to know
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan. The government collapsed after the militant group took Kabul, and president Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Just before the takeover, US president Joe Biden once again tried to justify the US withdrawal.
Meanwhile, there is ongoing violence and chaos at Kabul airport. Several people have reportedly been killed as Afghans desperately try to board flights. US troops are evacuating embassy staff.
An earthquake in Haiti has left nearly 1,300 people dead. It measured 7.2 on the Richter scale, more powerful than 2010’s devastating tremors.
Crypto broke $2 trillion for the first time since May. The total market value of cryptocurrencies reached $2.02 trillion on Saturday, spurred on by a surge in bitcoin, cardano, and dogecoin.
China’s economy slowed in July. Factory output and retail sales both missed expectations as the country grappled with a new delta-driven Covid outbreak.
What to watch for
Roblox, the company behind Fortnite, reports earnings today. This is its first full quarter since becoming a public company in early March.
💰 Wall Street is expecting major growth. The consensus analyst forecast is $690 million in revenue, which would be an increase of 78% from last quarter, and a whopping 263% higher than last year.
👴 This could be the first quarter where the majority of users are 13 years or older (last quarter that figure was 49%.)
😷 Roblox—like Peloton and Zoom—is a bellwether for the pandemic. Analysts have speculated that school reopenings could lower engagement.
🤖 The company’s results are also seen as a proxy for interest in the “metaverse,” a nebulous concept that involves spending lots more time in virtual worlds.
Read our primer on Roblox, from December.
Charting vaccine inequality
More than 4.5 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered across the world so far. Less than 200 million have gone to low-income countries. In poor countries, only 1% of the population has received a single dose, and even fewer people have received both.
More new variants will likely emerge in these low-vaccination settings. And the risk isn’t just epidemiological: “If Africa were to experience an outbreak of the level of India or Brazil, my worry is for state collapses,” says Mosoka Fallah, the former director-general of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia, and a researcher in global health.
The quitting economy
✦ Workers are quitting at rates not seen in 20 years. What does it mean for the economy? And should you consider quitting, too? Our new field guide to the quitting economy has the answers. Read it with a Quartz membership, now 40% off with code QZEMAIL40.
Handpicked Quartz
🛂 Vaccine passports have arrived, with varying degrees of strictness
🛍️ Ethical consumption can’t be the burden of shoppers alone
🏫 Are kids safe to go back to school?
🌍 The future of Afghanistan will be decided by several international stakeholders
👷 There’s no such thing as a low-skilled worker
💵 The US child tax credit is making a dent in hunger
Surprising discoveries
New dinos just dropped. Scientists in northwest China have discovered two previously-unknown dinosaur species, both estimated to have been more than 50 feet long.
How much is that heartthrob in the window? To increase adoption interest, pet shelters are naming animals after celebs like Cary Grant, Adam Sandler, and… Jake from State Farm.
Escarg-oh-no. A record-breaking heatwave in Sicily is causing snails to burn alive in their shells.
Mysterious sea snakes are washing ashore in New Zealand. The island nation was historically snake-free and experts think warming oceans could be to blame.
A third of retail investors say they’ve traded drunk. Suddenly meme stocks make sense.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, and creative pet names to hi@qz.com (but please, no snakes). Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Hasit Shah, Tripti Lahiri, Camille Squires, Annalisa Merelli, and Walter Frick.