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The Taliban named an interim government for Afghanistan. The entirely male lineup consists of veteran Taliban and Haqqani network members, including Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who led the Taliban government in Kabul in the 90s, as prime minister, and Taliban founding member Abdul Ghani Baradar as deputy prime minister.
The trial for the 2015 Paris attacks begins. France will try 20 men charged with organizing and executing shootings and suicide bombings that killed 130 people at a concert hall, sports stadium, and restaurants.
Hong Kong arrested organizers of the annual Tiananmen vigil. At least four senior members of the Hong Kong Alliance, which coordinated the gathering each year, were detained. The city hasn’t been allowed to hold the vigil since 2019.
Myanmar’s shadow government declared war against the ruling military. Over the past eight months, the military has cracked down on nationwide protests, leading to more than 7,800 arrests and 1,000 deaths.
SoftBank acquired 4.5% of Deutsche Telekom, becoming its third largest shareholder. The deal will help the German telecom giant up its stake in T-Mobile US.
German regulators launched an investigation into money manager Allianz. Its US Structured Alpha Funds hemorrhaged billions of dollars amid the pandemic, and investors are already suing for $6 billion in damages.
Toyota will invest $13.5 billion in electric vehicle battery tech. The world’s largest automaker by volume previously announced plans for an all-electric lineup by next year. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi is partnering with Amazon to build 450 solar power stations to power data centers.  Â
What to watch for
GameStop, the mother of all meme stocks, reports earnings today. The saga of its share price has attracted so much attention (one author sold the Hollywood rights to his book about it within a week of the initial short squeeze) that it can be hard to keep track of the story. Here’s a brief history:
January: Meme traders on Reddit’s WallStreetBets conspire to raise GameStop’s stock price more than 20,000%.
April 26: GameStop raises $551 million from meme traders and pays off all its long-term debts.
June 9: GameStop reports earnings, reminding everyone that it still doesn’t make money. Its share price halves over the next three months from $300 per share to $150.
June 22: GameStop sells another round of new shares for $1.13 billion to invest steeply in e-commerce.
Sept. 6: Reddit traders plot to push GameStop back up to $240 a share, despite its unprofitability.
The rise of the emission-canceling machines
“Direct air capture” (DAC) machines are essentially huge CO2 suckers used in an attempt to reverse the effects of climate change. The hugest of these gets switched on today in Iceland. Here’s a look at what Climeworks’ “Orca” removal plant can do, by the digits:
870: Number of cars whose emissions would be equivalent to the volume of CO2 Orca can slurp up in one year
96: Number of Orca’s fans, which pull in air from which the CO2 is filtered out, mixed with water, and pumped into underground wells, where it will eventually turn to stone
~2: Number of years Orca will reign supreme as the biggest DAC machine before being dwarfed by projects already underway in the US and Scotland
“Several hundred dollars:” The amount per ton Climeworks charges big emitters for carbon offsets, much greater than the price offered by other, more dubious carbon offset services
The lingering effects of a Covid-denying leader
~0.5% of Tanzania’s population has received a Covid-19 vaccine
Tanzania’s late president John Pombe Magufuli famously downplayed the threat of the virus, promoting herbal remedies and prayer as treatment. In February 2021, a month before his death (rumored, though not confirmed, to have been caused by Covid), Magufuli said his government had no plans to purchase vaccines.
President Samia Hassan is battling against her predecessor’s stance, but the U-turn in Covid-19 policy could be a little too late to convince citizens to get the vaccine, as misinformation begun in the days of the former administration has spread like its own virus.
✦ Quartz Africa covers ​​the effects of the pandemic on the continent and follows important stories of innovation across Africa’s wide-ranging economies. Become a Quartz member to support our journalism—join now for 40% off using code QZEMAIL40.
What we’re reading
💸 A mobile money company is Francophone Africa’s first billion-dollar startup. Wave took on Orange, and now has its sights set on the rest of the continent.
📶 Cheap data turned India’s internet dreams into reality… But Reliance Jio’s success comes at a cost.
🏍 …And 15-minute groceries are straining India’s delivery workforce. India’s quick-commerce industry is set to grow at least tenfold by 2025.
⚔️ Japan is defending its rare earth industry from foreign takeovers. Materials critical to renewable energy equipment are increasingly in demand.
🤨 Employees come first. That philosophy is so easy to uphold, says the founder of Unorthodox Ventures, that failure to adhere to it means you’re not cut out for business.
Surprising discoveries
The wild relatives of crops like avocados and vanilla are facing extinction. The culprit? Climate change—the cost of increasingly rare crops like vanilla has skyrocketed over the past years.
VCRs are back, thanks to the Free Blockbuster movement. Fans are trying to revive VHS tapes by maintaining free libraries of movies across the US.
Crypto die-hards are selling in-game goods for a game that doesn’t exist. One project “airdropped” several NFTs of random adventurer gear, selling for up to $1 million.
A pizza blob “came to life” after staff left dough in the dumpster overnight. The heat and humidity following Hurricane Ida caused the yeast to break free.  Â
Ducks can talk, too. Researchers recorded an Australian musk duck repeatedly saying “you bloody fool” during its mating displays.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, talking waterfowl, and favorite VHS tapes 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, Nicolás Rivero, Priya Sippy, Tim McDonnell, Jasmine Teng, and Susan Howson.