Evergrande missed another deadline

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Here’s what you need to know

Evergrande did not make its next deadline. The seriously troubled Chinese developer reportedly did not pay some of its offshore bondholders on Wednesday, but a state-owned venture did help out by buying most of Evergrande’s share in Shengjing Bank.

Japan has a new prime minister-in-waiting. Fumio Kishida, former foreign minister, will try to repair his party’s reputation after predecessor Yoshihide Suga went against public opinion to hold the Olympics.

United Airlines and YouTube are doubling down on vaccines. The former is firing about 600 unvaccinated employees, and the latter is banning anti-vaccine misinformation (for any vaccine, not just Covid-19).

Europe gets more women onto boards than the US does. A Bloomberg survey showed that women filled nearly 37% of boardroom seats in Stoxx Europe 600 companies—which… is still a pretty underwhelming number, everyone.

Samsung will shell out $47 million for price fixing. A Dutch regulator said the electronics company manipulated TV prices in the Netherlands for years.

Warby Parker’s debut was a real spectacle. All eyes were on the direct-to-consumer eyewear brand’s good-looking direct listing, though don’t lose sight of the fact that the company still hasn’t seen any profit.

What to watch for

Politicians in Washington have been busier than usual this week tackling major questions about the US economy. Much of it comes to a head today, although the rollercoaster could continue for another few weeks if the issues aren’t resolved:

• The House of Representatives votes on a $1 trillion infrastructure bill today. (Probably.) The legislation includes billions for clean energy, trains, and high speed internet—but it doesn’t go far enough to climate-proof the electric grid.
• The federal government will shut down if funding for federal agencies isn’t approved by midnight tonight. These are the options Congress has to keep that from happening.
• Congress has until Oct. 18 to raise the debt ceiling to keep the US from defaulting on its debt. Here’s what happens if it doesn’t.

Global energy price spikes will get worse before they get better

The energy crunch that started in Europe is going global—and as the economy shifts away from fossil fuels, experts warn, the worst could be yet to come.

⚡️ Europe’s wind farms haven’t seen a good breeze in months, and droughts in China and South America have dried up power generation from hydro dams.

⚡️ Because renewable energy sources are intermittent, you need a powerful transmission grid and a lot of large-scale batteries to transport and store electricity. But for regulatory and technological reasons, such developments are still in their infancy.

⚡️ As a result, fossil fuels will continue to supply a major portion of the global energy mix for decades to come. As investment in oil and gas production falls due to pressure from investors and governments, price spikes are inevitable.

How to take the politics out of vaccine mandates in the workplace

The idea of vaccine mandates in the workplace is less divisive than its critics would suggest. But companies may be wondering what they’re in for, watching news reports of skirmishes and hot tempers over vaccine verification systems at restaurants and grocery stores.

Here are a few things companies can do to minimize tensions:

1. Share Covid-19 vaccine facts from diverse and credible sources.
2. Stay focused on employee safety, and show concern for people’s health beyond their vaccination status.
3. Offer or maintain incentives for getting vaccinated.
4. Back workers’ rights to free speech.

Quartz at Work provides solutions for employers and employees to tackle thorny issues in the workplace. ✦ Become a Quartz member today to enjoy access to all of our content without ever hitting a paywall—get 40% off with code QZEMAIL40.

The Quartz Obsession podcast, coming Oct. 12

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What we’re reading

🧧 China is combating crypto with a push for the digital yuan. The e-currency is easy to use while making sure Beijing stays in control.

⚖️ We made a cheat sheet to all of the antitrust cases against Big Tech in 2021. Here’s where and why regulators are gunning for Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook.

🗣 Therapy sessions will be free for French citizens starting in 2022. It’s part of a broader initiative to address mental health concerns.

🍽 Casual restaurants have lost the lunch crowd. A shift to working from home means weekends are a lot more important to chains like McDonald’s and Panera Bread.

📶 Sub-Saharan Africa lags behind in mobile broadband coverage. Which is a problem, because mobile phones are the primary tool Africans use to access the internet.

😿 A Chinese city cited its Covid-zero policy to justify euthanizing three Covid-positive cats. There isn’t a clear standard for how to treat pets whose owners need to be quarantined.

Surprising discoveries

Twenty-three more species were declared extinct. Humans are to blame for the disappearance of the ivory-billed woodpecker and the rest of the list.

A Danish artist delivered empty canvases and kept the museum’s loan… He said the work, entitled “Take the Money and Run,” makes a bigger statement. 

…But a crypto miner returned a massive fee mistake. The typo initially resulted in the Ethereum miner raking in the equivalent of $24 million.

Betting, alcohol, and drugs make up the new B.A.D. ETF. Has the backlash against doing good finally arrived?

Everything is probably fine! Multiple massive meteors—so big even NASA calls them “fireballs”—were sighted over North Carolina.

Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, definitely 100% harmless phenomena, and blank artwork 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 Tim McDonnell, Lila MacLellan, Liz Webber, and Susan Howson.