The Taliban takes over Afghanistan's second largest city

Plus: Soccer’s getting the ball rolling. [Quartz]( Sponsored by Good morning, Quartz readers! Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Sign up here](. Forward to that friend who [leaned the hardest into working from home](. Here’s what you need to know The Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s second largest city. The rapid fall of Kandahar, a populous and strategically important provincial capital, means that [Kabul is next](. The US is becoming less white. Census data show a surge in Hispanic and Asian populations over the last decade, and will help direct [$1.5 trillion in federal funding](. The US Food and Drug Administration approved Covid vaccine boosters. People [with compromised immunity]( don’t get enough protection from two shots, the agency said. The heir to the Samsung fortune is out on parole. [Lee Jae-yong spent 207 day](s in a South Korean prison after his conviction for bribery and embezzlement in January. Britney Spears’ dad will no longer be her conservator. Jamie Spears says he is stepping down from the controversial, 13-year-old legal arrangement, [but not imminently](. Amazon is moving its Lord of the Rings production from New Zealand to the UK. [The big-budget series](, whose first season already cost $465 million, is shifting locations as part of a plan to increase the company’s footprint in Britain. Sponsor content by Philips Espresso Three morning hacks for hybrid teams. With the right tweaks, managers can help keep their employees energized and engaged, whether they’re working from home or in the office. [Start the day off right.]( What to watch for [Football star Lionel Messi arrives at the Royal Monceau Hotel to join Paris St Germain in August 2021.] Reuters/Sarah Meyssonnier England, Germany, and Spain’s top soccer leagues kick off this weekend. They’re three of the wealthiest sporting competitions in the world, though all were badly hit by the lack of spectators [during the pandemic](. Now, crowds are finally back and [ready to sing](. Of the world’s major sports, soccer’s schedule is particularly relentless, largely because of multiple, overlapping TV deals that demand year-round content. This season, all eyes are on Paris. The city’s Qatari petrodollar-funded team has assembled an extraordinary array of talent over the summer, spending fortunes to lure some of the world’s best players, including the greatest of them all—[Lionel Messi](. Charting India’s VC industry The growth of India’s tech startup has not only mainstreamed entrepreneurship, but also led to a boom in the local venture capital industry. The top 10 Indian VCs have participated in nearly 600 funding rounds, and backed more than 420 ventures in just the last 30 months. A decade ago, there were barely four or five mainstream Indian VC funds that mostly made very safe bets, largely in the enterprise space. Now India boasts at least 55 unicorns, and the momentum is giving those with capital a lot more options to venture into. Though these investors may not have pockets as deep as some of their international counterparts, they believe they have one important leg up: [being acutely aware of the Indian experience](. The case of the blockheads On Aug. 10, hackers pulled off what looked to be the largest cryptocurrency heist in history, stealing more than $610 million from the blockchain exchange platform Poly Network. Their triumph appears to have been short-lived. We still don’t know who the hackers are, but they were clearly spooked by Poly Network’s stern tweets that cybersecurity experts were on the trail. The episode highlights the vulnerability of crypto exchanges, which have been increasingly targeted by hackers in recent years. But it also underscores a golden rule that hackers must follow to avoid complications: [Don’t steal too much in any single attack](. ✦ Nicolás Rivero is keeping a close eye on [the ways cyberattacks threaten](—[or don’t](—businesses and governments alike. Follow along with a Quartz membership, now [40% off](with code QZEMAIL40. Handpicked Quartz 🧠​​[The psychological case for delaying office reopenings]( 🥡 [Consolidation is coming for US food delivery, unless the government stops it first]( 🤰 [Getting a Covid vaccine during pregnancy is even more urgent as ICU beds fill up]( ⛓ [Cameroon has detained an influential tech figure on unknown charges]( 💉 [Prisons are where America most needs vaccine mandates]( 🧩 [IPCC scientists still haven’t cracked Africa’s biggest climate mystery]( Surprising discoveries [NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, left, high fives Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), during a demonstration of the suit, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program.] NASA/Joel Kowsky A $1 billion space suit is holding up NASA’s 2024 moon landing. It’s not easy to build a [one-person space vehicle]( that can withstand temperatures of 260°F to -280°F. The Belarusian defector is selling her medal on eBay… Sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said she would use the money to [support other athletes]( from her country. …while a Japanese softball player is getting a replacement. The mayor of Nagoya tried to [take a bite]( out of Miu Goto’s Olympic gold medal. Quartz crystals are the secret to Stonehenge’s longevity. They make the stones stronger and [less susceptible to erosion]( from the elements. This little wildflower has a secret. The western false asphodel likes to [eat insects](. SPREAD THE WORD Over 500k readers and counting. You already know why half a million people read the Daily Brief, so why not spread the word? [Share the Daily Brief today]( and get rewarded. Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, spacesuit designs, and as many quartz crystals as you can find 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, Ananya Bhattacharya, Nicolás Rivero, Hasit Shah, Susan Howson, and Liz Webber. [facebook]( [twitter]( [external-link]( Enjoying Quartz Daily Brief? Forward it to a friend! They can [click here]( to sign up. If you’re looking to unsubscribe, [click here](. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10010 | United States Copyright © 2021 Quartz, All rights reserved.