🌎 Sticking up for Taiwan

Plus: Patagonia’s sole shareholder is Planet Earth. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Sign up here]( [Quartz]( September 19, 2022 [View in browser]( Sponsored By Good morning, Quartz readers! Here’s what you need to know Joe Biden committed to defending Taiwan from “an unprecedented attack.” In a [“60 Minutes” interview](, the US president also promised to [control inflation]( and declared the covid-19 pandemic over. US Customs may have your data. Officials copy data from seized phones and laptops into a giant [Customs and Border Protection database](, which officers can access without a warrant, according to the Washington Post. The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is today. A state ceremony of its scale [hasn’t been seen]( since Winston Churchill’s funeral in 1965, and will be paid for with [taxpayer money](. Heating bills will rise across the US. As natural gas gets more expensive, the residential price of electricity [will be 7.5% higher]( this winter compared to last year. The EU recommended freezing funds for Hungary. The bloc’s executive branch may withhold [7.5 billion euros]( from the country because of democratic concerns and potential mismanagement. Hurricane Fiona knocked out power in Puerto Rico. The storm, [which has now hit]( the Dominican Republic, is expected to grow in strength to a Category 3 hurricane by Wednesday. Sponsor content by T-Mobile for Business Engage your audience creatively with Instagram. Instagram can be a great tool to reach your customers. But how do you know if your content is reaching its full potential? To help maximize your creative, we’ve partnered with Meta to provide tips and tools available to master IG for your small business. In this workshop, you will learn how to create a content plan, connect with your audience in the right places, improve your content, and track your performance. Learn how to use your Instagram content to boost your business with Bruno Pieroni, Creative Strategist at Meta. [Advertisement] [Register now]( What to watch for The UN General Assembly calendar goes from manageable to absolutely chaotic starting Monday (Sept. 19), when three big events—Climate Week, Concordia, and the Clinton Global Initiative—kick off multi-day gatherings featuring a range of speakers from business, philanthropy, and the public sector. The week only gets more packed the following day, as world leaders gather for high-level debate. This year, the event will serve as a meter of global attitudes towards Russia’s war in Ukraine. The UN General Assembly already passed a resolution [in March]( condemning Russia’s invasion. The high-level debate offers a chance to renew [calls to end]( the conflict. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who addressed the conference under very different circumstances [last year](, is expected to make a speech, either in person or remotely. Russian leader Vladimir Putin won’t be making an appearance, but foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is [expected to lead]( the Russian delegation instead. Follow along with our [Need to Know: UNGA 2022 email](, and get updates every few days for the next two weeks. Patagonia’s sole shareholder is Earth Patagonia’s billionaire founder, Yvon Chouinard, is giving away his company to fight climate change. The Holdfast Collective, a combo trust and non-profit organization, [will now be at the helm]( of the $3 billion outdoor apparel retailer and ensure that all profits not reinvested in the company go towards environmental causes. That’s a sweet deal for planet Earth, but also for the [Chouinard family](. 98% of company shares are going to a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, meaning they will pay $0 in gift tax. The remaining shares going to the trust will have a tax of about $17 million—a negligible amount given the donation size. The family will still have effective control over the company, with all voting stock vested in the trust. It’s not an uncommon move for philanthropists, and a canny one for Chouinard: billions of dollars can go to climate advocacy, and he can avoid hefty levies in the process. [A graph showing how many Patagonia shares are going to the Holdfast Collective (98%) and how many are going to the Patagonia Purpose Trust (2%).]( Quartz’s most popular 👀 [Big Oil knows its climate plans are bogus]( 🛍 [The Kardashians could show Kanye how direct-to-consumer works]( 📦 [FedEx is in serious damage control mode]( ☝️ [Elon Musk is now the only person richer than India’s Gautam Adani]( 🗣 [Questions you should ask when interviewing for a new job]( 🚫 [Fees on digital payments are blocking India’s cashless economy goal]( Surprising discoveries The oldest heart on Earth was found in a fossilized fish. The [380 million-year-old organ]( was preserved in an ancient gilled animal known as the Gogo. China discovered a new Moon mineral... The crystal was named Changesite–(Y) after the mythological [Chinese lunar goddess](. …and moon particles might be what Saturn’s rings are made of. Scientists think the planet’s gravitational pull may have [ripped apart]( an inner celestial body. If you want to make a novel protein, AI can help. Scientists are using artificial intelligence to [make molecules]( in seconds instead of months. Fire ants and Cheerios have something in common. They both [clump together]( in a way researchers love to study. Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, moon gems, and cereal milk to hi@qz.com. Reader support makes Quartz available to all—[become a member](. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Samanth Subramanian, Heather Landy, Julia Malleck, Susan Howson, and Morgan Haefner. 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