GEOPOLITICS

Afghanistan’s Women Fear a Return to a Dark Past

“Today, as I was on my way home, I glanced at the beauty salon where I used to go for manicures. The shop front, which had been decorated with beautiful pictures of girls, had been whitewashed overnight,” one Afghan female university student wrote for The Guardian this Sunday.

Now that the Taliban has returned to power in Afghanistan, the country’s women fear their civil rights are about to be pulled out from under them as the regime reimposes its radical Islamic fundamentalist policies. 

When the Taliban last ruled Afghanistan, from 1996–2001, Afghan women were not allowed to...

• Work outside of the home
• Attend school
• Leave home without a male escort and their faces and bodies covered

Since the US ousted the Taliban from power in 2001, Afghan women made gains in education and the workforce. Girls’ enrollment in primary school nearly doubled, and literacy rates among women rose from 20% in 2005 to 39% in 2017. An estimated 1.6 million more Afghan women are employed now over 20 years ago.

But signs are cropping up throughout the country that all of the progress could be reversed. For instance, female employees at some banks are reportedly being told to stay home and that male relatives could take over their duties.

The Taliban said this spring that it would allow women to participate in public life when it assumed power. Experts are skeptical they'll follow through. 

More updates from Afghanistan

President Biden, facing loads of criticism over his handling of the situation, said in a video address that events in Afghanistan “did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated,” but he doesn’t regret his decision to withdraw US troops from the country.

Hundreds of Afghan civilians clung to the sides of a US military aircraft as it was taking off in hopes of fleeing the country. At least seven people at Kabul’s airport have been confirmed dead.

United, Emirates, and several other major airlines rerouted their flights to avoid Afghan airspace as Kabul’s airport closed to commercial flights. 

Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan pleaded with the White House to protect more than 200 journalists, staffers, and family members from the WaPo, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal who were in danger at the airport.

Afghanistan’s neighboring countries are bracing for a flood of refugees. Five Mediterranean nations have requested EU-level talks about how to respond. 

AUTO

Tesla's Autopilot Runs Into Turbulence

US auto regulators have launched an investigation into Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance system, Autopilot, ramping up scrutiny of Elon Musk’s self-driving efforts.

The investigation stems from 11 incidents in which drivers using Tesla’s Autopilot feature struck stationary first-responder vehicles. 17 people were injured in these crashes, and one died.

• What is Autopilot? It’s Tesla’s limited self-driving system that can center cars in lanes and have them maintain certain speeds. 
• What isn’t Autopilot? Autopilot. The company’s marketing of the technology (including the name) has been criticized for making drivers feel like the car can steer itself when the driver should be engaged at the wheel. Out of 5 “levels” used to rank self-driving capabilities, with 5 being fully autonomous, Autopilot hits just Level 2.

Why it matters: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the agency leading the investigation, has the power to make regulations or even force Tesla to recall vehicles. Investors are not not worried—Tesla shares sank more than 4% on the news. 

Zoom out: Interestingly, many automated driving systems are designed to only detect moving objects, because it would render them useless (and potentially make cars even more dangerous) if they were to respond to stationary objects on the road. 

FOOD

Food Stamps Get Historic Boost

The Biden administration permanently boosted food stamp benefits by over 25% to an average of $157 per month—the largest jump in the program’s history. 

Big picture: While officials said the increase wasn’t related to the pandemic, Covid-19 led to heightened food insecurity in the US. More than 42 million people were collecting SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits in May, up from nearly 37 million in February 2020. During the pandemic, all food stamp recipients got a 15% supplement, but the temporary aid expires at the end of September. 

Advocates for expanding the aid argued that the existing plan was based on unrealistic assumptions. For example, the USDA set a $22/day food budget for a family of four and assumed an adult woman would spend less than 50 cents on cheese each month. 

• “We need to modernize those assumptions based on what’s actually happening in kitchens and in homes across America,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.  

Zoom out: The food stamp bump, which is expected to cost an extra $20 billion a year, is one slice of the Biden administration's broader efforts to expand the country’s social safety net.

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GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: What’s more embarrassing—a drunk text or a drunk trade? Nearly one-third of investors, and 59% of Gen Z investors, have traded while inebriated, according to a survey from consumer finance site MagnifyMoney. 

Quote: “Are you passionate about Digital Currencies and driven by opportunities to scale new products and businesses?”

Walmart wants to know. The retailer posted a job opening for a Digital Currency and Cryptocurrency Product Lead to develop a digital currency strategy. 10+ years of experience in product management and laser eyes in Twitter profile pic required.

• Btw, crypto and blockchain jobs were up 118% in mid-July over last year’s low, according to Indeed. 

Read: The dirty secret of what happens to many of the clothes we donate to charity. (ABC News)

SOCIAL MEDIA

The Digital Burn Book Returns

Back by unpopular demand: the anonymous chat app Yik Yak, which returned to the App Store yesterday four years after shutting down. 

Yik Yak is the id unleashed. It allows people to post anonymously to other Yik Yak users within a 5-mile radius, providing a forum for steamy gossip like, “To the hot guy in British Lit, I love the way you chew on your pencil.” 

In 2014, one year after the original version launched, Yik Yak exploded in popularity among a certain demographic (high schoolers and college students), and even attained a $400 million valuation.

But all the things that you imagine could go wrong with a purely anonymous app—bullying, harassment, bomb threats—did, and it shut down in 2017 after its star faded.

The revived Yik Yak said it’s trying to clean up the toxicity by instituting a one-strike no bullying policy and providing links to mental health resources—though most of the functionality appears similar to V1.

Bottom line: “​​We’ll probably know if Yik Yak catches on with Gen Z if it starts causing TikTok drama. That’s sort of how you know something’s a hit these days,” internet trends writer Ryan Broderick said. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Blue Origin sued the US government over a $2.9 billion lunar lander contract that NASA awarded to SpaceX, arguing the process was flawed.
• More than 1,400 people are now confirmed dead from the earthquake in Haiti as a storm bears down. 
• The US government formally declared a water shortage at Lake Mead for the first time since it was built in the 1930s. Lake Mead is the country’s largest reservoir by volume.
• State Street, one of the biggest asset managers in the world, is ditching two Midtown NYC offices and pivoting to a hybrid model.
• The DJ and producer Steve Aoki talked to Emerging Tech Brew about the future of NFTs in the music industry.

BREW'S BETS

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Tech Tip Tuesday: A very low-tech hack for accurately measuring inside corners with a tape measure.

For your second screen: A rainy day simulator that comes with everything but that sweet smell. 

GAMES

The Puzzle Section

Brew Mini: Got 31 seconds for the second Mini in a row. Can you beat it? 

Guess the Logo

We did not catch this rebrand when it happened. Do you know whose logo this is? 

ANSWER

Animal Planet