🏛️ The Taliban Names New Government

The Taliban press conference where the new government was announced; Image: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

👑 Who’s in charge?… While Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada will oversee the government’s major decisions, the cabinet will be led by Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, one of the Taliban’s founding members who served as foreign minister and deputy PM during its previous rule in Afghanistan (from 1996 to 2001).

Some of the cabinet:

• Deputy Prime Minister: Abdul Ghani Baradar, another founding member of the Taliban who most recently served as its political leader. He was arrested over a decade ago in a joint U.S.-Pakistani operation before being released in 2018.
• Interior Minister: Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the U.S.-sanctioned terrorist organization Haqqani Network and member of the FBI’s most-wanted list, will head up the government branch responsible for police and internal security. Three other senior members of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani clan were also named to positions in the government.
• Defense Minister: Mawlawi Muhammad Yaqoub, oldest son of Taliban founder Mullah Muhammad Omar.

The primary Taliban spokesperson said all of the appointments are in an acting capacity, and the group will name permanent leadership soon.

🗣️ Public response… Earlier Tuesday, Taliban fighters dispersed the first sizable protest in the capital since last month’s insurgent victory, shooting in the air and beating back hundreds of demonstrators (most of them women).

• The protest was reportedly triggered by the head of Pakistan’s intelligence agency coming to Kabul to meet with the new Taliban administration.
• Many Afghans believe Pakistan secretly supports the Taliban, though the country denies providing any military support.

🌎 Zoom out… The international community has largely been waiting to learn the makeup and policies of the new Taliban government before deciding their next move.

• Many countries and international organizations – including the U.S. – plan to continue sending humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, which makes up ~40% of the country’s GDP.

From the Left: NBC News

From the Right: WSJ

🎁 Users in the UK and U.S. spend more time on TikTok per month than on YouTube, according to a recent report from App Annie.

The Fittest Man On Earth Is Finally Fast Asleep

Mat Fraser, sometimes called “The Fittest Man On Earth” since he’s literally won the Fittest Man On Earth competition five times, used to have a hard time getting to sleep. As a Crossfit champion and overall and overall incredibly strong dude, it was really hard to wind down and snag some ZZzz’s.

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Image: PBS

A new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll found more than half of Americans disapprove of the job Biden is doing as president for the first time since he took office, including 41% who strongly disapprove.

• Biden’s 43% approval rating in late August is six points lower than a similar survey conducted two months prior.

📝 Polls, polls, & more polls… RealClearPolitics’ aggregate polling average shows Biden’s disapproval rating surpassed his approval rating in mid to late August.

FiveThirtyEight’s presidential approval rating calculator shows Biden growing more unpopular than popular around the start of September.

👁️ Looking ahead… Presidential approval ratings in recent years have been a decent indicator of what will happen in the midterms, per FiveThirtyEight.

🚢🔋 Battery Mates

Image: Zero Emission Services

Large container ships carrying goods all over the world account for roughly 3% of all global emissions.

• ZES aims to make these operations more sustainable by introducing an alternative to diesel-powered ships, called the ZES energy system.

It relies on standard 20-ft shipping containers that are repurposed as energy packs, each filled with 45 lithium-ion battery modules totaling 2 MWh apiece – roughly the same capacity as 36 electric cars.

• The "ZESpacks" act as interchangeable batteries that can be dropped onto container ships to power their trips, and swapped out for fully charged replacements at an exchange station in as little as 15 minutes.

Keep reading.

*Correction: Yesterday we mistakenly referred to the “demolition” of Pluto instead of its “demotion” to a dwarf planet. Pluto does still, in fact, exist.

Images: Facebook

Composed of running, biking, and swimming elements, triathlon races are regarded around the world as one of the most challenging sporting events out there.

Fourteen-year-old Noah Aldrich began racing triathlons at only eight years old. The athlete doesn’t do it alone, either – he’s competed in countless races with his younger brother Lucas, who is unable to walk or talk on his own due to a disability, by his side.

• Pushing, pulling, and towing Lucas in an inflatable raft, Noah couldn’t imagine racing without his younger brother, saying he “loves every moment.”

Coming in first place has never been the main goal for the duo, who use their races to bond as siblings and raise money for the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Keep reading.

In which U.S. state is the busiest airport in the world located?

A) Georgia
B) Illinois
C) Texas
D) California

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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A) Georgia

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) has been the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic since 1998.

• Approximately 104 million people traveled through it in 2019, roughly 20 million more than second-place LAX.