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Wednesday 09.08.21

Britney Spears' fight to end her conservatorship has taken an unexpected turn, with her father and the conservator of her estate, Jamie Spears, filing a petition to end the arrangement. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On With Your Day.
 

By Dominic Rech

A Taliban fighter stands guard yesterday as Afghan women shout slogans during a protest rally in Kabul.

Afghanistan

The Taliban announced the formation of a hard-line interim government for Afghanistan, filling top posts with veterans of the militant group who oversaw the 20-year fight against the US-led military coalition. No women or members of Afghanistan's ousted leadership were selected for acting cabinet positions, in spite of the Taliban's promises of an inclusive government and a more moderate form of Islamic rule than when it was last in power, from 1996 to 2001. The lineup of senior leaders includes former Guantanamo inmates, members of a US-designated terror group and subjects of international sanctions lists. Sirajuddin Haqqani, who will be the acting interior minister, is on the FBI's "most-wanted" list, with a $10 million bounty on his head. The leadership announcement came on the same day that the Taliban used gunfire, detentions and beatings to crush dissent, as scores of Afghan protesters marched through the capital, Kabul.

Coronavirus

President Biden is set to deliver a major address tomorrow on the next phase of his pandemic response, sources familiar with the speech tell CNN. While officials are still finalizing specifics, the speech is expected to touch on schools, private companies and requirements for federal employees. Climbing Covid-19 case numbers -- and particularly the increasing proportion of cases reported in children -- are causing many health experts to worry about the outlook as the school year gets underway across the entire country. But Dr. Anthony Fauci said there shouldn't be a big uptick "if we do it right." Meantime, 13 school employees in Miami-Dade County Public Schools have died from Covid-19 since August 16, the Florida school district and local teachers union said. Among the 13 were four teachers, one security monitor, one cafeteria worker and seven school bus drivers. All were unvaccinated.

Climate

Biden pledged his administration's full support for Hurricane Ida relief efforts and made his case for using his infrastructure plan to take immediate action to address the effects of the climate crisis. "We've got to listen to the scientists and the economists, and the national security experts: They all tell us this is code red. The nation and the world are in peril," Biden said. The Northeast is still reeling from Ida's remnants, and California could be dealing with massive wildfires until the end of the year. The Dixie Fire in Northern California is on its way to becoming the largest wildfire in the state's history, officials say. Meanwhile outside the US, a dangerous weather system is heading toward Taiwan and China. Typhoon Chanthu rapidly intensified in the past 36 hours and is expected to make landfall this week. Additionally, Europe experienced its hottest summer on record this year, and temperatures in the Mediterranean smashed records by large margins.

Voting rights

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill that bans 24-hour and drive-thru voting, imposes new hurdles on mail-in ballots and empowers partisan poll watchers. The restrictive voting measure adds Texas to the list of Republican-controlled states that have seized on ex-President Trump's lies about widespread voter fraud and clamped down on access to the ballot box this year. Already, Florida, Georgia and other states have enacted new voting laws. A leading Democratic elections lawyer said immediately after Abbott signed the bill that he had sued on behalf of Texas groups challenging the law, arguing it violates the Voting Rights Act. Here's a look at what the new Texas law does. "The Texas law isn't an exception," writes CNN's Chris Cillizza. "It is the rule when it comes to Republican-controlled state legislatures and bills they have pushed into law so far this year."

Mexico

Mexico's Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that penalizing abortion is unconstitutional, a decision expected to set precedent for the legal status of abortion nationwide. "Today is a historic day for the rights of all Mexican women," said Supreme Court Chief Justice Arturo Zaldivar. The court ruled against a law in the state of Coahuila that threatened women who undergo abortions with up to three years in prison and a fine. "I'm against stigmatizing those who make this decision (to undergo an abortion), which I believe is difficult to begin with, due to moral and social burdens," said Supreme Court Justice Ana Margarita Ríos Farjat, one of only three women among the court's 11 justices. The vote comes as US states just north of the border, most notably Texas, move to restrict abortion access.

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TikTok surpasses YouTube in viewing time per user
Social media consumers in the UK and US are spending more time on TikTok than YouTube, a new report suggests. 

This premature supernova was triggered by a dead star
If this doesn't boggle your mind, we don't know what will.

Lil Uzi Vert says fans ripped $24 million diamond out of his forehead
Not to worry though, as the recording artist said he's "feeling good" and still has the diamond. 

Duck mimics human sound during mating display
An Australian musk duck has been recorded saying "You bloody fool" in the first documented instance of the species mimicking human speech. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

Builders discover stash of 239 gold coins worth up to $356,000
Talk about bang for your buck. 

'9/11, 20 years later: Remembrance & Ramifications'

Join Dana Bash, Wolf Blitzer, Jim Sciutto and Clarissa Ward tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET for a virtual discussion about the ongoing ramifications 20 years after the 9/11 attacks. You can submit your own questions during this special edition of CITIZEN by CNN. Register here.

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That's how many activists from a Hong Kong pro-democracy group that organizes the city's annual Tiananmen Square vigil were arrested after the group refused to comply with a police order to submit information on national security grounds. Police had sought details concerning the group's funding and membership in relation to an accusation it was working as a "foreign agent," in violation of the city's sweeping national security law, according to a letter seen by CNN late last month.

If these people would have ended up here in Ukraine, the details of their criminal acts would have become known around the world.

A Ukrainian source, lamenting the failure by the country's intelligence officials to lure suspected war criminals out of Russia to face prosecution for atrocities committed in eastern Ukraine where separatists backed by Moscow have been fighting for years. Ukrainian spies tried to ensnare the criminals in an elaborate international sting. 

Life lessons from 100-year-olds
"If I'm making a cake and it fails, it becomes a pudding." We are apparently feeling rather sentimental here today. So, watch this and try not to well up with tears. (Click here to view.)