🇺🇸 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s resignation creates a power vacuum in the politics of a state he had dominated for a decade. It’s also adding new uncertainty for Democrats. https://bloom.bg/3iybQRr

🌎 Energy companies are starting to pitch the idea that planet-warming natural gas can be erased by paying villagers to protect forests. Experts can’t make the math work. https://bloom.bg/3CDqeQA

🚰 By 2050, the world’s population will near 10 billion, increasing water demand by 55%. As shortages and drought become increasingly common, cities will need to invest in infrastructure and find ways to recycle their supply. https://bloom.bg/3xD0Y9g

💉 U.S. drug regulators are set to clear a third dose of Covid vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer for people with weak immune systems as soon as Thursday. https://bloom.bg/2VOvcZV

🔍 China signaled its regulatory crackdown will go on for years. A new document called for stronger law enforcement in sectors ranging from food and drugs to big data and artificial intelligence. https://bloom.bg/37HoqaF

💸 Hackers returned about half of what they pilfered in one of the biggest cryptocurrency thefts on record. They’ve given back about $260 million so far and are asking for donations as a reward after spotting a bug in the computer code. https://bloom.bg/3sbCQcw

💰 The fourth richest woman in the world has given away $8.6 billion in just a year. Here's where the money's going. https://bloom.bg/2XlVHqd

💸 Fired in 2014 from a job that he says paid more than $2 million a year, an ICAP swaps broker sued the firm for millions. Or so he thought. https://bloom.bg/3sd4Mg9

🍜 🗽 From mozzarella sticks with caviar to plant-based dining rooms; here are the best restaurants in New York. https://bloom.bg/3ABnEZw

Hello, here's what we're following right now:

🛳 A massive shipping port in China shut down after a Covid outbreak, raising fears that the delta variant’s rapid spread will lead to closures worldwide. https://bloom.bg/3AEuDkh

🤔 A new U.S. survey found that those who earn more than $100,000 are among the most susceptible to false vaccine information. https://bloom.bg/37G4WTU

🎤 And Britney Spears' father said in a court filing that he’s planning to step down from the conservatorship that has controlled her life and money for 13 years. But his exit isn’t imminent just yet. https://bloom.bg/3scUX1P

Breaking: The FDA approved the use of a third Covid shot from Pfizer or Moderna for people with weakened immune systems in the U.S. Other fully vaccinated individuals don’t need the booster right now.

At a meeting last month, CDC advisers had raised concerns about patients getting additional doses in an unsupervised manner. Keep reading: https://bloom.bg/2VNkDWW

🏘️ 🇭🇰 Limited supply, surging demand and low borrowing costs have pushed the world’s most expensive property market to a record high. https://bloom.bg/3CKHjrK

🔥 Climate change is leading to longer, hotter summers and shorter winter rainy seasons across California, leaving millions of acres of forest land more vulnerable to catastrophic fires. https://bloom.bg/3CV0grU

🎥 Amazon Studios will film the second season of its “Lord of the Rings” series in the U.K., shifting the production base from New Zealand. https://bloom.bg/37GSy64

🇦🇫 Taliban leaders marched into the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday, preparing to take full control of the country two decades after they were removed by the U.S. military. The militant group took over the presidential palace hours after American-backed President Ashraf Ghani fled. https://bloom.bg/3si6tJv

The takeover is happening with dizzying speed. Now the question is: What’s next for Afghanistan under the Taliban? https://bloom.bg/3yPtcil

♻️ And China has thousands of hydropower projects it doesn’t want. Officials are eager to demolish dams that were badly planned, but the country still needs vast amounts of clean hydroelectric power to meet its net-zero goal. https://bloom.bg/3AJ2okl

🇦🇫 Desperate scenes played out at Kabul’s international airport on Monday as thousands rushed to exit Afghanistan after Taliban fighters took control of the capital. https://bloom.bg/3xKDTBC

🏘️ Officials in some of the world’s biggest cities have their sights on taxing the empty homes of the rich. https://bloom.bg/3CPQcQS

🇭🇰 Hong Kong tightened travel curbs for residents returning from countries including the U.S., France and Spain — less than two months after it started easing them. https://bloom.bg/37SDB0N

💉 Breaking: The U.S. is set to recommend Covid booster shots eight months after a second dose, and could start offering them as soon as September, sources say. https://bloom.bg/3ySKgnN

🧳 Singapore is exploring programs that allow vaccinated travelers to enter on carefully controlled itineraries from countries such as the U.S. and U.K. https://bloom.bg/3yWmmYt

🪖 The roots of the conflict in Afghanistan stretch back at least 40 years. Here's how the U.S. got into and out of the longest war in American history. https://bloom.bg/3mntFVV

🇦🇫 A group of senior leaders in Afghanistan is seeking to take charge of talks with the Taliban around the formation of a new government. https://bloom.bg/3m7oV6n

😷 A study documenting the trade in live wild animals at Wuhan wet markets stayed unpublished for more than a year. Had it been made public right away, the search for the origins of Covid-19 might have taken a very different course. https://bloom.bg/3xOhrrn

🛢️ The world’s biggest miner is quitting oil. https://bloom.bg/3ANkCBl

🏦 The U.S. has frozen nearly $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank and stopped shipments of cash to the nation as it tries to keep a Taliban-led government from accessing the money. https://bloom.bg/3gvfdr9

🧳 Hong Kong’s about-face on its quarantine policy is causing chaos for travelers, most of whom have to isolate in hotels for at least two weeks. Business groups have slammed the change as regressive. https://bloom.bg/3AP4Tlb

📕 President Xi Jinping said at a Communist Party meeting that China must pursue “common prosperity,” in which wealth is shared by all people, while also curbing financial risks. https://bloom.bg/3m6M3SG

🇦🇫 Afghanistan’s international reserves would be out of reach of the Taliban after the U.S. froze the country’s assets, its central bank chief says. https://bloom.bg/2VZudGa

💵 How does $120,000—and a hefty bonus—sound? Wall Street bosses drive up salaries for entry-level bankers in a fight for talent. https://bloom.bg/3CTiPwF

💉 Moderna’s co-founder tells Bloomberg TV that he sees Covid-19 vaccine boosters becoming routine. https://bloom.bg/3CYgbWf

📆 Joe Biden said U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan until all Americans are able to leave the country — even if it goes beyond his Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline. https://bloom.bg/37SMgR0

📈 An $8.8 billion IPO wave is sweeping across India. The success of startups like Zomato has put the country on track for a record year, with investors increasingly wary of Chinese regulation. https://bloom.bg/3ze8Hwh

🎥 And in Hong Kong, Nicole Kidman was allowed to skip the city’s strict hotel quarantine after flying in from Sydney to film an Amazon series, according to reports. https://bloom.bg/2W6ph2e

🇦🇫 For decades the Taliban’s leaders have been in the shadows. These are the militants now running Afghanistan. https://bloom.bg/2W7ozlk

🍄 Magic mushroom retreats are the new luxury ‘’trips.’’ It already appears there’s serious money to be made. https://bloom.bg/3y1XBZN

🇳🇱 Amsterdam looks the same but feels completely different. Here’s what it’s like to visit the city now. https://bloom.bg/2Xu6qyL

Hello, here’s what we’re following right now:

⛔️ OnlyFans is getting out of the pornography business. Starting in October, the company will prohibit creators from posting sexually explicit videos, removing a key source of income from sex workers on the site. https://bloom.bg/3j0f0xy

✈️ U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Singapore and Vietnam starting this weekend, looking to bolster economic and military cooperation in China’s backyard. It’s the Biden administration’s most high-profile trip yet to Asia. https://bloom.bg/3gk0oaB

🐅 And India wants to grow its tiger population by 35% to as many as 4,000 in the next decade. The initiative is called... Project Tiger. https://bloom.bg/3z2GM1X

🛢️Frackers in America’s largest oil field are letting massive amounts of natural gas spill into the atmosphere. Scientists and activists are trying to plug the leaks before they warm the planet further. https://bloom.bg/382ygUZ

🇦🇫 The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan has rattled Gulf states that are desperate to keep extremists at bay. This could have a big impact on the U.S. https://bloom.bg/3j4uL6w

🏢 Office workers are little closer to returning to their desks full-time. https://bloom.bg/3z3ZFSr

🇨🇳 It’s been just over a month, and China has once again squashed Covid-19, bringing its local cases down to zero https://bloom.bg/3D8Rer7

📈 Bitcoin tops $50,000 again as the crypto market continues its recovery from a rout just three months ago https://bloom.bg/3mjofLs

💉 The scientific data backing the need for Covid booster shots is building as delta continues to spread. Waning antibody levels are spurring some countries to offer a third shot. https://bloom.bg/3B7BT8H

🇦🇫 U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to push President Joe Biden to delay the departure of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. https://bloom.bg/3khlibB

💵 Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s monetary policy revolution seemed like a good idea at the time. It may have already passed its sell-by date. https://bloom.bg/2WaPMnf

🌏 Climate change is making China’s annual summer floods worse, and cities housing millions of people aren’t prepared. https://bloom.bg/3mpPzrx

🇺🇸 Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a speech in Singapore that defended the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan and accused China of intimidation over its claims in the South China Sea. https://bloom.bg/3gu9pOy

🪖 Meanwhile, China’s military has improved the accuracy and range of its ballistic missile force, the world’s largest, according to a U.S. Army report. https://bloom.bg/2Wg3Mfu

🏧 And in El Salvador, the government began installing Bitcoin ATMs, allowing citizens to convert the cryptocurrency into U.S. dollars and withdraw it in cash. https://bloom.bg/3DlQYFF

🇿🇦 South Africa’s unemployment rate surged to 34.4% in the second quarter. It's now the highest in the world. https://bloom.bg/3gsLUVM

💵 Hedge funds are hot again. But good luck finding one that’ll take your money. https://bloom.bg/388RJDr

🥤Milkshakes are off the menu in all McDonald’s British restaurants because of supply problems stemming from a shortage of truck drivers. https://bloom.bg/3keYHwi