| We’re covering the effects of India’s lockdown on the most vulnerable populations, an awakening among China’s young people and Egypt’s female lion tamers. | |  By Melina Delkic | | | Migrant workers who were turned back from a bus meant to take them back to their villages on Sunday in New Delhi. Adnan Abidi/Reuters | | | The effects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's restrictions on movement, affecting some 1.3 billion people in India, are coming into view, as the country’s most vulnerable populations struggle to eat or to find shelter, and get punished for it. | | | With businesses shut down, many of the millions of migrants who had moved to cities to find work, and often lived in their workplaces, were trying to return home. They planned, in some cases, to walk hundreds of miles — until they were beaten back by the police. There are no clear plans by the government to bring migrants home. | | | And the country’s homeless population — one of the largest in the world — is deeply struggling, with many people not knowing about the coronavirus until they are ordered off the streets by the police; some said they had been beaten by officers for being out in public during the nationwide lockdown. | | | Shelters and soup kitchens are overwhelmed; religious institutions that normally feed the homeless are closed; and aid workers warn that the situation may deteriorate into violence if people continue to go without food. | | | Quotable: “You fear the disease, living on the streets — but I fear hunger more, not corona,” said one migrant working in Delhi who was trying to return home, which was 125 miles away. | | | ■ Moscow declared a lockdown starting Monday, limiting residents to essential activities within 100 meters of their home. | | | ■ President Trump walked back threats of a lockdown on New York, New Jersey and parts of Connecticut where outbreaks have exploded. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instead issued a travel advisory for those states. | | | ■ Spain’s elderly populations are suffering in the country’s devastating outbreak. And horror stories from nursing homes, where some people were abandoned, are shaking the nation’s self image — particularly in a country that prides itself on public health and its respect for family bonds. | | | Two women having dinner in an otherwise empty restaurant this month in Beijing, where eateries have reopened but people are still too afraid to frequent them. Gilles Sabrie for The New York Times | | | For much of their lives, many young Chinese people have been content to give up political freedoms as long as the ruling Communist Party upheld its end of an unspoken deal — providing jobs, stability and upward mobility. | | | And if the pandemic sets off a global recession that saps demand for Chinese goods, resentment may build. | | | The details: Increasingly, young people are speaking out and organizing protests to demand compensation for the effects of the outbreak. Some build “cyber-graveyards” to compile news and commentary that was censored elsewhere. Others organize donations for overwhelmed health workers. | | | Quotable: “These recent events have made some people see more clearly that criticizing their country does not mean they don’t love their country,” a 34-year-old Beijing resident said. | | | Fabio Bucciarelli for The New York Times | | | “At this point, all you hear in Bergamo is sirens,” said Michela Travelli. Above, her father, Claudio Travelli, tested positive for the virus. He is still alive. | | | PAID POST: A MESSAGE FROM CAMPAIGN MONITOR | | TEST: Email Marketing 101: Never Sacrifice Beauty for Simplicity | | A drag-and-drop email builder, a gallery of templates and turnkey designs, personalized customer journeys, and engagement segments. It's everything you need to create stunning, results-driven email campaigns in minutes. And with Campaign Monitor, you have access to it all, along with award-winning support around the clock. It's beautiful email marketing done simply. | | | Learn More | | | | Heba Khamis for The New York Times | | | Snapshot: Above, Luba el-Helw, a lion tamer in Gamasa, Egypt, showering a lion named Kiara with love. The struggle for women’s equality lags badly in Egypt — but in this field, women are dominant. The top female lion tamers draw legions of crowds each year, with spangled outfits, stage names and tricks like rings of fire. | | | What we’re watching: The first episode of Pluto Living on YouTube. “I’m hooked on Pluto the dog, a Canadian terrier dispensing wisdom on toilet paper and social distancing to help the two-leggeds during a time of crisis,” says Tara Parker-Pope, the Well editor. “Laughter is still good medicine.” | | | Cook: These great biscuits call for a few pantry staples, a little sour milk or yogurt and very little mixing. | | | FD: You started home school last week. How’s it going? | | | CP: Last week was a resounding … meh. | | | This week, we are trying a loose schedule of schoolwork in the morning and free play in the afternoon. Will it work? I have no idea. All of life is an experiment right now. | | | FD: In concept, I like that very much. But does schoolwork in the morning need to be overseen by you or can you leave them to it? | | | CP: My 9-year-old daughter and I talk the night before about which activities from the school’s suggested list she’ll want to do in each subject area. She’s old enough to be able to tackle most things on her own, and if she has any questions, I’m around. I’m around a lot these days. | | | At lunchtime, I look over what she’s done, mainly just to make sure she’s been doing something on the laptop besides watching people make slime on YouTube. The afternoon is free time. | | | FD: And what does free time actually entail? | | | CP: My daughter can do her own thing. Her little brother, who can’t read yet, needs more attention. | | | When I’ve got work, I juggle: playing cars while listening to a conference call, setting him up with a project before opening my laptop and when I need to, turning on the TV or handing him my phone without guilt. Some structure is helpful, but I try not to overplan. | | | That’s it for this briefing. Stay safe, and see you next time. | | Thank you
To Sam Sifton, who oversees The Times’s lifestyle and cultural coverage, for the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com. | | P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is a special edition featuring a Times editor who wrote a gripping essay last week about what she learned when her husband got sick.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Social media accounts that are best ignored (four letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• NYT Live invites readers to a conference call with Times Opinion’s philosophy forum, The Stone, at 4 p.m. Eastern on Monday (4 a.m. Tuesday Hong Kong). An editor, Peter Catapano, and the philosopher Simon Critchley will discuss how mortality and hypochondria relate in our new pandemic reality. R.S.V.P. here. | | | Were you sent this briefing by a friend? Sign up here to get the Morning Briefing. | | |
