| Wednesday, July 22, 2020 | | | Good morning. We’re covering a huge stimulus package agreed in Europe and another big one being discussed in the U.S., accusations that Chinese hackers tried to steal U.S. vaccine research and the performance of virus-tracing apps. | | | European leaders met for nearly five days in Brussels to reach a deal on the huge rescue package. Pool photo by Francisco Seco | | | The deal, worth roughly $860 billion, was notable for its firsts: European countries will raise large sums by selling bonds collectively, rather than individually; and much of that money will be handed out to countries hit hardest by the pandemic, like Italy. | | | In Washington, Republicans are drawing up a $1 trillion relief plan that would beef up a popular federal loan program for small businesses and provide another round of direct payments to American families. Democrats, who control the House of Representatives but form the minority in the Senate, are pushing a far more expansive $3 trillion plan. | | | Behind the European deal: Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany took a leading role in negotiating the E.U. plan, but there were quite a few concessions along the way, our correspondents write. | | ■ Chinese officials are hailing a visit by experts from the World Health Organization to investigate the source of the coronavirus as evidence that China is a responsible global power. The investigation is likely to take many months and could face delays. ■ Blood clotting problems may be significantly more common among Covid-19 patients than among those with other infectious diseases, new research suggests. | | | Researchers in China are trying to develop their own coronavirus vaccine. Noel Celis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images | | | An indictment of the two, secured earlier this month and unsealed on Tuesday, says they were involved in a broad campaign of cybertheft that also targeted defense contractors, high-end manufacturing and solar energy companies. Justice Department officials said that they sometimes worked on behalf of China’s spy services and sometimes worked to enrich themselves. | | | Context: The Trump administration has been stepping up its criticism of Beijing, accusing it of stealing secrets and of failing to contain the spread of the virus. Last week, the U.S., Canada and Britain said Russian hackers were attempting to steal coronavirus vaccine research. | | | A new public service announcement in the U.S. focusing on pandemic-related harassment of Asians. The Ad Council | | | The latest ad, which debuted on Tuesday, includes testimonials from a firefighter, a nurse, a chef and others who describe being told to “go back to China” or having people spit in their direction. It ends with a request: “Fight the virus. Fight the bias.” | | | “I don’t know if this is enough, or how effective it will be, but let’s do baby steps and create awareness,” said Steven Moy, the chief executive of the Barbarian ad agency. “I have not seen enough of this — we should do more.” | | | Second Lt. Zala Zazai at Police Headquarters in Khost, Afghanistan. Photographs by Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times | | | Two decades after the Taliban banished women to their homes, the rise of a generation of educated, professional Afghan women is an undeniable sign of change. 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It's beautiful email marketing done simply. | | | Learn More | | | | Russian interference in Britain: A long-awaited report by the British Parliament found that Russia weaponized information to interfere in British politics and sow discord, and that those efforts were widely ignored by successive British governments. | | | Sudan trial: Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the former president who was ousted in mass protests last year, went on trial in Khartoum for his role in the 1989 coup that propelled him to power. He faces the death penalty if convicted. | | | Trump lawsuit: Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, filed a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of sending him back to prison to stop him from finishing a “graphic and unflattering” tell-all book. | | | Mason Trinca for The New York Times | | | Snapshot: Above, clashes in Portland, Ore. Demonstrators have gathered in the city’s downtown for more than 50 days since the death of George Floyd. President Trump has sent federal agents to Portland, infuriating the protesters, who say he is trying to use the city’s unrest as political theater during an election year. | | | What we’re listening to: This Radiolab episode about the aftermath of the 1918 flu. “Covering President Woodrow Wilson’s faulty negotiations at the end of World War I and India’s independence from Britain, this episode will make you think twice about how pandemics shape our world,” writes Remy Tumin on the Briefings team. | | | Kate Mathis for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Eugene Jho. | | | Cook: This chicken and rice soup is simultaneously cozy and fresh. Lemon juice adds brightness, as does a lively mix of parsley, lemon, garlic and celery leaves strewn on top. | | | Watch: “The Old Guard,” an action movie about a group of immortal warriors out to save the world, is a fresh take on the superhero genre. We asked the director, Gina Prince-Bythewood, to narrate an action sequence from her film. | | | Governments around the world have been racing to deploy apps to help track and stem the spread of the coronavirus. Natasha Singer, our reporter covering health technology, has been tracking these digital virus control tools. She spoke to the Briefings team about what’s working, what isn’t, and privacy issues. | | | Are apps an indispensable tool in fighting pandemics? | | | In countries with national health systems that are already doing mass-scale testing, epidemiologists say the apps can be helpful. South Korea, for instance, has used apps to make sure people under quarantine orders stay in their assigned locations. Iceland’s app allows people who test positive for the virus to share their recent locations with health officials, making it easier to notify people who may have crossed paths with them. In countries with low rates of virus testing, the apps may not be very useful. As one German health official put it to me last week, “apps are not a vaccine.” | | | A mobile app to enforce quarantines was part of South Korea’s pandemic response. Woohae Cho for The New York Times | | | You have been looking at various virus-tracing and quarantine apps and found some serious flaws. What has been the most troubling finding? | | | It’s troubling that countries like South Korea and Qatar were in such a hurry to introduce virus apps that they prioritized speedy deployment over user privacy and security. But the larger risk is that some governments are using location-tracking apps and other digital tools to impose new forms of social control in the name of the pandemic. Those invasive surveillance measures could easily become permanent. | | | Which countries have been successful in their use of digital tools in this pandemic? Which countries seem to have fallen short? | | | Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Latvia and other countries recently introduced virus-tracing apps based on software from Apple and Google. The government apps are designed for maximum privacy. For instance, they use Bluetooth signals, not location tracking, to detect app users who come into close contact. Even so, there is a privacy problem. To use the Bluetooth feature, Google requires Android users to turn on their phones’ location setting. And that can allow Google to determine their precise locations, depending on their settings. But European governments have chosen not to tell users about the Google issue. It’s a transparency failure which could undermine public trust in the apps. | | That’s it for this briefing. See you next time. — Carole | | Thank you
To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com. | | | Were you sent this briefing by a friend? Sign up here to get the Morning Briefing. | | |
