| Wednesday, Oct 28, 2020 | | | Good morning. We’re covering a pivot in Russia’s coronavirus strategy, the latest in the Thailand protests and why Americans of various backgrounds are buying more guns. | |  By Melina Delkic | | | An ambulance near a hospital where patients with coronavirus are getting treatment outside Moscow on Tuesday, as virus deaths hit a record. Alexander Nemenov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images | | | The federal health watchdog agency also urged governors to order restaurants and entertainment venues to close by 11 p.m. It was an unusual step; President Vladimir V. Putin had resisted taking any nationwide measures. | | | The numbers: Russia recorded 16,550 new cases on Tuesday, the fifth day in a row with more than 16,000 new cases. The government also reported 320 coronavirus deaths, a single-day record. And the lower house of parliament released a staggering metric for its assembly’s representatives: 20 percent have or have had the virus, and 38 members are currently hospitalized with it. | | | President Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro having dinner at Mar-a-Lago in March. T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times | | | The coronavirus was gathering lethal speed when President Trump met his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, on March 7 for dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Fla. | | | After returning to Brazil, 22 members of Mr. Bolsonaro’s delegation tested positive for the virus, yet he was not alarmed. Mr. Trump had shared a cure, Mr. Bolsonaro told advisers: a box of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, the unproven treatment that Mr. Trump was promoting as a remedy for Covid-19. | | | Details: Both leaders pushed to defund the region’s leading health agency — the Pan American Health Organization — and drove 10,000 Cuban doctors and nurses out of impoverished areas of Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia and El Salvador. They also blocked assistance and pushed false cures, making a bad situation worse by dismantling defenses. | | | Thousands of pro-democracy protesters at an intersection in Bangkok on Monday. Lauren Decicca/Getty Images | | | “I will not run away from problems. I will not leave my duty by resigning at a time when the country has problems,” Mr. Prayuth, a former army ruler, told the assembly, whose entire upper house was picked by his old junta. | | | The protesters had given Mr. Prayuth a deadline to resign from his post, delivering him a resignation letter to sign last week. Though he revoked an emergency decree, he does not appear to be budging on larger issues. | | | Scott McIntyre for The New York Times | | | In the United States, spikes in gun purchases are often driven by fear. Many gun buyers now are saying they are motivated by a new destabilizing sense that is pushing people who had considered themselves anti-gun to buy weapons — and people who already have them to buy more. | | | 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 | | | | Mahmud Hossain Opu/Associated Press | | | Snapshot: Above, a protest in Bangladesh on Tuesday sparked by French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks on Islam. Muslims have held demonstrations and called for boycotting French goods following police raids in France, after the killing of a high school teacher who showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class. | | | What we’re reading: This excerpt in The New Yorker on U.S. health care reform from President Barack Obama’s upcoming memoir. “There’s a lot of fascinating detail about American politics, but also some touching passages on fatherhood, the family dog and sailing,” writes Carole Landry of the Briefings Team. | | | Jenny Huang for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Beatrice Chastka. | | | Listen: These news podcasts for children are perfect for young people seeking a better understanding of what the adults are fussing about and for parents who want to help their children learn how to engage with the world. | | | Do: Herbal teas can soothe and restore. Here’s a step-by-step guide to growing brew-friendly plants at home. | | | We have plenty of ideas and we’re happy to share them in our At Home collection on what to read, cook, watch, and do while staying safe at home. | | | Most businesses in China, whether the fanciest hotel or a roadside fruit stand, accept digital payment through apps, in particular Alipay and WeChat. Our On Tech newsletter writer spoke with Ray Zhong about the payment apps and whether China offers a glimpse at a cashless future for the rest of us. | | | How did Alipay and WeChat get so popular in China? | | | Ray: Credit cards were never prevalent in China. The country skipped over a generation of finance and went straight to smartphone-based digital payments. And the apps are simple for businesses. If a business can print a QR code, it can get paid by app. They don’t need special machines as businesses do to accept credit cards or many mobile payments like Apple Pay. | | | A customer scans an Alipay QR code to pay for groceries in Beijing on Tuesday. Greg Baker/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images | | | What’s useful about these payment apps? | | | China has a stodgy state-dominated banking system. These apps allowed small businesses to connect to modern financial infrastructure easily. | | | I know paying with a credit card isn’t tremendously difficult, but making it a fraction easier to buy stuff has enabled different kinds of commerce. You probably wouldn’t buy something on Instagram for 50 cents with your credit card, but people in China do buy digital books one chapter at a time. | | | How did China’s government respond to these two apps creating a financial system outside its explicit control? | | | The government has been attentive. It put a cap on fees that Alipay and WeChat can charge merchants. And where the apps make their real money — in making loans and selling investments — the government wants to make sure borrowers aren’t being gouged and investment funds aren’t taking on excessive risks. | | | Alipay and WeChat deliberately now say they are partners to banks, not competitors. | | That’s it for this briefing. See you next time. — Melina | | Thank you
To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh 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 about what we learned from the last contested U.S. election.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Word in four U.S. state names (three letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Carolyn Ryan, a leader of The Times’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative, has been promoted to deputy managing editor. | | | Were you sent this briefing by a friend? Sign up here to get the Morning Briefing. | | |
