Weekend Papers Summary
NEW YORK TIMES
Saturday
• Donald Trump announced that Bahrain would establish full diplomatic relations with Israel, following the United Arab Emirates, in another sign of shifting Middle East dynamics that are bringing Arab nations closer to Israel.
• A New York Times survey found that in just the past week, American colleges and universities have recorded more than 36,000 additional coronavirus cases, bringing the total of campus infections to 88,000 since the pandemic began.
• France is facing a worrying surge of the coronavirus crisis, the government said that instead of announcing new restrictions, it would instead improve the country’s testing program—plagued by delays in recent weeks—and urge people to continue social distancing measures.
• As theaters look to see how they might reopen with safety accommodations including mask use, US infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said it will likely be more than a year before people feel comfortable returning to theaters without masks.
• The rapid pace of technological change, including artificial intelligence and facial recognition, is mingling ever more with national security concerns to which European leaders have been slow to respond, analysts say, leaving them on the sidelines in a sector China and the US dominate.
• China and India have once again pledged to defuse tensions along their contested Himalayan border, days after officials in both countries accused the other of firing shots in the region for the first time in decades.
• Nora Dannehy, a top aide to the criminal prosecutor whom attorney general William Barr assigned to scrutinize the Trump-Russia investigation, resigned unexpectedly from the Justice Department for reasons that remain unclear.
• The coronavirus pandemic has reduced sales at commercial galleries specializing in modern and contemporary art by an average of 36 percent during the first half of 2020, according to a report published Wednesday by Art Basel and UBS.
Sunday
• Trump’s attacks on Joe Biden have failed to erase the Democrat’s lead in key swing states, including the crucial battleground of Wisconsin, where Trump’s law-and-order message has rallied support on the right but has not swayed the majority of voters who dislike him.
• Government scientists and doctors who operate in a culture guided by research, data sets, and peer review are colliding with a president famously disdainful of science, politically wounded by his failures to contain the coronavirus and now determined to cast himself as a savior.
• New York City business leaders who tried to find ways to work with mayor Bill de Blasio to help the city overcome the pandemic downturn were largely rebuffed, a situation that is starting to create obstacles as the mayor seeks to help the city in its “rebirth.”
• Experts say worsening wildfire disasters mean the US needs to drastically rethink its approach to managing fire by taking steps such as lowering carbon emissions and imposing tighter restrictions on future development to ensure that communities are better protected against potential fires.
• After weeks of public silence about the wildfires devastating the West Coast, Trump plans to visit California on Monday, where he will join local and federal fire and emergency officials for a briefing on the crisis.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Weekend
• China National Biotec Group, a subsidiary of state-owned Sinopharm, has injected hundreds of thousands of people with experimental Covid-19 vaccines, as its Western counterparts warn against administering mass vaccinations before rigorous scientific studies are complete.
• Some of the nation’s largest employers—including CVS, WFC, and the US Postal Service—say they won’t implement Trump’s payroll-tax deferral plan, opting to leave employee paychecks alone this fall.
• Story on New York’s response to the coronavirus says that after the federal government largely left states to manage it, some governors ceded power to local officials, while others, such as governor Andrew Cuomo, insisted on being involved in all major decisions.
• Lawmakers in both parties are increasingly pessimistic that Congress can reach an agreement to provide additional coronavirus relief aid to Americans before the November election.
• Leaders of some rural California counties are accusing governor Gavin Newsom of improperly withholding federal coronavirus relief funds to force them to slow business re-openings, and a GOP delegation is asking the Treasury’s inspector general to audit the distribution of funds.
• Democrats are seeking ways to help volunteers and surrogates use new virtual tools to help political campaigns, at a time when door-to-door canvassing is impossible because of the coronavirus, but some observers worry the efforts won’t match what the GOP has achieved.
• Federal prosecutors stepped up a campaign against North Korea by unsealing two cases involving alleged sanctions violations—including some related to Chinese telecom ZTE—as officials warn Pyongyang remains a significant threat to national security and the global financial system.
• The global economy is bouncing back strongly from the dramatic collapse it suffered in the spring, but fresh data suggest the early gains from the lifting of coronavirus lockdowns are already exhausted.
• Profile of Google chief Sundar Pichai says the company, “long revered in Silicon Valley for its brainpower and creativity, is also in an extended stretch of innovation stasis—nearly all its recent growth has come from vacuuming up ever more online advertising,” and it has yet to succeed in hardware despite years of effort.
• Banking, long dominated by men, outpaces other industries in promoting women—Citigroup’s promotion of Jane Fraser as its next chief executive is the latest example—and the industry has made strides in recent years in elevating women to jobs that place them on the executive track.
• With their headquarters largely empty amid the pandemic, tech companies are reconfiguring their open-plan spaces to appeal to employees when they return, offering channels for collaboration and focus that workers can’t get in the remote environment.
• H.O.T.S.: Beijing’s tightened grip on the finance hub will make it harder for Hong Kong to diversify its economic base and keep pace with regional rivals in Singapore and Shenzhen; DIS’ Mulan was a test case for new movie distribution strategies, but it will also test the company’s ability to navigate highly political global markets; KR did well during the summer, and could get a boost when the change in seasons makes outdoor dining less attractive.
FINANCIAL TIMES
Weekend
• UK officials warned in January that prime minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal would lave Brussels able to claim jurisdiction over large amounts of UK state aide policy after the end of the transition period because of his desire to avoid the return of a trade border with Ireland.
• European Union finance ministers said they won’t cut short the recovery with a premature fiscal clampdown, deciding instead to postpone any debate over when to reimpose the bloc’s budget restrictions or how to reform them.
• Big Read piece reports on the growing importance of China for Hollywood studios and the delicate political balance studio heads face with releases such as DIS’ “Mulan, for which some scenes were shot in areas where Beijing operates internment camps.
• Lex Column: In the wake of RIO’s recent mining disaster, regulations to protect remaining historical sites will tighten, and bosses will tread more warily; “For all the hand wringing about the shrinking of public equity markets, there is evidence that private investors pay more for the same assets”; Rome’s “golden power” to block a deal for Borsa Italiana could help a bidding consortium led by Euronext, in which the Italian state may indirectly participate.
• Comment: False positives in coronavirus testing can be a problem if we react them the wrong way, says Tim Harford, but “even a shoddy test used well can nudge the odds in our favor.”
NEW YORK POST
Saturday
• +/- LULU: The athletic apparel company is drawing criticism for promoting an event teaching participants to “resist capitalism” through a workshop hosted by one of its brand ambassadors.
• +/- Volkswagen: Even as the automaker pushes forward with a deal to acquire truck maker Navistar, which is linked to billionaire Carl Icahn, sources say its merger plan could still falter.
Sunday
• NASA has measured wildfire temperatures in California, Oregon, and Washington using an instrument on the International Space Station.
• + AAPL: Tech giant published a revision of some of its App Store review guidelines, loosening some restrictions on streaming game services, online classes, and when developers must use its in-app purchase system, which charges a 30 percent commission.