Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
EU finance ministers consider how to use bailout funds. They will meet via teleconference to look at European Commission proposals for unlocking the €410 billion ($438 billion) in aid and other measures to help shield the economy from pandemic damage.
North Macedonia and Albania get the green light to start EU membership talks. European Council ministers are set to approve a document that will pave the way for the two Balkan countries to begin negotiations to join the bloc.
Shinzo Abe chats with the International Olympic Committee. The prime minister of Japan is expected to hold telephone talks with IOC chairman Thomas Bach on plans to postpone this summer’s Tokyo Olympics. Abe hinted for the first time yesterday that the games would have to be pushed back.
Canada’s parliament reconvenes. Lawmakers will return to the House of Commons to vote on emergency legislation that would give the government wide-ranging powers to tax and spend unilaterally through the end of 2021. Separately, New York State will begin clinical trials of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, two anti-malarial drugs that president Donald Trump has trumpeted as game changers for the Covid-19 pandemic despite hesitations from medical experts.
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Boris Johnson ordered a nationwide lockdown. In a televised prime time address, the UK prime minister told people to only leave their homes if absolutely necessary, including for exercise once a day. Shops selling non-essential goods are shut and gatherings of more than two people who don’t share a household have been banned.
Spanish soldiers found corpses in elderly homes. Defence minister Margarita Robles said the army, which has been tasked with tackling the coronavirus pandemic by disinfecting care homes, discovered a number of elderly patients dead in their beds.
Elite hackers targeted the World Health Organization. The agency has experienced a surge in cyberattacks from unidentified parties, though none have been successful so far. One attempted break-in was detected earlier this month, when hackers activated a malicious site mimicking the WHO’s internal email system.
Donald Trump said he wants to re-open the economy soon. In direct contradiction to health experts’ warnings, the US president told reporters that he wants the country to return to business as usual within weeks, suggesting—without evidence—that a prolonged shutdown could cause more deaths than the pandemic itself.
The US slashed aid to Afghanistan. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said he would cut $1 billion in funding and threatened a further rollback of all cooperation with Kabul due to the country’s political deadlock between Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, rival politicians who have each declared themselves president.
Quartz membership
Why startups fail. The extremely public stumbles of WeWork, Theranos, Uber, and others have drawn new attention to the many ways in which startups can go awry. This week’s field guide interrogates the premise of the “lean startup,” and how it has blinded entrepreneurs to all the other ways their businesses can stumble.
Leaders can help mitigate pandemic-caused stress at work. Keep cool, create certainty, and focus on how a shared crisis connects us all.
Quartz daily obsession
Egg freezing is on the rise. Global fertility rates in developed countries are on the decline as career-oriented women delay having children, and freeze their eggs for pregnancies later in their lives. It’s leading to an expanding fertility market that’s expected to grow by 25% in the next two years. Put whatever you’re doing on ice—it’s time for the Quartz Daily Obsession.
Matters of debate
Let’s stick to remote work to promote diversity. Companies can tap into new talent pools if they let employees work from where they are.
Don’t bail out the cruise industry. Cruises are polluting, bad corporate actors, and unnecessary.
Ban targeted ads. It would boost our privacy—and help fund an independent press.
Surprising discoveries
A vast network of facial recognition cameras is helping Moscow enforce quarantines. Around 100,000 cameras have already been linked to AI systems that can identify people being filmed.
A creamery in Oregon is making vodka from milk. Fermenting leftover whey produces a clear liquor that the business has dubbed “Cowcohol.”
Labs are putting down thousands of mice. The rodent colonies are being culled as a precaution against Covid-19.
Hunters are protecting tigers in India. The community knows all the tricks, and is effective against poachers.
There’s an ancient submerged continent in Canada. North Atlantic Craton is 10% larger than scientists previously thought.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, untargeted ads, and lost continents to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app on iOS or Android and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written by Mary Hui and edited by Isabella Steger.