Good morning, Quartz readers!
Here’s what you need to know
The US ended its preferential treatment of Hong Kong. Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross suspended regulations that gave special status to Hong Kong, including export license exceptions, in response to a new security law that crimps the city’s autonomy.
India banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps. The government claimed the apps were being used for espionage and threatened the country’s sovereignty and defense. The announcement came a day after prime minister Narendra Modi said the country had given China a “befitting response” for border clashes that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
China is reportedly sterilizing Uigher women. The state is also forcing the procedure on other ethnic minority women in Xinjiang province, according to a report from German researcher Adrian Zenz. Beijing called the allegations “baseless,” but international lawmakers have called for a UN investigation.
The US Supreme Court ruled on abortion and consumer protections. In two narrow decisions, the court struck down a Louisiana state law requiring that doctors have admitting privileges at a hospital to perform an abortion, and ruled that the president can fire the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for any reason, in order to curb its independence.
The first effective Covid-19 treatment costs $520 a vial. Gilead, the biotech firm that makes remdesivir, announced its pricing plan after weeks spent donating the drug free of charge. It now expects to rake in $2.3 billion in revenue from the treatment this year.
Brands are cracking down on hate speech
Twitch vs. the US president. Streaming service Twitch banned Donald Trump’s account for videos of rallies featuring racist language, as part of its commitment to weed out hate speech.
Reddit banned more than 2,000 subreddits, including one that supported Trump. CEO Steve Huffman, known for his free speech mentality, enforced new policies banning hate speech after backlash from users.
YouTube gave white supremacists the axe. Stefan Molyneux, David Duke, and Richard Spencer have all been found to be in violation of the video platform’s newly updated policies.
Charting supply chain leaders in China
It’s been a tumultuous few years for corporate supply chain managers. As if the US-China trade war wasn’t enough, along came Covid-19, which upended industries from tech to fashion and laid bare how much global corporations rely on China for manufacturing and components.
China’s rising costs already had companies looking to broaden their sourcing, but recent events are stepping up the urgency (✦ Quartz member exclusive). While expenses from trade-war tariffs are at the top of the list of reasons, the pandemic has caused companies to seek supply chains that are generally more resilient to disruptions.
For members: Getting the picture about commuting’s future
The coronavirus pandemic is transforming the way the world moves through its cities. As they often do, emojis provide a pretty decent picture of the challenges facing different places across the globe. Test how much you know about the world’s shifting commuting practices by identifying specific issues below.
Answers: 1. It’ll take more than a pandemic to break down Delhi’s beloved Metro system 2. San Francisco is leading the charge to dethrone cars 3. Social-distancing is wrecking the economics of South Africa’s most dysfunctional—and vital—public transport
Need to brush up? You can read all of these and more in our field guide about the commuting revolution.
✦ We ❤️ our members—find out just how much with a seven-day free trial! We promise that we almost always use actual words in the award-winning stories, presentations, and field guides available to members. ✦
You asked about startup investing
What will be the impact of the pandemic on the rather risk-taking angel investors and their rampant funding of tech startups? Do we expect the dynamics to change for good?
An excellent question. Funding difficulties have been reported in outlets like the Houston Chronicle and Crunchbase due to the large number of industries that have been affected by the global Covid-19 pandemic. Angel (early stage) and venture capital investors are writing fewer checks due to the challenging operating environment and uncertain future. This has resulted in startups seeking government contracts, grants, establishing partnerships with big companies, depleting personal savings, and even going into debt to finance their companies.
However, there are definitely still opportunities that are focused on providing goods and services that are especially in demand right now, such as remote-access IT services, critical infrastructure, and enterprise software. Globally, though, VC investors have already tightened purse strings, and where funds will be directed in the future has yet to be determined based on fluctuating predictions for an economic recovery worldwide.
Surprising discoveries
Robinhood is raking in cash from market makers. Professional traders seem to think the investing app’s customers are extra valuable, and pay a premium to process their stock orders.
Flying snakes soar by squirming. Scientists gave the reptilian aviators miniature motion capture suits to unlock the secret of how they glide.
“Wild swimming” is on the rise. With pools closed, bathers are diving into natural bodies of water to get their aquatic fix.
A cicada STD could turn an emerging horde of insects into zombies. Bugs invaded by a lethal fungus are consumed by a singular drive to mate until they meet their unappealing end.
Casinos are (finally) going cashless. Bowing to the pandemic, the biggest remaining bastion of cash commerce is transitioning to mobile payments.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, angel investments, and swimming hole recommendations 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 brought to you by Susan Howson, Karen Ho, Marc Bain, and Nicolás Rivero.