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Here’s what you need to know
US consulate staff in Chengdu cleaned out their workplace. This weekend, “festive” crowds looked on from the street, while online trolls stormed the consular’s Taiwanese-born wife. Beijing had ordered the diplomatic office closed and vacated by Monday at 10am in retaliation for the US’s shuttering of the Chinese consulate in Houston last week. China also accused US agents of improperly and forcibly entering that building on Friday.
Jack Ma and Alibaba were summoned by an Indian court. A former employee, who is suing for wrongful termination, said the company censored stories unfavorable to China on its news apps and shared fake news to encourage social unrest. Meanwhile, HSBC denied a Chinese state media report claiming the bank “framed” Huawei for US investigators, and South Korean telecom LG Uplus argued that using Huawei 5G equipment was not a security risk, despite US warnings.
North Korea might finally have its first official Covid-19 case. The country declared an emergency over a suspected instance of the virus in a town on the South Korean border. Vietnam recorded its first locally transmitted case in three months, and China plans to rapidly test all 6 million residents of Dalian following the emergence of a new cluster of infections. Meanwhile, Bill Gates said South Korea’s SK Bioscience could make 200 million vaccine kits by next June.
The White House revealed details of a new coronavirus relief package. Economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Americans can expect a second $1,200 stimulus check and an extension of the eviction moratorium in the $1 trillion plan Republicans will propose on Monday. The House of Representatives may be forced to put off its August recess if legislators can’t agree on a deal by this week.
What to watch for
- The first trial of Malaysia’s former prime minister’s role in the 1MDB scandal wraps up on Tuesday.
- This year’s hajj begins Wednesday; only a limited number of people already in Saudi Arabia will be allowed to participate.
- The CEOs of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook will testify on alleged anticompetitive practices before a US House of Representatives subcommittee on Wednesday; all four companies will release earnings this week.
- Quarterly GDP estimates are expected from Hong Kong (Wednesday); the US (Thursday); the EU, Taiwan, and Canada (Friday).
- “The Michelle Obama Podcast” launches July 29; Beyonce’s visual album Black Is King debuts July 31.
- More earnings: 3M, Nissan, Pfizer (Tuesday); Boeing, GE, GM (Wednesday); AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences, Samsung (Thursday); AbbVie, Exxon Mobil, Merck (Friday).
Charting CEOs’ net worth
Even among tech titans, wealth inequality is rampant. Quartz looked into how much wealth will be in the virtual room when the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google appear before the US House antitrust subcommittee next week. It turns out the four men were worth a collective $265.8 billion on July 23, but the combined net worth of Google’s Sundar Pichai and Apple’s Tim Cook is a rounding error in their colleagues’ fortunes.
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Surprising discoveries
A “dark fleet” of Chinese fishing vessels likely displaced North Korean boats in 2017. An NGO says that may explain the spike in “ghost ships” that reached Japan that year.
A Tesla designer built a better chocolate chip. He says the new chip’s flattened diamond-like shape makes it tastier in cookies.
New York City was re-classified as subtropical. Fossil fuel emissions and other byproducts of human activity caused the rising temperatures behind the official rezoning.
Our immune response to (hypothetical) space germs could be weak. Researchers used peptides found on meteorites to test mammal cells’ reactions to “alien” microorganisms.
Young Thais recruited a Japanese cartoon hamster as a political symbol. A new protest song likens officials’ craving for taxpayer money to Hamtaro’s appetite for sunflower seeds.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, superior chocolate chip designs, and space germ antibodies to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app on iOS and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Lila MacLellan, Jackie Bischof, Nicolás Rivero, and Liz Webber.