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Poland withdraws from the Istanbul Convention. Designed to protect women against violence, the treaty spearheaded by human rights organization Council of Europe has been criticized by the Polish justice minister as “harmful” and a tool used to “justify gay ideology.” Thousands of Poles protested last Friday against the move.
The Ukrainian government and pro-Russian rebels began a ceasefire. The temporary truce took effect overnight in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, mired in a conflict stemming from Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Separately, tens of thousands protested in Russia’s far east for a third straight weekend in a movement that’s growing increasingly anti-Kremlin.
Australia’s competition regulator sued Google. It launched proceedings against the tech giant for allegedly misleading consumers about expanded personal data use that allowed the company to link users’ Google accounts with their activity on non-Google sites elsewhere on the internet.
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.
Republicans unveil their relief package. They will propose a $1 trillion bill today, which is expected to include another $1,200 stimulus check for Americans, an extension of the eviction moratorium, and additional funding for testing and contact tracing. Separately, the US flag was lowered at the American consulate in Chengdu this morning after Beijing ordered the diplomatic outpost shut in retaliation for Washington’s closing of the Chinese consulate in Houston.
What to watch for
Monday: The late US representative and civil rights icon John Lewis is lying in state at the US Capitol in Washington DC, before he is finally laid to rest in Atlanta on Thursday. Separately, the leaders of five West African countries hold a summit to seek a resolution to the political crisis in Mali, where a protest movement is demanding the resignation of the Malian president.
Tuesday: The first trial of the former Malaysian prime minister’s role in the 1MDB scandal wraps up.
Wednesday: The hajj begins, but only a limited number of people already in Saudi Arabia will be allowed to participate. In the US, the CEOs of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook—all set to release earnings this week—will testify on alleged anticompetitive practices.
Thursday: The US reports its second-quarter GDP, which is expected to contract an unprecedented 33%. Meanwhile, NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission is set to launch from Florida, and should land on the red planet next February if all goes to plan.
Friday: The EU’s GDP estimate for the three months through June is expected to show a record 11.3% decline. And Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is scheduled to testify before Congress alongside other members of the White House coronavirus task force.
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 this 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 Chinese spy used LinkedIn to lure targets. The Singaporean man set up a fake consulting firm and used the professional networking site to harvest CVs.
NBA will project fans into empty game arenas using Microsoft Teams. The National Basketball Association said hundreds of fans will appear courtside on giant video screens to cheer on players.
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.
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.
A Tesla designer built a better chocolate chip. He says the new chip’s flattened diamond-like shape makes it tastier in cookies.
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