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Your Tuesday Briefing

by · December 15, 2020

Your Tuesday Briefing

Pubs, eating places and theaters in London will shut as soon as once more because the British authorities tightens restrictions within the capital, in addition to components of southern England, due to a “very sharp, exponential rise” in coronavirus instances. Health authorities stated they’d recognized a brand new, faster-growing variant of the virus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, already dealing with a tricky week as Brexit commerce negotiations proceed, dangers further wrath from members of his Conservative Party over the restrictions. Some questioned the logic of imposing a lockdown now when the federal government plans to ease restrictions so households can reunite within the days round Christmas.

Here are the newest updates and maps of the pandemic.

We requested readers to ship us questions in regards to the new vaccines. Here are the solutions.

Companies like Amazon, Apple and Google are spending greater than ever on lobbyists to cease European Union regulation towards them, hiring former authorities officers, well-connected legislation companies and consulting companies and spending hundreds of thousands within the first half of 2020.

Despite the marketing campaign, the {industry} has had few main successes. European leaders have denounced the businesses as threats to democracy and anticompetitive, and have taken steps to rein them in. Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook both are underneath antitrust investigation or have already been penalized billions of {dollars}. In current years, the European Union has adopted industry-opposed legal guidelines on points together with privateness and on-line copyright.

Related: Google companies together with Gmail, Hangouts, Meets and YouTube went offline on Monday, halting workplaces and school rooms across the globe. The firm attributed the issue to an “authentication system outage” that lasted for about 45 minutes.

Eating fugu has been a deadly act for many of human historical past. But in Japan, the place it’s towards the legislation to serve the fish and not using a license, the hazard is proscribed — and, much more so of late, with the rise of farmed fugu believed to be completely toxin-free.

Despite cultural issues in regards to the threat of poisoning, Westerners who chronicle their first style of fugu are inclined to dismiss it as bland. Perhaps the expertise is so delicate as to be illegible to somebody from one other tradition, suggests our author.

Aleksei Navalny: Officers from a secret Russian spy unit trailed the Russian opposition chief for years and have been close by on the time he was uncovered to a poisonous nerve agent that nearly killed him final summer time, based on a brand new report, within the strongest proof to this point of Moscow’s involvement within the assault.

Blood donation: Britain introduced on Monday that beginning subsequent 12 months it could enable homosexual and bisexual males who’ve had the identical sexual accomplice for greater than three months to donate blood, in a major easing of restrictions.

U.S.-Turkey relations: The Trump administration on Monday issued sanctions towards Turkey’s army acquisitions company to punish the NATO ally, greater than three years after it purchased a missile protection system from Russia.

Chinese items: Chinese exports to the U.S. climbed 46.1 p.c in November to a file $51.98 billion, defying the expectations of American politicians who had predicted that the pandemic could be a second to cut back commerce with China.

Snapshot: Above, retrieving a coffin throughout a ceremony in Lembang Ma’dong, Indonesia. The Toraja folks of southern Sulawesi, one of many nation’s largest islands, are recognized for his or her elaborate loss of life rituals. The our bodies of the deceased are saved at residence, generally for years, till the household has sufficient cash to pay for a funeral.

Lives lived: The Cambodian-American author Anthony Veasna So, whose his first e book was to be printed subsequent August, has died at 28, getting ready to literary stardom.

What we’re : This week’s New Yorker cowl by the artist David Hockney, accompanied by a Q. and A. with the artist. He reminds us that creativity doesn’t need to be restricted to long-revered mediums — he’s painted tons of of works this 12 months on his iPad.

Cook: Spread this roasted carrot salad throughout a platter for a lightweight dinner or lunch — and don’t fear for those who can’t discover all of the herbs. Just one or two will deliver pleasure.

Cozy up: Stream productions of reimagined fairy tales and Christmas requirements like “A Christmas Carol” from theaters all over the world.

Listen: Need a soundtrack to the vacations? Here are 20 seasonal information that received’t disappoint.

It’s virtually the tip of the 12 months. Let our At Home assortment of concepts on what to learn, cook dinner, watch, and do take the stress out of staying indoors.

As coronavirus vaccinations get underway in some international locations, our OnTech e-newsletter spoke with the Philadelphia-based physician Austin Chiang, who tries to produce well being data to folks by assembly them the place they’re — usually, on social media.

Why do you make TikTok movies?

Part of what I’m attempting to do is humanize our occupation. I attempt to showcase being enjoyable but in addition skilled, and hopefully folks can be taught one thing.

As medical doctors, we don’t get any advertising or communications coaching, and but we’re anticipated to contribute to our group and to public well being. We’re going to have to satisfy sufferers the place they’re, and talk data in attention-grabbing and digestible methods.

How may you strategy coronavirus vaccines on TikTok?

The strategy that I attempt to take is to go away room for the grey. If you say vaccines don’t trigger any hurt and are one of the best issues on the earth, it will probably alienate people who find themselves vaccine hesitant. If we as an alternative acknowledge that there are potential dangers similar to anything in drugs and life, it’s a simpler message.

For coronavirus vaccines, I might in all probability do one thing with a voice-over that explains my very own causes for getting vaccinated, and lays out the negative effects and the risk-benefit evaluation I’ve completed in my thoughts and what we acquire from the vaccine. I’m positive the coronavirus vaccines are complicated to everybody, as a result of they’re complicated to us, too.

That’s it for this briefing. Have an ideal day.

— Natasha

Thank you
Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh compiled the break from the information. You can attain the staff at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our newest episode is on the U.S. approving a vaccine and what occurs subsequent.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Word after jelly or espresso (4 letters). You can discover all our puzzles right here.
• The phrase “elephantless” first appeared in The Times on Monday, based on the Twitter bot @NYT_first_said.
• Our White House reporter Maggie Haberman just lately appeared on NPR’s “Fresh Air” to speak in regards to the Trump period.

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