Tuesday Morning Briefing: China passes national security law in turning point for Hong Kong

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June 30, 2020 Reuters News Now China China passes national security law in turning point for Hong Kong China’s parliament passed national security legislation for Hong Kong on Tuesday, setting the stage for the most radical changes to the former British colony’s way of life since it returned to Chinese rule 23 years ago. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam told the main U.N. human rights forum on Tuesday that China’s national security legislation for Hong Kong would fill a “gaping hole” and would not undermine its autonomy. A pro-democracy group led by Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong disbanded on Tuesday, hours after China’s parliament passed national security legislation for the Chinese-ruled city that has stoked fears for its freedoms. What you need to know about the coronavirus today New virus in pigs has risk for humans A new "G4" strain of the H1N1 flu virus found in Chinese pigs has become more infectious to humans and needs to be watched closely in case it becomes a potential "pandemic virus", a study published by the U.S. journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said, although experts said there is no imminent threat. Record surges in California and Texas California and Texas both marked record spikes in new COVID-19 infections on Monday, a Reuters tally showed, as Los Angeles reported an “alarming” one-day surge in America’s second-largest city that put it over 100,000 cases. Los Angeles has become a new epicenter in the pandemic as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surge there despite California Governor Gavin Newsom’s strict orders requiring bars to close and residents to wear masks in nearly all public spaces. Local lockdown in Britain Britain has imposed a stringent lockdown on the English city of Leicester following a local flare-up of the novel coronavirus just as Prime Minister Boris Johnson attempts to nudge the United Kingdom back to normality. The UK has been one of the world’s worst-hit areas, with more than 54,000 suspected deaths, though infections have been waning in recent weeks and Johnson is rolling back nationwide restrictions to revive the economy. A study of young soldiers suggests the benefits of social distancing during the pandemic might extend beyond high-risk individuals. When the Swiss army put social distancing, mask-wearing and hygiene rules into effect on a base where no one had been diagnosed with COVID-19, not only was the later spread of the virus limited, but soldiers who did get infected did not develop symptoms of COVID-19. Digital help for drinkers Pub drinkers and restaurant clients are set to get digital help from Swedish-based developers whose new app aims to make social distancing rules work as the hospitality industry cautiously reopens. From Breakingviews: Corona Capital - Shell, Soap, Shorter working weeks Read concise views on the pandemic’s financial fallout from Breakingviews columnists across the globe. Reuters reporters and editors around the world are investigating the response to the coronavirus pandemic. We need your help to tell these stories. Our news organization wants to capture the full scope of what’s happening and how we got here by drawing on a wide variety of sources. Here’s a look at our coverage. Are you a government employee or contractor involved in coronavirus testing or the wider public health response? Are you a doctor, nurse or health worker caring for patients? Have you worked on similar outbreaks in the past? Has the disease known as COVID-19 personally affected you or your family? Are you aware of new problems that are about to emerge, such as critical supply shortages? We need your tips, firsthand accounts, relevant documents or expert knowledge. Please contact us at coronavirus@reuters.com. We prefer tips from named sources, but if you’d rather remain anonymous, you can submit a confidential news tip. Here’s how. Emerging from lockdown Powell, Mnuchin enter the lion's den again to discuss pandemic response U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday will get another chance to grill the heads of the Federal Reserve and Treasury over the effectiveness of the nearly $3 trillion in emergency aid doled out to stem the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. central bank, with Treasury’s backing, has launched programs to improve the flow of credit as economic activity cratered and millions of jobs were lost, including its new Main Street Lending Program for mostly medium-sized businesses. United States not on EU's 'safe' travel list, diplomats say The United States is not on a “safe list” of destinations for non-essential travel due to be unveiled by European Union governments later on Tuesday, three diplomats said. The 27-member bloc is expected to give outline approval to leisure or business travel from Wednesday to 14 countries beyond its borders when they vote on the list. Philippine doctors shield families with 'quarantent', safe spaces After taking a job in a hospital’s COVID-19 emergency room, Philippine doctor Jan Claire Dorado planned to move out of the family home to protect relatives from the risk of infection. But Dorado’s parents insisted the 30-year-old keep living at home, so her father constructed a makeshift isolation area in a storage room there. COVID Science "Tentacles" on hijacked cells might help coronavirus spread When a virus infects a cell, it hijacks enzymes called kinases that control the cell's functions. A new study identified 49 kinases hijacked by the new coronavirus, including one called CK2 that generates hair-like tentacles, called filopodia, that protrude from the cell with virus particles inside them. People living with HIV infections may not face higher-than-average risks of bad outcomes from COVID-19, a study from New York City suggests. Doctors at one large health system compared 88 hospitalized COVID-19 patients with well-controlled HIV to 405 patients without HIV, all with similar COVID-19 severity on admission. A Dutch study of 10 patients with severe COVID-19 found that upon admission to the intensive care unit, most of them already had T cells that recognized and targeted the coronavirus. The findings may add to information about the role of T cells in fighting the illness and help inform development of vaccines that induce the body to produce these cells. Click here for a Reuters graphic on vaccines and treatments in development. Follow the money Shell to write down as much as $22 billion after coronavirus hit Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday it would write off assets worth up to $22 billion after the coronavirus crisis knocked oil and gas demand and weakened the energy price outlook. 3 min read Coronavirus strikes down global M&A as companies keep their distance Global M&A activity tumbled to its lowest level in more than a decade in the second quarter, according to data provider Refinitiv, as companies gave up on expansion plans to focus on protecting their balance sheets and employees in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. 6 min read Google stymies media companies from chipping away at its data dominance Alphabet’s Google upended plans by European media companies to block it from harvesting data about their readers and slash some of its dominance in online advertising, seven people involved in the talks said this month. 6 min read Wall Street faces danger signs after best quarter since '98 A stock rebound marked by Wall Street’s strongest quarter in more than two decades has slowed in recent weeks, as a resurgence in coronavirus cases threatens to derail the economy’s recovery from a deep downturn. 5 min read Top Stories on Reuters TV Boeing begins crucial test flights for 737 Max Business   1:21 Koalas could be extinct in Australian state by 2050 Environment   1:16 Real news for busy people More Newsletters Reuters News Reuters TV               © 2020 Thomson Reuters. 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