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Good Morning.
We cover promising new results from a large study on the coronavirus, renewed collaboration between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and the incoming Biden administration.
In the most comprehensive and comprehensive study to date of immune memory against the coronavirus, the study found that most people who have recovered still have enough immune cells to fight off the virus and prevent disease eight months after infection. These cells can stay in the body for a very, very long time.
Although the research has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal, it could provide relief to those affected that vaccines may have to be administered repeatedly to keep the pandemic under control.
Quote: “That amount of memory would likely prevent the vast majority of people from suffering from serious illness in the hospital for years,” said Shane Crotty, a virologist who led the new study.
Here are the latest updates and maps of the pandemic.
In other developments:
The agency originally interrupted security coordination with Israel in protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to annex the occupied West Bank. This was supported by the Trump administration. Those plans fell apart, however, when Mr. Netanyahu agreed to suspend his annexation push in exchange for landmark normalization deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Iran atom: President Trump was prevented from launching a military strike on Iran during a meeting on Thursday after international inspectors reported a sharp surge in the country’s inventory of nuclear materials. Mr Biden hopes to join the Iranian nuclear deal again after taking office.
Afghanistan: The Pentagon has announced a reduction to 2,500 US troops in Afghanistan before Mr Biden takes office. This makes it the smallest force in Afghanistan that American counter-terrorism planners are considering without his consultation. Afghan officials fear the cuts will encourage the Taliban to keep fighting.
Mr Biden is also looking for climate-ambitious candidates to fill positions in his cabinet, including at agencies that are not at the forefront of environmental policy, such as the ministries of justice, agriculture and defense. Its earliest executive orders reportedly included the revival of an Obama-era mandate that every agency in the government should include climate change in its policies.
Trump campaign: Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, called on the president’s campaign to pay him $ 20,000 a day for legal work that calls into question the election results. The campaign appears to have said no, although it is unclear how much Mr Giuliani will ultimately be compensated.
Looking ahead: President Trump will soon be confronting the country with a historic dilemma: an ex-president with significant criminal responsibility.
If you have 6 minutes, it’s worth it
The manufacture of the most famous chalk in the world
The Hagoromo chalk above is a cult favorite by elite academics, artists, and others around the world, who praise it for its silky feel, vivid colors, low dust levels, and near-unbreakable quality. Mathematicians in particular tend to get poetic and buy it in bulk.
But its continued existence is an unlikely story that has long linked two countries. Here, our authors take a ride through the downright low-tech assembly process.
The following also happens
Ethiopia: Given the mounting conflict between the Ethiopian government and powerful armed forces in the country’s northern region, Tigray, international aid groups say they have been prevented from helping tens of thousands of people displaced by the violence.
British Politics: The UK’s main opposition party, Labor, has reinstated its former leader Jeremy Corbyn after reversing course last month on comments suggesting the party’s handling of anti-Semitism allegations had been “overstated”.
Dresden means: The German police arrested three men on Tuesday and searched for two more in connection with the theft of gold, diamonds and precious stones from three highly valued collections of baroque royal jewels in a museum in Dresden last year.
Twitter: On Tuesday, the social media network announced it was rolling out a feature that would allow users to create posts that would automatically disappear after 24 hours. Jack Dorsey, its executive director, testified with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg before the Senate Judiciary Committee about their platforms, misinformation and the 2020 election. Mr Dorsey said at the hearing that Twitter will no longer make political exceptions for President Trump after he leaves office.
Snapshot: Above, Marjorie Law, a 22-year-old Slytherin deporting herself to Hogwarts from Santa Clarita, California. On TikTok, Gen Z fans of “Harry Potter” work in search of escape, representation and community in the films.
Not dead yet: The Radio France Internationale website accidentally published about 100 pre-authored obituaries this week for such celebrities as Queen Elizabeth II of England; Pelé, the Brazilian football legend; Clint Eastwood; Brigitte Bardot; and dozens of other celebrities and world leaders.
What we read: This Vanity Fair all-rounder from Ivanka Trump’s former best friend. It is as much a portrait of a dwindling childhood friendship as a glimpse of the Manhattan elite of the 1990s.
Now a break from the news
Cook: This simple lentil and sweet potato salad has a little secret: a toasted, brown butter vinaigrette that’s scented with sage.
Clock: If travel is severely restricted, the screen closest to Paris may appear on the screen. Let these films – and a glass of champagne – take you there.
Do: Caution should be exercised in returning to your exercise routine after recovering from Covid-19. Here are tips on how to take it slow.
When the weather cools down, settle into At Home, our complete collection of ideas for what to read, cook, see and do while staying safe indoors.
And now for the background story about …
Christine Lagarde on resilience and collaboration
The first President of the European Central Bank spoke to our reporter from Frankfurt. The conversation was extracted, edited and compressed.
One of your priorities at the ECB is drawing up a plan to combat climate change. Do women bring different perceptions about combating the harm they are causing?
I think women bring different forces to the table. One is the power of the purse because I think that in many cases women are the decision makers when it comes to consuming. Second, I think they bring the power of life. I think that there is a sense of wealth, inheritance and transmission at birth that is very special.
I think motherhood is central to ensuring that our children inherit something sustainable that they live in, that they live with and that they can pass on to other generations. I also think women are resilient, and I think there are a lot of studies now to support this. And resilience to change is something that is badly needed.
How else can you improve international cooperation, especially in our time of lockdown??
A multinational approach to some of these global problems is needed more than ever. It is more fashionable to argue against globalization, argue against multilateralism, but frankly we are learning something from the current pandemic. We have to work together. The point is that we have to reveal to each other what is going wrong.
I would say that if the United States can go back to WHO and the WTO and have the kind of leadership that is expected of the world’s largest economy, it would certainly be helpful in addressing some of the global problems that have no borders.
That’s it for this briefing. Thank you for starting your day with me.
– Natasha
Many thanks
Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh took the break from the news. You can reach Natasha and the team at [email protected].
PS
• We listen to “The Daily”. Our latest episode is about the second wave of coronavirus in Europe.
• Here’s our mini crossword and clue: Country rocker? (five letters). You can find all of our puzzles here.
• The word “Shanzha” – a fruit found in China – first appeared in The Times yesterday, according to the Twitter account @NYT_first_said.
• Tracy Ma, a visual editor at The Times, recently discussed what a creative visual package is all about in this video from It’s Nice That.
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