Good morning.
We’re covering progress in Asia’s battle with the coronavirus, the aftermath of the fire in Icheon, South Korea, and whether you should worry about your drinking habits during the pandemic.
No new cases in South Korea or Hong Kong After months of imposing social distancing, a few governments are now reporting remarkable milestones: recording zero new domestically transmitted coronavirus cases, or no new cases at all.
South Korea on Thursday reported that for the first time since the virus’s Feb. 29 peak, it had no new domestic cases and just four cases among people who came in from outside the country.
Also on Thursday, Hong Kong reported that there had been no new cases there for five straight days. That was a welcome turnaround after a spike in cases in late March from international travelers.
They are not the only ones on that path — Australia and New Zealand are close. Beijing’s major tourist sites are set to reopen just in time for China’s extended holiday weekend.
Here are the latest updates, as well as maps of the pandemic.
In other developments:
Global greenhouse gas emissions are on track to fall nearly 8 percent this year, the largest drop ever recorded, the International Energy Agency reported.
Even as its neighbors start lifting lockdowns, Britain is not ready, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday. He promised to lay out a roadmap soon of what its reopening would look like.
Senior Trump administration officials have pushed U.S. spy agencies to hunt for evidence to support an unsubstantiated theory that the coronavirus outbreak started in a lab in Wuhan, China.
Russia’s prime minister, Mikhail V. Mishustin, said on Thursday that he was sick with Covid-19, the highest-ranking Russian official known to have been infected with the coronavirus.
With its new stimulus plan, the European Central Bank will pay banks to lend money after the economy shrank the most in decades — and it says the worst is yet to come. The eurozone economy could shrink by as much as 12 percent this year.
The S&P 500 fell more than 1 percent in afternoon trading, after another crushing jobs report. But it was an otherwise stellar month for Wall Street.
The Times is providing free access to much of our coronavirus coverage, and our Coronavirus Briefing newsletter — like all of our newsletters — is free. Please consider supporting our journalism with a subscription.
‘We are not learning lessons’: Taking stock after a South Korean fire South Korea is mourning the 38 people who died on Wednesday in a fire at an Icheon warehouse, a disaster that many say could have been avoided.
What angered many South Koreans was that the apparent causes of the fire were so familiar: vapors from a chemical solution filling a room where workers may have been generating sparks, with the ensuing fire fed by extremely combustible insulation.
Situations like that, all too familiar in South Korea, along with lax regulatory enforcement and corruption, have repeatedly led to deadly workplace disasters in the country.
“I am sorry that similar accidents are repeating themselves,” President Moon Jae-in said. “We are not learning lessons from the past accidents.”
History: Hundreds have died from fires with similar causes. In 2008, also in Icheon, 40 workers died in a ？fire in another warehouse ？that started almost exactly the same way.
If you have 7 minutes, this is worth it Hello Doily! Ditching Netflix for an old-school hobby
After weeks at home, some people are cutting down on screen time and switching to old-timey crafts like flower pressing or drying, above, or natural dyeing. Often, they require a steep learning curve, but the result can be empowering.
“The ability to generate activities by yourself for yourself, that is a real asset,” said Anders Ericsson, a professor of psychology at Florida State University.
Here’s what else is happening Hezbollah: Germany has declared the Lebanese militant group a terrorist organization and banned all activities on its territory. The move, long sought by Israel and the United States, deals a blow to the group’s ability to operate in Europe.
Israel: The attorney general said Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should not be barred from forming a government even though he faces criminal charges. His word is not the final decision, but it could strengthen Mr. Netanyahu’s defenses against removal.
Moon landers: NASA has picked three designs for spacecraft to take astronauts back to the surface of the moon. Two are from billionaire-led rocket companies: Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. A third is led by Dynetics of Huntsville, Ala.
Ice loss in Antarctica: New satellite data provides the most precise picture yet of Antarctica’s ice, where it is accumulating most quickly and disappearing at the fastest rate, and how the changes will contribute to rising sea levels.
U.S. presidential campaign: Activists and women’s rights advocates have urged Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to address a former aide’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her in 1993. His lack of response has angered them.
Snapshot: Above, Rishi Kapoor, who died on Thursday, in “Bobby.” Bollywood is reeling after losing two legends in less than 24 hours. Mr. Kapoor, 67, was a Bollywood giant, a handsome, charming matinee idol who starred in dozens of films in the 1970s and ’80s.
What we’re listening to: “Oh, Hello: the P’dcast,” in which two comedians portray elderly New Yorkers whose many peculiarities include their diction. “These podcasts are bringing a lot of joy into our household,” writes Sam Dolnick, an assistant managing editor. “So good. We are now mispronouncing so many words.”
Now, a break from the news
Cook: Samin Nosrat’s lasagna made with delicate homemade pasta, rich béchamel and savory tomato sauce. If you’re out of mozzarella, Sam Sifton, our Food editor, has ideas about substitutions in his latest newsletter.
Watch: The painter Jordan Casteel has her first solo museum show in New York, and provides the voice-over for our video tour. Check out five artists to follow on Instagram. Then get to know Alice Wu, the director who influenced Awkwafina and Ali Wong. Ms. Wu’s new movie on Netflix, “The Half of It,” is a young-adult take on “Cyrano de Bergerac.”
Cope: What can you accomplish in four seconds? Try a workout. If you’re having a rift with a friend, this may be the time to heal it. And here are some creative ways parents are finding space away from their children.
We’ve started an email newsletter, At Home, with our recommendations for what to read, cook, watch and do while staying inside. Sign up here.
And now for the Back Story on … Keeping tabs on your drinking The latest In Her Words newsletter focuses on our drinking habits right now. Below is a condensed version. Sign up to get it in your inbox here.
Zoom happy hours are serving as a break from isolation and a consolation prize for canceled plans.
“During a crisis, you know, cocktail hour can be almost any hour!” chirped Ina Garten, the chef and author of “The Barefoot Contessa” cookbooks, while mixing what appeared to be a bucket-size cosmopolitan in a video posted to Instagram.
At a time when boundaries have all but disappeared — home is the office! school time is work time! pajamas are work clothes! — the clink of ice cubes in a glass or the crack of a can may seem like one of the few ways left to distinguish evening from day, or weekend from week.
But as the months in quarantine pile up, what started out as a way to unwind may, for some, start to feel like an unexpectedly stubborn habit. Alcohol sales nationwide were up 55 percent the week ending March 21 compared with the year before.
For those in recovery, the combination of stress and social distancing can make maintaining sobriety all the more challenging.
For most people, drinking in moderation is not inherently harmful. The threshold is higher for men — women absorb and metabolize alcohol differently. Nature is sexist like that.
There’s a short-term fix doctors prescribe when alcohol or other recreational substances feel like they’re taking more than they offer: Stop for a little while and see how you feel.
That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.
— Melina and Carole
Thank you
To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.
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