The pandemic shows no sign of abating as cases continue to skyrocket in the United States while the country struggles with plans for reopening businesses and schools. Case levels are soaring in Brazil and India as well.
 
The United States reported more than 75,600 new cases on Thursday, according to a New York Times database, shattering its previous single-day record. It was the eleventh time in the past month that the record has been broken, and the number of daily new cases has more than doubled since June 24. Elsewhere, India became the third country to see more than one million total cases (Times of India), joining Brazil and the United States. Brazil passed two million cases (MercoPress), adding one million cases in a month.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr accused U.S. companies of engaging in “corporate appeasement” (NYT) of the Chinese Communist Party, focusing on U.S. tech companies, including Apple, and the film industry. He said a “whole-of-society” approach is needed to resist Chinese influence. An Apple spokesperson reiterated that the company complies with some Chinese laws regarding data but sells the same iPhone worldwide.

South Korea: National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug proposed talks with his North Korean counterpart (Yonhap) to promote peace and cooperation. Ties between Seoul and Pyongyang have frayed recently after North Korea destroyed a joint liaison office.

India and the United States discussed the possibility of a free trade agreement (Economic Times), India’s ministry of commerce and industry said following a phone call between U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Indian trade minister Piyush Goyal. The countries have been negotiating a limited trade package since last year.

CFR’s Alyssa Ayres explains U.S.-India trade tensions.

Pakistan: Officials said they validated the credentials (RFE/RL) of almost all Pakistani pilots flying for foreign airlines amid a scandal over suspect licenses that caused several countries to suspend their flight authorizations. Pakistan grounded more than two hundred pilots for having “dubious” licenses following a plane crash in Karachi in May.

Israel is reportedly drafting a list (Haaretz) of hundreds of Israeli officials who could be arrested abroad if the International Criminal Court (ICC) opens an investigation of potential war crimes committed by Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian territories beginning in 2014. The ICC’s decision on whether it has jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories is expected soon. Israel is not an ICC member and does not recognize its jurisdiction.

Yemen: The United Nations envoy called for an investigation into air strikes (Reuters) that killed at least eleven civilians on Wednesday. It was the third such incident since last month as the country endures a mounting civilian death toll from its civil war.

Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda became the first woman prime minister (Reuters) of Gabon after President Ali Bongo Ondimba promoted her from defense minister.

DRC: An outbreak of Ebola in the western part of the country is now worse than a 2018 outbreak (NYT) in the region, World Health Organization officials said, calling for additional funds to combat the disease. There are now fifty-six cases.

This CFR Backgrounder looks at the Ebola virus and recent outbreaks.

European leaders are meeting face to face (BBC) for the first time since the pandemic began, though expectations that they reach a deal on a 750 billion euro economic recovery fund are low. The main issue is how much of the fund will be apportioned as grants versus loans.

Russia: Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States accused Russian hackers of targeting organizations developing coronavirus vaccines (WSJ). The attacks were designed to steal intellectual property, officials said. A spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was not responsible for the hacking.

Canada, Mexico, and the United States extended restrictions on non-essential travel (Reuters) among them until August 21.

Ecuador: The country is under pressure to improve its debt restructuring offer (FT) after some bondholders balked at its proposal. Ecuador has been unable to pay its debts while grappling with the pandemic and collapsing oil prices.

CFR’s Brad W. Setser examines how low-income countries can cope with coronavirus debt.