BitGou: Thursday Morning Briefing: A triple whammy of crises tests Trump's support ahead of November's election

U.S.

A triple whammy of crises
Battered by crisis after crisis, President Donald Trump appears to be in political peril as never before. Since taking office in 2017, Trump has weathered storm after storm, always emerging with a fighting chance at re-election. After he survived an impeachment trial that saw him acquitted by the Republican-led Senate on Feb. 5, things looked up.

Now Trump's Teflon shield is being put to an acid test as he faces a triple whammy - the biggest public health crisis in a century, the worst economic downturn in generations and the largest civil unrest since the 1960s.

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

Europe pins hopes on smarter apps
European countries cautiously emerging from the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic are looking to a second generation of contact tracing apps to help contain further outbreaks. The latest apps have big advantages over earlier ones as they work on Apple's iPhone, one of the most popular smartphones in Europe, and do not rely on centralized databases that could compromise privacy.

Global vaccine summit
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosts a global vaccine summit on Thursday, urging nations to pledge funding for vaccinations against infectious diseases to help the poorest countries tackle the coronavirus crisis. Representatives of more than 50 countries, including 35 heads of state or government, will come together virtually in
London to raise funds for the GAVI vaccine alliance, a public-private global health partnership.

'Simplified' Olympics
It may be necessary to a stage a "simplified" Olympics next year due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said. The Yomiuri newspaper, citing government and organizing committee sources, said having fewer spectators, making Polymerase chain reaction tests mandatory for all spectators - in addition to athletes and staff - and limiting movement in and out of the athletes' village were among the options Japan would discuss with the International Olympics Committee.

Drive-through Botox
Quarantined Florida residents worried about their laughter lines and crows' feet need frown no longer - Botox is back, and it's being offered at a drive-through. On May 4, the U.S. state allowed a partial relaxing of restrictions imposed to slow the coronavirus pandemic.

From Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Bonds, Booze, Cars, Scandal. Remy Cointreau investors look a little tipsy, and German carmakers get short shrift from Angela Merkel. Catch up with the latest financial insights.

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.

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We need your tips, firsthand accounts, relevant documents or expert knowledge. Please contact us at coronavirus@reuters.com.

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Emerging from lockdown

One robot makes cocktails from 25 bottles hanging upside-down from the ceiling, another carves perfect ice balls in the fraction of the time it takes a human with a knife and an ice pick. Robo-bartenders are shaking up South Korea’s cafe and bar culture as the country transitions from intensive social distancing to what the government calls “distancing in daily life”.

As the coronavirus jolts Japan, the government’s huge stimulus package has come under fire from hard-hit restaurant owners for channeling funds for items like wagyu beef, melons and tourism rather than accelerating help for firms with burning cash needs. And as the country returns to work from restrictions, its notoriously crowded trains - almost a symbol of its celebrated work ethic - are raising fears about a resurgence of infections.

When Zinzi Lerefolo was sent home from her fee-paying girls’ school in a leafy Johannesburg suburb in March, her family set up a virtual classroom that allowed her to continue studying uninterrupted. The 13-year-old has access to the internet and her school has the means to provide online teaching during the coronavirus lockdown. For Phuti Ngoetjana, 14, it has been a different story.

People across almost all the world’s leading rich economies have turned more skeptical about their governments’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic with confidence slumping the most in Britain, a survey showed. In May, in the Group of Seven nations as a whole, 48% of respondents approved of how authorities had handled the pandemic, down from 50% in April and 54% in March, the survey published by polling firm Kantar showed.

Covid science

Convalescent plasma not helpful in China study; hydroxychloroquine doesn't prevent infection.
The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Scientists are resuming COVID-19 trials of the now world-famous drug hydroxychloroquine, as confusion continues to reign about the anti-malarial hailed by U.S. President Donald Trump as a potential “game-changer” in fighting the pandemic.

The European Union is preparing to use an emergency $2.7 billion fund to make advance purchases of promising vaccines against the new coronavirus, EU officials told Reuters.