PRIMERAS PLANAS INTERNACIONALES
EL PERIÓDICO GLOBAL
www.elpais.com
JUEVES 3 DE DICIEMBRE DE 2020 | Año XLV | Número 15.845 | EDICIÓN MADRID | Precio: 1,70 euros
El expresidente Giscard d’Estaing muere a los 94 años
El Madrid de Zidane, ante un abismo deportivo y económico P32
FRANCIA
FÚTBOL P6
Illa pide a los ciudadanos que se queden en casa en Navidad Sanidad apela a la responsabilidad ante el difícil control de los límites a los desplazamientos y permite viajar para visitar a familiares y allegados PABLO LINDE, Madrid El Gobierno apela a la responsabilidad de los ciudadanos para evitar un repunte de la pandemia por las próximas fiestas navideñas. El ministro de Sanidad, Salvador Illa, se mostró tajante: “En Navidad debemos quedarnos en casa”. Gobierno y comunidades acordaron ayer una serie
de restricciones relativamente laxas. Así, se prohíben las entradas y salidas de las comunidades autónomas del 23 de diciembre al 6 de enero, pero a las excepciones habituales se añade la
de visitar a familiares o allegados, algo que deja un gran margen de movimientos y, en la práctica, resulta casi imposible de controlar. El acuerdo vinculante adoptado por el ministerio y las
La autorización rápida de la vacuna de Pfizer P22 23 en el Reino Unido presiona a la UE Y
comunidades, con la abstención de Cataluña y el voto en contra de Madrid (que niega su validez), permite reuniones de hasta 10 personas en las fechas navideñas clave, fija el toque de queda en Nochebuena y Nochevieja a partir de la 1.30 y establece otras recomendaciones y prohibiciones. PÁGINAS 24 Y 25
Sánchez aparca su reforma dura del Poder Judicial pese al bloqueo del PP Presenta una ley para impedir que un CGPJ en funciones nombre jueces JAVIER CASQUEIRO, Madrid No habrá por ahora cambio en las mayorías necesarias para elegir al Consejo General del Poder Judicial (CGPJ). El Gobierno aparca la iniciativa legislativa promovida por los dos partidos de la coalición que pretendía eliminar mayorías reforzadas para anular así la capacidad de veto del PP en la renovación del órgano de gobierno de los jueces. En cambio, PSOE y Podemos registraron otra proposición que solo prohíbe el nombramiento de cargos judiciales a un CGPJ con el mandato caducado. PÁGINAS 14 Y 15 EDITORIAL EN LA PÁGINA 10
Bruselas diseña un fondo contra la crisis que deja fuera a Hungría y Polonia
BANKSY LLEGA A MADRID EN UNA EXPOSICIÓN NO AUTORIZADA. El Círculo de Bellas Artes acoge una muestra del enigmático artista británico, sin su permiso como casi todas las precedentes. Ello abre la puerta a reclamaciones, como asumen los organizadores. Las más de 70 obras expuestas pertenecen a coleccionistas privados. En la imagen, la serie Paseando el perro de Haring. / SAMUEL SÁNCHEZ PÁGINA 29
ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
Secretario general de la ONU
“Estamos en guerra con la naturaleza y hay que hacer las paces” MANUEL PLANELLES, Madrid El secretario general de la ONU, el portugués António Guterres, trata de relanzar la lucha contra el calentamiento en una jornada virtual convocada para el 12 de diciembre. “2021 tiene que ser el año de la reconciliación con la naturaleza”, afirma en una entrevista. “Estamos en guerra con la na-
turaleza y es una guerra suicida porque la naturaleza siempre responde y lo hace con una violencia creciente. Hay que hacer las paces entre la humanidad y la naturaleza”, añade. Guterres pide al G-20 que el enorme gasto movilizado para reactivar la economía tenga como prioridad la inclusión y la sostenibilidad. PÁGINAS 26 Y 27
BERNARDO DE MIGUEL, Bruselas La Comisión Europea estudia fórmulas para poner en marcha el fondo de recuperación contra la crisis sin incluir a Hungría y Polonia, países que han vetado los presupuestos de la UE 2021-2027 y con ellos la partida de 750.000 millones de euros. Se burlaría así el bloqueo de dos países que rechazan vincular las ayudas al respeto del Estado de derecho. PÁGINA 2
Iglesias planea extender a parte de los okupas la protección frente a los desahucios JOSÉ LUIS ARANDA, Madrid El Ministerio de Transportes y la Vicepresidencia de Derechos Sociales pactaron ayer las líneas maestras del decreto antidesahucios. El texto impulsado por Pablo Iglesias extiende la protección a las familias vulnerables durante todo el estado de alarma y protege incluso a los okupas vulnerables que vivan en inmuebles de grandes propietarios. PÁGINA 39
$2.75 DESIGNATED AREAS HIGHER
latimes.com
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2020
© 2020
LAUSD families face a thorny choice
ELECTION 2020
■ ■■■■■
Signs of a fraught future for GOP As in Georgia runoffs, Republicans may need Trump’s support while they reject his tactics.
Even with grim weeks projected ahead, the district asks: When schools reopen, will their children come?
By Janet Hook and Jenny Jarvie
By Howard Blume ATLANTA — Even ahead of President Trump’s Georgia rally this weekend for two Republican senators, his part in their crucial runoff elections has been dominant and destabilizing — a harbinger of his likely role in the Republican Party after he leaves office. Republicans see Trump as an essential turnout booster in the hard-fought Georgia contest next month, which will decide which party controls the Senate. But his unsubstantiated rants about election fraud and his attacks on GOP leaders in the state, which he lost to Joe Biden, have made it more difficult for Republicans to secure victory. The tumult in Georgia is a preview of the uncharted political territory Republicans face after Trump’s presidency ends. In unprecedented fashion, the defeated but not conceding president is expected to remain front and center in his party. His erratic, lone-wolf style presents Republicans in Georgia and beyond with [See Trump, A7]
For Trump, chaos in and chaos out As he did from the start, the president is making baseless claims in his final days. NATION, A5
Christina House Los Angeles Times
MANY PARENTS are angry and frustrated over the county’s decision to close playgrounds. Above,
Maala Sampath, 2, tries to climb onto a swing at a playground in Redondo Beach closed by county order.
Where will the kids play? For many parents desperate for child-friendly activities, new rules closing playgrounds cross a line in the sandbox By Hailey Branson-Potts Sydney Beckman ran beneath the yellow caution tape surrounding the empty playground equipment and flopped her tiny body over a swing. The 2-year-old had tried opening a gate blocking the big green slide at Anderson Park in Redondo Beach, but her dad had tugged her away — trying to explain that the playground was closed. They would, he joked, have to sneak back “under cover of darkness.” “Look at her! She looks so sad,” Zachary Beckman said, laughing at her small act of defiance. But the transformation of the playground into a nofun zone angered the 38year-old father in a way that belied his laughter.
Dania Maxwell Los Angeles Times
RULES allowing malls to open but closing
playgrounds confounded many parents.
Skepticism of restrictions grows As the state weighs a new lockdown, it’s unclear whether people will accept it. CALIFORNIA, B1
Shorter quarantine recommended CDC says anyone exposed to an infected person should isolate for 10 days. PERSPECTIVES, A2
Los Angeles County closed outdoor public playgrounds this week as part of a set of restrictions meant to slow an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases. To many parents confounded by an array of official dictates — playgrounds and in-person schooling closed but malls open for business and packed with shoppers — a line in the sandbox has been crossed. “Parents are really taking the brunt of all this,” Beckman said. “I understand the need for safety, but the inconsistencies and lack of logic is very frustrating.” A few feet away, three adults played on the tennis court, which remains open. None wore masks. Nine weary months in, many Californians have entered the “why is this closed while that is open” stage of [See Playgrounds, A12]
S. Korean students are put to the test Nearly 500,000, even those with COVID-19, take crucial national exam, pandemic or no. By Victoria Kim SEOUL — For eight hushed hours Thursday, a second-floor hospital room at the Mokpo City Medical Center at the southwestern tip of South Korea is being transformed into a test center — not for the coronavirus, but for admission to college. Five hospital beds have been wheeled out, making way for a lone school desk. Nurses clad head-to-toe in white protective suits, goggles and masks are taking turns serving as proctors. At the center of it all is an 18year-old high school senior with the coronavirus, taking the most important exam of her lifetime.
South Korea is forging ahead with its annual nationwide college entrance exam despite unease over rising coronavirus infection rates. Nearly half a million students are taking the test Thursday as the country grapples with a third wave of COVID-19 cases, with daily infections hovering around 500 in recent weeks. In a hyper-competitive society where college admission is seen as predetermining many facets of one’s life, including job, income and social status, the exam is a tense affair even in a typical year. Companies delay their workers’ commute so students can get to test centers on time, the stock market pushes back its opening bell by an hour, and planes stop taking off so as to not interfere with listening-comprehension sections. Add to the mix a raging pandemic, and you have a nation on edge about [See South Korea, A4]
Gary Friedman Los Angeles Times
TORCHBEARER
Amid anxieties over online learning and a dangerous surge in coronavirus cases, Los Angeles Unified School District parents are being asked in a new survey to make a critical decision: Will you send your child back to school when campuses reopen? The inopportune timing — as health authorities describe dark scenarios about the weeks ahead — is unavoidable. L.A. Unified, like districts throughout the state, must brace for the worst: the possibility of another hard shutdown of campuses. But they must also simultaneously prepare for the complex task of fully reopening campuses that have been closed for 10 months. The survey, which must be returned by Sunday, is expected to provide the first comprehensive data on where the parents of some 465,000 students stand amid a growing debate over school safety and the extent to which political leaders are prioritizing the importance of reopening campuses. Parents in the nation’s second-largest school district are being asked on a very personal level to weigh the same issues confounding health experts, educators and political leaders: How safe are schools? What are the risks? What’s best for my child? Whether or not to return is “a loaded question with a lot of implications,” said Vanessa Aramayo, executive director of the local nonprofit Alliance for a Better Community. “It’s extremely difficult for the families we work with because of what’s at stake.” Underlying the choice are myriad anxieties, unknowns and trade-offs: Evidence continues to mount that distance-only learning is harmful to many students and exacerbates gaps separating richer and poorer families, and white and Asian students from Black and Latino students. Distance learning also limits the ability of parents to work. Yet no one wants to compromise safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “I am worried that once children return to school [See Schools, A12]
Rafer Johnson runs around the track at the Coliseum on July 28, 1984, prior to lighting the Olympic torch to open the Los Angeles Summer Games.
RAFER JOHNSON, 1934 - 2020
Champion left legacy of golden moments By Scott Wilson
A
s the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles neared, city leaders knew they needed to start strong. Many doubted that the city could pull off such a global event, and a weak or botched opening ceremony might prove them right. For the key role of lighting the Olympic flame, organizers chose Rafer Johnson,
winner of the 1960 Olympic decathlon gold medal and one of the city’s most treasured athletes. But in preparation for the opening ceremony, Johnson discovered a problem. Plans called for Johnson to carry the Olympic torch up the progressively steeper stairs of the Los Angeles Coliseum, and then up an even steeper — and shaky — set of steps to a platform where he was to turn to the crowd, flaming torch in hand, and open [See Johnson, A6]
Dispute amid vaccine news Britain’s celebration of being first to approve a COVID shot does not sit well with some European nations. PERSPECTIVES, A2
Deputies get OK to conceal names L.A. County sheriff, citing harassment of officers, says only badge numbers must be visible while on protest duty. CALIFORNIA, B1
Weather Mostly sunny. L.A. Basin: 72/44. B10 Printed with soy inks on partially recycled paper.
Ahn Young-joon Associated Press
WORKERS disinfect a classroom in Seoul two days
before South Korea’s college entrance test Thursday.
An inspiration: Rafer Johnson had remained a familiar figure at UCLA. His actions meant more to him than his medals, Helene Elliott writes. SPORTS, B6
BUSINESS INSIDE: He’s a Republican, a financier — and a backer of ‘Medicare for all.’ A8
Nxxx,2020-12-03,A,001,Bs-4C,E1
CMYK
Late Edition Today, lots of sunshine, not as chilly, high 51. Tonight, partly cloudy, low 44. Tomorrow, mostly cloudy sky, spotty rain showers, high 50. Weather map appears on Page A24.
VOL. CLXX . . . . No. 58,896
$3.00
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2020
© 2020 The New York Times Company
Britain Gives Approval To Vaccine From Pfizer In a First for the West Decision Clears Path for Inoculations — ‘Help Is on the Way,’ Official Says By BENJAMIN MUELLER
HILARY SWIFT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
John Deaton, a 27-year-old travel nurse, right, helping to move a Covid-19 patient into a bed at Bellin Hospital in Green Bay, Wis.
1% of Borrowers Got Quarter of the Relief Money Nurses Race To Hot Spots Small Business Data Reveals Lopsided Of Pandemic By STACY COWLEY and ELLA KOEZE
By JULIE BOSMAN
As the coronavirus cut a devastating path around the country, Laura Liffiton, 32, found herself racing along behind. She arrived in New York City in April, on one of the worst days of the pandemic, for a stint as a nurse in the overrun intensivecare unit of a crowded hospital. After her contract there ended, she flew in July to another hot spot with an urgent need for nurses: an Arizona hospital where four of her patients died of the virus on her first day. In October, Ms. Liffiton traveled on, to Green Bay, Wis., just as the virus was surging uncontrollably through the Midwest. “When the pandemic began, I thought, ‘I’m going to go help, I can do some good, I can make some good money,’” she said. But on the first day of treating coronavirus patients, Ms. Liffiton remembered, “I was like Dorothy landing in Oz. I was totally unprepared for the reality.” As the coronavirus has spiked across the country, leaving a record 100,226 Americans hospitalized on Wednesday, travel nurses, who work on temporary contracts for higher fees and move from city to city, are more urgently needed than ever. More deaths were reported on Wednesday than on any other day of the pandemic, surpassing the single-day death record of 2,752, set in April. And federal officials suggested that the picture may grow still worse in the months ahead. Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that the nation was facing a devastating winter, predicting that total deaths from Covid-19 could reach “close to 450,000” by February unless a large percentage of Americans follow precautions like maskwearing. “The reality is, December and January and February are going to be rough times,” he said. “I actually believe they’re going to be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation.” As hospitals fill with virus patients, the biggest need has been finding enough staff to tend to the critically ill. Demand for travel nurses has increased by more than 40 percent in the last month, according to Aya Healthcare, an agency based in California that dispatches them to hospitals. At least 25,000 nurses work in travel nursing, though the number flucContinued on Page A7
The Paycheck Protection Program was the centerpiece of the federal government’s relief efforts to keep millions of small businesses afloat during the coronavirus pandemic. But new data shows what many had suspected all along: The money was shared unevenly, with the biggest sums going to a sliver of the companies in need. Detailed loan information released by the Small Business Administration late on Tuesday showed that a mere 1 percent of the program’s 5.2 million borrowers — those seeking $1.4 million and above — received more than a quarter of the $523 billion disbursed. About 600 businesses — including powerful law firms like Boies Schiller Flexner, restaurants like
Distribution the steakhouse chain started by Ted Turner, as well as the operator of New York’s biggest horse tracks — received the maximum loan amount of $10 million, according to the data. It was the first full accounting of how federal money was spent through the program. Aimed at small companies — generally those with 500 or fewer workers — the program provided forgivable loans to desperate business owners who were faced with widespread shutdowns. But the program allowed businesses to take enough money to cover only a couple of months’ ex-
penses, and it has come under criticism for its poorly defined rules and a hasty and haphazard rollout that allowed fraudsters to tap into the money, which will take years of litigation to sort out. The newly released data also includes details of loans made under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan system, a longstanding Small Business Administration program that was vastly expanded to offer relief to businesses affected by the pandemic. Together, the two programs spread more than $700 billion to companies in just a few months. The loan data was released under an order by Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in Washington, who rejected the S.B.A.’s request to keep the information confidential. Previously released data on the paycheck program contained only ranges for larger loan amounts, and no inContinued on Page A9
JONAH MARKOWITZ FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Passengers at the Union Turnpike station in Queens. Ridership has increased in the borough.
As Jobs Come Back, So Does Subway Crowding By CHRISTINA GOLDBAUM
Just after sunrise at a subway station in Woodhaven, Queens, the rhythm of riders pouring onto the platform echoed life before the pandemic. In the 10 minutes between trains, the crowd swelled until riders lined the platform and filed into an arriving subway car, snatching the few remaining seats. Though not quite as bustling as last year, stations like this one and others in Queens, Brooklyn and
INTERNATIONAL A10-13
Lower-Income Workers Fill Trains, and Worry the Bronx are experiencing a surge as people who work in retail and service industries return to their jobs in person and join the ranks of essential workers riding the subway. Even as stations in Manhattan that were once the busiest in the
city remain eerily quiet — with as few as one-fifth of typical passenger levels — ridership at some stops in the other boroughs has surpassed 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels. The spike has breathed life back into a system that was drained of nearly all its riders when the pandemic hit in the spring. It has also provided a little bit of a financial boost to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the subway and is facContinued on Page A8
LONDON — Britain gave emergency authorization on Wednesday to Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, leaping ahead of the United States to become the first Western country to allow mass inoculations against a disease that has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide. The decision cleared the way for a vaccination campaign with little precedent in modern medicine, encompassing not only ultracold dry ice but also a crusade against anti-vaccine misinformation. Britain’s beating the United States to authorization — on a vaccine codeveloped by an American company, no less — intensified pressure on U.S. regulators, who are under fire from the White House for not moving faster to get doses to people. But it also fueled concerns that Britain was acting in haste for political reasons or trying to muscle its way to the front of the line for deliveries. European regulators on Wednesday cast doubt on the rigor of Britain’s review and said that the authorization was limited to
Iran Steps Up Nuclear Work, In Test of U.S. By FARNAZ FASSIHI and DAVID E. SANGER
Iran responded Wednesday to the assassination of its top nuclear scientist by enacting a law ordering an immediate ramping up of its enrichment of uranium to levels closer to weapons-grade fuel. The measure also requires the expulsion of international nuclear inspectors if American sanctions are not lifted by early February, posing a direct challenge to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. It was not clear whether the action was the totality of the Iranian response to the killing of the scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, whom American and Israeli intelligence agencies regarded as the guiding force of past efforts by Tehran to design a nuclear weapon, or whether more was to come. Iranian officials have vowed to avenge his killing. The new law orders Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency to resume enriching uranium to a level of 20 percent immediately, returning Iran’s program to the maximum level that existed before the 2015 nuclear agreement reached with the Obama administration. Uranium enriched to that level would give Iran the ability to convert its entire stockpile to bombgrade levels within six months. Despite the lag time, the order to start the process may be seen by the Trump administration as a provocation in its waning days. Just three weeks ago, after news of modest advances in the size of Iran’s nuclear stockpile, Mr. Trump asked his advisers about military options to stop the country from producing the fuel. He was talked out of considering an attack by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, one of the fiercest of the Iran hawks in the administration, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark A. Milley, among other senior officials. The new law also sets a twomonth deadline for oil and banking sanctions against Iran to be lifted before inspectors are barred, creating a potential crisis Continued on Page A12
TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-9
OBITUARIES A21
Democrats Lower Stimulus Bid
An Aristocrat Who Led France
Top Democrats in Congress endorsed a $908 billion stimulus proposal, offering a major concession to try to pressure Republicans to reach a deal. PAGE A9
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, a descendant of nobility who as president sought but failed to make government more responsive to the people, was 94.
NATIONAL A14-20, 24
THURSDAY STYLES D1-6
specific batches of the vaccine, a claim that Pfizer denied and British officials did not address. Britain’s move provoked a spirited debate among American scientists about whether U.S. regulators, who are known to be unusually meticulous, could afford to hold off any longer on authorizing a vaccine against a virus that is claiming more than 10,000 lives a day worldwide. American regulators have argued that they lag behind — if only by a matter of days — because they are virtually alone in reanalyzing thousands of pages of raw data from vaccine trials before approval. Backers of that approach say it is the only way to minimize unintended damage, in lives and in public trust, from vaccines not working. British and European regulators lean more heavily on the companies’ own analyses, auditing their figures occasionally but otherwise grounding their decisions on vaccine makers’ reports. While the more cautious American approach can be valuable, some sciContinued on Page A6
ANNA MONEYMAKER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Senator David Perdue of Georgia is an active stock trader.
Perdue Engaged In 2,596 Trades In a Single Term This article is by Stephanie Saul, Kate Kelly and Michael LaForgia.
As a member of the Senate’s cybersecurity subcommittee, David Perdue has raised alarms that hackers from overseas pose a threat to U.S. computer networks. Citing a frightening report by a California-based company called FireEye, Mr. Perdue was among the senators who asked this spring that the National Guard prepare to protect against such data breaches. Not only was the issue important to Mr. Perdue, so was FireEye, a federal contractor that provides malware detection and threat-intelligence services. Beginning in 2016, the senator bought and sold FireEye stock 61 times, at one point owning as much as $250,000 worth of shares in the company. Along with Senator Kelly Loeffler, a fellow Georgia Republican, Mr. Perdue faces an unusual runoff election in January. With control of the Senate at stake, and amid renewed concern about the potential for conflicts of interest in stock trading by members of Congress, Mr. Perdue’s investment activity — and especially his numerous well-timed trades — has increasingly come into the public glare. Last week, The New York Times reported that the Justice Department had investigated the Continued on Page A15
SPORTSTHURSDAY B6-8
ARTS C1-6
2 Countries in a Pickle
Segregation’s Physical Scars
Warmer White House Halls
Still Working, Despite Flags
The Resilience of Chinatown
China’s claim that it set the standard for making kimchi, above, outraged South Korean social media users. PAGE A10
In bricked-over doorways and behind dividing walls, vestiges of oppression dot the American landscape. PAGE A14
The Christmas decorations at the White House are drawing largely snarkless reviews this time around. PAGE D2
Join the critic Michael Kimmelman and Nancy Yao Maasbach of the Museum of Chinese in America on a tour of the Manhattan neighborhood. PAGE C1
Prison for Hong Kong Activists
As Trump Rages, Voters Relax
The Party Isn’t Over Yet
A French soccer instructor keeps working despite troubling contacts with young players, and the national federation says it can do nothing. PAGE B6
The sentences for a 2019 protest reflected Beijing’s intensifying crackdown on political opposition. PAGE A11
With a tense election over, many people in Bucks County, Pa., are tuning out the president and moving on. PAGE A18
Many employers say the office holiday celebration must go on, despite the challenges the pandemic poses. PAGE D1
EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23
Frank Bruni
PAGE A22
U(D54G1D)y+[!;!&!$!z
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXVI NO. 131
* * * * *
DJIA 29883.79 À 59.87 0.2%
NASDAQ 12349.37 g 0.05%
STOXX 600 391.69 g 0.1%
10-YR. TREAS. g 4/32 , yield 0.948%
WSJ.com
OIL $45.28 À $0.73
GOLD $1,825.70 À $11.60
On Capitol Hill, Another Joust Over Fed Lending Measures
What’s News Business & Finance PS imposed temporary shipping restrictions on some large retailers such as Gap and Nike this week, an early sign that the pandemicfueled online shopping season is stretching delivery networks to their limits. A1
U
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to a record in a choppy trading session. The Dow also added 0.2%, while the Nasdaq slipped 5.74 points. B10 Some investors are betting the Fed could start buying more long-term Treasurys as soon as its next policy meeting, a trend that has helped temper some recent selling. B1 SoftBank and its tech-focused Vision Fund stand to win big if DoorDash’s expected IPO is as successful as the food-delivery company hopes it will be. B4
World-Wide The U.K. became the first Western nation to grant emergency-use authorization for a Covid-19 vaccine, clearing a shot developed by Pfizer and BioNTech to be distributed in limited numbers within days. A1 Covid-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. set another record as the number of coronavirus patients in the nation’s hospitals topped 100,000. A8 The CDC cut the recommended quarantine period to seven to 10 days for people in the U.S. who have been exposed to the coronavirus. A8 Democratic leaders signaled they were prepared to reduce their demands for the next round of coronavirus relief, fueling hopes that a deal could be reached with Republicans by year-end. A1 The SBA’s release of new data on PPP borrowers highlights how money flowed to both mom-and-pop businesses and larger firms. A4 Poor and middle-income parents at hundreds of colleges have taken on substantial debt to help their children through school, new federal figures show. A1 Trump delivered a speech from the White House in which he insisted that he won the election and again declined to concede to Biden. A6 Netanyahu’s coalition partners withdrew their support for the government, raising the prospect it could collapse and send Israel to a fourth election in less than two years. A18 Died: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, 94, former president of France. A18 CONTENTS Business News...... B3 Capital Account.... A2 Crossword.............. A14 Equities....................... B8 Heard on Street.. B11 Markets................... B10
Opinion.............. A15-17 Personal Journal A11-13 Sports....................... A14 Technology............... B4 U.S. News............. A2-8 Weather................... A14 World News...... A9,18
>
s 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Covid-19 Vaccine Cleared For Use In U.K.
By Bojan Pancevski, Jenny Strasburg and Jared S. Hopkins
BUMPS: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appeared Wednesday before a House panel, where Mr. Mnuchin defended his decision to let a suite of emergency lending programs expire at year’s end. A4
Virus-Aid Talks Pick Up Speed BY KRISTINA PETERSON Democratic leaders signaled Wednesday they were prepared to reduce their demands for the next round of coronavirus relief, fueling hopes that an agreement could be reached with Republicans by year’s end to boost struggling businesses and households. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the
chamber’s Democratic leader, said that a new, bipartisan $908 billion coronavirus relief proposal released Tuesday should serve as the starting point for talks to try to resolve months of disagreement with GOP leaders and the White House. “Of course, we and others will offer improvements,” Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer said in a joint statement, “but the need to act is immediate and we be-
lieve that with good-faith negotiations we could come to an agreement.” Democrats had coalesced earlier around a $2.4 trillion bill passed in the House, which contains measures including funding for state and local governments and food stamps, among others, which GOP proposals have excluded. Republicans leaders have proposed a fraction of that; their most recent bill cost around $500 bil-
INSIDE
College-Loan Debt Hits Parents Hard BY ANDREA FULLER AND JOSH MITCHELL Poor and middle-income parents at hundreds of colleges have taken on substantial debt—amounts sometimes more than twice their annual income—to help their children through school, new federal figures show. The schools with the largest parent-debt burdens aren’t world-famous Ivy League schools, a Wall Street Journal analysis found. Rather, they include art schools, historically Black colleges, and small private colleges where parents are borrowing nearly six-figure amounts to fulfill their children’s college dreams. For the first time, the U.S. Education Department, through its annual release of college financial data, provided information Wednesday on the level of
Test for Tech: Wyatt Earp? Ringo Starr? i
i
i
Facial recognition meets its match in Old West photos BY PARMY OLSON Denny Rodman, an antiques collector in Houston, made an exciting find on Facebook’s online marketplace in August. An old image of three men looked a lot like the infamous Dalton brothers, the Wild West bank robbers. He bought the photo for $100, wrote a 35-page report arguing for its authenticity, then sent the report to Bob Utley, a 91-year-old authority on the outlaws of the period. He included a facial-recognition analysis that showed strong evidence of a match. Mr. Utley wasn’t convinced. “Identifying people of generaPlease turn to page A10
debt parents took on through a federal college loan program called Parent Plus. Previously, the department released information on debt levels of students at specific colleges and universities, but not the borrowing taken on by parents on a student’s behalf. The Parent Plus data “provides a more complete financial picture of how recent graduates have paid for their postsecondary education,” the Education Department said in a statement Wednesday. The amounts may be burdensome for many parents. At nearly 150 colleges, parents typically took out loans worth $50,000 or more, the data show. At more than 500 schools, the median amount they borrowed was between $25,000 and $50,000. Parents of graduates from Please turn to page A6
PERSONAL JOURNAL A guide to films and series rolling out during the holiday season. A12-A13
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Dyal is in talks to merge with Owl Rock, part of a complicated deal with a special-purpose acquisition company that would take the asset managers public. B1
YEN 104.41
LONDON—The U.K. became the first Western nation to grant emergency-use authorization for a Covid-19 vaccine, clearing a shot developed by Pfizer Inc. of the U.S. and BioNTech SE of Germany to be distributed in limited numbers within days.
GREG NASH/PRESS POOL
Amazon.com is in exclusive talks to purchase podcast startup Wondery, as the technology giant pushes further into the growing audio sector. B1
EURO $1.2118
West’s first approval for emergency use opens door for limited distribution in days
The House unanimously approved legislation that threatens a trading ban on shares of Chinese companies over concerns that their audits aren’t sufficiently regulated. B1 Senate Republicans’ bid to confirm Shelton as a Federal Reserve governor appears unlikely to succeed now that a new Democratic senator has been seated. A2
HHHH $4.00
BUSINESS The home-appliance industry makes a hard pivot toward hygiene amid the pandemic. B1
UPS Puts Restrictions On Retailer Shipments BY PAUL ZIOBRO United Parcel Service Inc. imposed temporary shipping restrictions on some large retailers such as Gap Inc. and Nike Inc. this week, an early sign that the pandemic-fueled online shopping season is stretching delivery networks to their limits. The delivery giant on Cyber Monday notified drivers across the U.S. to stop picking up packages for now at six retailers—L.L. Bean Inc., Hot Topic Inc., Newegg Inc. and Macy’s Inc., in addition to Gap and Nike—according to an internal message viewed by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by UPS workers in different regions. “No exceptions,” the message said. This year retailers are increasingly dependent on delivery companies to move online holiday orders, as store traffic has plummeted during the cor-
onavirus pandemic—a dynamic that has shifted power significantly. UPS and rival FedEx Corp. have raised prices and promised to hold merchants to volume agreements. The temporary limits, which some drivers said they haven’t seen during previous holiday seasons, are a sign that UPS is metering the flow of packages into its network to preserve its performance during one of the busiest shipping weeks of the year. The National Retail Federation estimated that online shopping jumped 44% over a recent five-day stretch that included Black Friday and Cyber Monday. UPS, without commenting on any customer-specific directive, said the company will pick up packages from customers whose demand exceeded allocated space once more capacity becomes available. Shipping levels tend to jump the week after Thanksgiving, Please turn to page A9
lion. But on Tuesday, a new bipartisan group unveiled a $908 billion relief proposal, designed to help buoy workers and businesses through March. Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R., S.D.) said Democratic leaders’ call to center negotiations around the bipartisan proposal was a move in the Please turn to page A4 Fed candidacy appears unlikely to succeed................. A2
The two-shot vaccine is also being reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S., where a similar authorization could come this month and a rollout before year-end. The U.K. green light on Wednesday punctuates a monthslong sprint by the two drugmakers, which teamed up this year and then pulled ahead of two other Western pharmaceutical companies, each with its own promising shot. Vaccines typically take years to bring to market. It also marks a key milestone in efforts to translate a promisPlease turn to page A8 CDC shortens quarantine for virus exposures........................ A8 U.S. hospitalizations for coronavirus top 100,000.... A8
China Has a Friend In Wall Street Trade deal disappointed many U.S. industries, but financial giants see opportunity BY LINGLING WEI, BOB DAVIS AND DAWN LIM In February 2018, Beijing’s chief trade negotiator was in Washington to try to avert a trade war. Before meeting his U.S. counterparts, he turned to a select group of American business executives—mostly from Wall Street. “We need your help,” Vice Premier Liu He told guests gathered in a hotel near the White House, according to people with knowledge of the matter. They included BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink, David Solomon, then Goldman Sachs Group’s second-in-command, and JP-
Morgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon, there as chairman of the Business Roundtable lobbying group. Looking for allies in trade talks with the Trump administration, Mr. Liu dangled a prize, the people say: Beijing offered to give U.S. financial firms a new opportunity to expand in China. Shortly after the gathering, Mr. Liu presented China’s position to the U.S. side, including the financial opening. Most other U.S. industries were disappointed. The Trump administration Please turn to page A10 House passes delisting of China firms over audits........ B1
WE SEE WHAT OTHERS C A N ’ T. With end-through-end visibility, NETSCOUT delivers consistent detection, prevention, and analytics— across any application, any cloud, and any data center.
goNETSCOUT.com