$2.75 DESIGNATED AREAS HIGHER
latimes.com
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020
© 2020 WSCE
Fire alert systems challenge officials
DONORS AND O.C. BISHOP IN CASH DISPUTE
Warning residents of approaching danger is not an easy task, say county leaders.
Philanthropists were removed from a foundation after they rebuffed a diocese request for money.
By Joseph Serna In Napa County, a wildfire alert meant for cellphones would not connect because of a coding error. In Sonoma County, similar alerts were sent to areas that required no evacuation and linked to an evacuation map that was a year old. And in Solano County’s Vacaville, a city emergency operations employee missed a call to report to work because his phone was set to vibrate. As fire crews battle a massive system of wildfires sparked by freak lightning storms, emergency officials are learning once again of the technological shortcomings of localized alert systems. Despite heeding much of the emergency management guidance dispensed in the last year from Sacramento, counties dealing with the LNU Lightning Complex fire burning in Northern California have nonetheless encountered difficulties. When the LNU Lightning Complex fire exploded over 36 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday last week, expanding from three burns across 12,000 acres to more than a half-dozen fires [See Alerts, A14]
By Harriet Ryan Photographs by
THE SCORCHED remains of Napa County resident Leo McDermott’s property. He had built a bunker as a safe haven, but McDermott, his girlfriend, Mary Hintemeyer, and his son Thomas died in last week’s fires.
A blaze too fast to outrun The family had a bunker and water, but could not escape the flames. Their relatives see their deaths as a lesson for others. By Anita Chabria
‘Ragtag outfit’ fights wildfire With little outside help on the way, about 50 residents of a small town banded together to save homes. CALIFORNIA, B1
Kent Nishimura Los Angeles Times
ROBERT McNEAL warned Hintemeyer, his mother, to get out before
the Markley fire and flames from the canyon converged nearby.
LAKE BERRYESSA, Calif. — A week ago, Mary Hintemeyer stood in the oak grove that surrounded her Northern California home and looked out at where a fire was burning a few ridges away, unsure of its threat. Normally, there is no cellphone signal in these parched hills that form the basin for Lake Berryessa, a reservoir that runs 15 miles across Napa County’s Vaca Mountains. But that evening, she was able to reach her oldest child, Robert McNeal, who lives 13 miles away in the closest town, Winters. He told her to get out. As they spoke, she turned back toward the mobile home where she lived with her disabled boyfriend, Leo McDermott, and his son, Thomas. Behind it, on the ridge that loomed above her, she saw smoke — another fire coming out of nearby Wragg Canyon, which she thought had been contained. “She said, ‘Oh my God, it’s coming over the other side toward me,’ ” said [See Deaths, A14]
■ ■ ■ ELECTION 2020 ■■ ■ Republican National Convention
First lady offers a contrast in empathy Her speech aims to reassure in a time of pandemic, while two of president’s children offer partisan appeals. By Eli Stokols and Noah Bierman WASHINGTON — President Trump leaned on his family to help make his case for reelection Tuesday night, using made-for-TV stagecraft and a personal speech by First Lady Melania Trump to try to broaden his appeal while two of his adult children made more partisan appeals to his base. Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, the first lady sought to reassure a country shaken by a deadly pandemic and a deep recession, the president’s greatest political liabilities, showing an empathy that he rarely displays. While other speakers largely ignored the health and economic crises convulsing the country, she acknowledged the soaring death toll and widespread unemployment, expressing sympathy for the nearly 180,000 victims and their families. “I know many people are anxious, and some feel helpless. I want you to know you’re not alone,” she said, promising the administration would fight for vaccines and therapies. She promised that her husband — who she ac[See RNC, A6]
The FedEx envelopes landed at dawn on the doorsteps of some of Orange County’s most influential Catholic philanthropists — real estate developers, attorneys, CEOs and other church stalwarts who had raised tens of millions of dollars over the years for the local diocese. Inside were letters from Bishop Kevin Vann that boiled down to two words: You’re fired. Those June missives ignited a revolt inside the Orange County church that has burned all the way to the Vatican while remaining largely hidden from the diocese’s 1.3 million rank-andfile Catholics. At its heart is a falling out between a circle of well-connected laypeople who helped the church rebound financially from the clergy abuse scandal two decades ago, and a prelate staring down fresh money problems brought on by the pandemic and a new round of molestation lawsuits. The benefactors have accused Vann of violating state law by removing them from the board of an independent charity after they rebuffed what they contend was an illegal plan to “invade” endowment funds and flout donor wishes. They complained formally last month to the papal nuncio, the Vatican representative in Washington, D.C., and have alerted Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, the head of the American bishops’ conference, along with a cardinal in Rome who oversees clergy issues and charitable foundations for Pope Francis. A spokeswoman said the bishop was on vacation for the month and unavailable for an interview. His representatives denied he or the church acted improperly, but declined to answer many questions about the situation, with the spokeswoman, Tracey Kincaid, saying the diocese “does not comment on internal processes.” The situation unfolding in Orange County might be a harbinger for other dioceses. At a time when generational shifts and the fallout of the [See Catholics, A8]
Wisconsin town reeling
Evan Vucci Associated Press
FIRST LADY Melania Trump arrives to address the Republican National Convention from the Rose Garden,
one of several examples of the president leveraging the White House for political benefit this week.
FDA overstated COVID benefits
ANALYSIS
Anti-racist unrest exploited to fuel white fear By David Lauter WASHINGTON — In an election in which the vast majority long ago made up their minds, Democrats and Republicans each opened their conventions fishing for the same group of swing voters, but offering very different lures.
As protests continue to roil Kenosha, a Black man shot in the back by police Sunday lies paralyzed in the hospital. NATION, A4
The voters open to persuasion at this point are mostly disaffected Republicans and wavering independents who may have approved of President Trump in February, but turned against him this spring. Democrats pursued them with a parade of Republican ex-officials and an emphasis on Trump’s failure
to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans have countered, especially on their convention’s first night, with repeated images of crime and urban unrest. Polling by both sides indicates that the issue of crime could move some voters — especially older white voters angered by Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic,
but still suspicious of Democrats. Moving them enough to matter will be difficult, however, so long as the pandemic dominates voters’ attention. Both sides know that many of those voters are especially susceptible to arguments about safety and security. [See Analysis, A6]
The agency chief apologizes for exaggerating the results of a trial involving convalescent plasma, which echoed Trump. NATION, A8 Weather Low clouds, then sun. L.A. Basin: 91/69. B10 Printed with soy inks on partially recycled paper.
BUSINESS INSIDE: State Legislature is considering a bill to end single-family zoning. A10
Nxxx,2020-08-26,A,001,Bs-4C,E2_+
CMYK
Late Edition Today, mostly sunny, breezy, cooler, less humid, high 80. Tonight, partly cloudy, low 68. Tomorrow, partly sunny skies, hotter, more humid, high 90. Weather map, Page C8.
VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,797 +
$3.00
NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020
© 2020 The New York Times Company
Battling Heat And the Virus At the Harvest
TRUMP TAKES AIM AT MIDDLE, USING TOOLS OF OFFICE
Brutal Summer Work Grows Even Harder
BID TO BROADEN APPEAL
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
STOCKTON, Calif — Work began in the dark. At 4 a.m., Briseida Flores could make out a fire burning in the distance. Floodlights illuminated the fields. And shoulder to shoulder with dozens of others, Ms. Flores pushed into the rows of corn. Swiftly, they plucked. One after the other. First under the lights, then by the first rays of daylight. By 10:30 a.m., it was unbearably hot. Hundreds of wildfires were burning to the north, and so much smoke was settling into the San Joaquin Valley that the local air pollution agency issued a health alert. Ms. Flores, 19, who had joined her mother in the fields after her father lost his job in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, found it hard to breathe in between the tightly planted rows. Her jeans were soaked with sweat. “It felt like a hundred degrees in there,” Ms. Flores said. “We said we don’t want to go in anymore.” She went home, exhausted, and slept for an hour. All this to harvest dried, ochercolored ears of corn meant to decorate the autumn table. Like the gossamer layer of ash and dust that is settling on the trees in Central California, climate change is adding on to the hazards already faced by some of the country’s poorest, most neglected laborers. So far this year, more than 7,000 fires have scorched 1.4 million acres, and there is no reprieve in sight, officials warned. Summer days are hotter than they were a century ago in the already scorching San Joaquin Valley; the nights, when the body would normally cool down, are warming faster. Heat waves are more frequent. And across the state, fires have burned over a million acres in less than two weeks. One recent scientific paper concluded that climate change had doubled the frequency of extreme fire weather days since the 1980s. In the valley is where the smoke gets stuck when the wind blows it in from the north and south. Still, hundreds of thousands of men and women like Ms. Flores continue to pluck, weed, and pack produce for the nation here, as temperatures soar into the triple digits for days at a time and the air turns to a soup of dust and smoke, stirred with pollution from truck Continued on Page A24
DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION
G.O.P. Points Message at Both Women and Minority Voters By ALEXANDER BURNS and JONATHAN MARTIN
PETE MAROVICH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
PETE MAROVICH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Clockwise from top left, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke from Jerusalem; Melania Trump thanked frontline workers; Eric Trump said a vote for his father “is a vote for the American spirit”; Tiffany Trump talked of “a fight for freedom versus oppression.”
‘Good Soldier’ Pence Walks Line Trump’s Goals Are Their Goals, Between Loyalty and His Future And the Tweets Are Irrelevant By TRIP GABRIEL
By ALEXANDER BURNS and MAGGIE HABERMAN
Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the federal coronavirus task force, delivered a clear message to governors about reopening schools. Help us help you, Mr. Pence told the state executives during a virtual meeting in early July, stressing that the administration wanted to see children back in the classroom. “You all build your plan, we’ll work with you,” Mr. Pence said, according to a recording of the session. He added, “We’re here to help.” The next day, Mr. Pence’s boss issued a different message to states. On July 8, President Trump accused Democrats of trying to obstruct the reopening of schools for political reasons and threatened retribution: “May cut off funding if not open!” he tweeted. If Mr. Pence felt embarrassed or undermined by the president’s outburst, he did not show it. Indeed, when he held another call with governors a week later, Mr. Pence made no mention of the president’s ultimatum, instead reiterating his own more diplomatic
plea that states make every effort to reopen their education systems. “Our bottom line is: We’re with you,” Mr. Pence said on July 13. Over the past four years, that stark contrast in approach — and the ultimate, unquestioned supremacy of Mr. Trump — has defined the political partnership between the president and his running mate. Since Mr. Trump plucked Mr. Pence from the governorship of Indiana to serve as socially conservative ballast on a thrice-married real estate mogul’s ticket, Mr. Pence has grown accustomed to performing such acrobatics, maneuvering around or dialing back in private what Mr. Trump bellows in public. The cumulative effect of Mr. Pence’s conduct is to create around him a kind of artificial bubble of relative normalcy, in which the vice president avoids Mr. Trump’s most explosive and divisive behavior mostly by pretending it does not exist. Mr. Pence never expresses overt disagreement with Mr. Continued on Page A18
DiAnna Schenkel is a law school graduate who once ran on the Democratic ticket for her city council. She voted twice for Barack Obama. A 59-year-old suburbanite in North Carolina, she worries about her Black son-inlaw being racially profiled by the police, pulled over and beaten or worse. The portrait of a Biden voter? No, Ms. Schenkel, who is white, is a confirmed supporter of Donald J. Trump. She voted for him enthusiastically four years ago after becoming disillusioned with the Obama presidency, and plans to vote for his re-election. At the same time, she is wary of expressing her politics openly because she believes that stereotypes of what she calls “Trumpers” like herself, as portrayed on social media and in conversations, are smug and spiteful. “There’s so many people throwing down really inflammatory words: Racist. Xenophobic,” she said of the way people regard Trump supporters. “And these inflammatory words carry emotions. It just pivots people to
where they’re not going to even tolerate someone for supporting that person. You’re automatically put on trial and you have to testify why you believe what you believe.” As Mr. Trump takes center stage at the Republican National Convention this week, he maintains a core of rock-solid supporters like Ms. Schenkel who believe he is fighting in America’s best interests and has achieved many of his goals — which are their goals too. He has aggressively cultivated these voters over the last few months with scathing criticism of vandalism that has occasionally arisen from mostly peaceful protests calling for racial justice, and by boasting that, pre-coronavirus, he had built an economy second to none. For Democrats and many independents, Mr. Trump has shattered the norms of presidential behavior with racist tweets and divisive policies; his use of federal agencies to advance his personal interests; and, perhaps most important, his detachment from Continued on Page A20
President Trump made a bid to sand down his divisive political image by appropriating the resources of his office and the powers of the presidency at the Republican convention on Tuesday, breaching the traditional boundaries between campaigning and governing in an effort to broaden his appeal beyond his conservative base. In an abrupt swerve from the dire tone of the convention’s first night, Mr. Trump staged a grabbag of gauzy events and personal testimonials aimed in particular at women and minority voters. In videos recorded at the White House, Mr. Trump pardoned a Nevada man convicted of bank robbery and swore in five new American citizens, all of them people of color, in a miniature naturalization ceremony. Where the convention on Monday emphasized predictions of social and economic desolation under a government led by Democrats, the speakers on Tuesday — including three from Mr. Trump’s immediate family — hailed the president as a friend to women and a champion of criminal justice reform. There was no effort to reconcile the dissonance between the two nights’ programs, particularly the shift from Monday’s rhetoric about a looming “vengeful mob” of dangerous criminals into Tuesday’s tributes to the power of personal redemption. It was not clear whether this new appeal would change the minds of women, minorities and others who formed negative opinions of Mr. Trump over the last five years, amid the allegations of sexual assault against him, the appeals to racial bigotry and hardline policies like a border crackdown that separated migrant families. The coronavirus pandemic was largely confined to parenthetical comments within the speeches, and, not wanting to remind viewers of the virus, nobody who appeared during the course of the evening wore a mask. Melania Trump, the first lady, addressed it Continued on Page A16
Summer Glimpses of Post-Pandemic Life Turn to Fears About Fall As China Sets a Digital Dragnet, Hong Kong Dodges and Weaves By MICHAEL WILSON
In March and April, as ambulances raced through neighborhoods and refrigerated trucks sat humming behind hospitals overwhelmed by the pandemic’s dead, summer seemed a distant fantasy. Then it arrived as promised: the city unveiled in a series of phases that brought its streets back to something closer to life. The coronavirus infections dropped, the curve flattened, dinner and drinks were served beneath the stars and friends reunited in parks and on beaches as if home from a war. But throughout the city, between the elbow bumps and happy hours, lurked a deep and intense anxiety over what might lie ahead, as summer gives way to autumn and a new rash of frightening unknowns. September, always both an ending and a beginning, seems this year almost impossibly fraught, its usual rhythms — back to school, back to work — upended. In interviews, New Yorkers, even as they leaned into summer activities and visited parks and cafes, shared a common forebod-
By PAUL MOZUR
SEPTEMBER DAWN BOTTOMS/THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Brooklyn Bridge at sunset. New Yorkers got back outside during summer as infections fell. ing that looked beyond the virus itself. Schools, the economy, crime, food, shelter, travel and access to family, planning a vacation — nothing feels like a given in these waning days of August.
“I don’t think it’s going to get better,” said Angel Vasquez, 39, a data processor, visiting Bush Terminal Piers Park in Brooklyn with his three young daughters. “I think it’s going to get worse.”
On most days, New York’s rate of infection hovers below 1 percent of the roughly 25,000 tests performed each day in the city. Similarly, the number of positive tests Continued on Page A6
To get onto his Facebook account, the police used Tony Chung’s body. When officers swarmed him at a Hong Kong shopping mall last month, they pulled him into a stairwell and pinned his head in front of his phone — an attempt to trigger the facial recognition system. Later, at his home, officers forced his finger onto a separate phone. Then they demanded passwords. “They said, ‘Do you know with the national security law, we have all the rights to unlock your phones and get your passwords?’” Mr. Chung recalled. Emboldened by that new law, Hong Kong security forces are turning to harsher tactics as they close a digital dragnet on activists, pro-democracy politicians and media leaders. Their approaches — which in the past month have included installing a camera outside the home of a prominent politician and breaking into the Facebook account of another — bear
TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-8
BUSINESS B1-6
No Symptoms, No Need to Test
Rush to Grab a Table in Britain
The C.D.C. quietly modified guidelines on testing, but some experts called the move “potentially dangerous.” PAGE A4
Britons have stormed restaurants, pubs and cafes to take advantage of a stimulus program in which the government picks up half the check. PAGE B1
marked similarities to those long used by the fearsome domestic security forces in mainland China. Not accustomed to such pressures, Hong Kong lawmakers and activists, and the American companies that own the most popular internet services there, have struggled to respond. Pro-democracy politicians have issued instructions to supporters on how to secure digital devices. Many have flocked to encrypted chat apps like Signal and changed their names on social media. Dogged by the global reach of the law, even people from Hong Kong living far away from the city worry. One Facebook discussion group of Hong Kongers living in Australia closed off public access after a user claimed to have reported discussions to the Hong Kong authorities for potentially violating the law. Major internet companies like Facebook and Twitter have temporarily cut off data sharing with Continued on Page A12
INTERNATIONAL A10-14 NATIONAL A23-25
Anguish Over Police Shooting Some in Wisconsin were stunned as buildings went up in flames after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot. PAGE A23
Airline Warns of Job Cuts American Airlines said it would shed up to 19,000 workers if the industry did not receive government aid. PAGE A25
Targeting Ally With Sanctions The U.S. is taking aim at a small German port city to try to halt a nearly complete Russian gas pipeline. PAGE A10 OBITUARIES B10-11
Writer Who Explored Lives Gail Sheehy, 83, plumbed the character of newsmakers for insights. PAGE B11
ARTS C1-7
FOOD D1-8
SPORTSWEDNESDAY B7-9
Met Ready to Shine Again
N.F.L. Faces Bias Claims
Pepperoni Amid the Cornstalks
With fewer people and more protocols, the country’s largest museum is ready to welcome back visitors. PAGE C1
Black former players said doctors used two scales — one for Black athletes, one for white — to determine eligibility in the concussion settlement. PAGE B7
Many farms in the Midwest have begun serving pizza, socially distanced, on summer nights. Above, a pie at Luna Valley Farm in Decorah, Iowa. PAGE D1
A Path Back From Assault HBO’s “I May Destroy You” prompted some cathartic moments for the reviewer Salamishah Tillet. PAGE C1
EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-27
Thomas L. Friedman
PAGE A26
U(D54G1D)y+@!,!@!$!"
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXVI NO. 48
* * * * * *
NASDAQ 11466.47 À 0.8%
What’s News Business & Finance
A
merican Airlines said it would shed 19,000 workers Oct. 1, as the industry braces for a wave of layoffs when protections tied to federal aid to U.S. carriers expire this fall. A1
The U.S. business of Teva was indicted on charges that the generic drugmaker fixed prices on cholesterol medication and other drugs. A1 McDonald’s said its probe into Easterbrook’s conduct is examining whether he covered up improprieties by other employees alongside allegations of potential misconduct within the HR department. B1 Chinese fintech giant Ant revealed how highly profitable its business has been as it gears up for what is likely to be a record-breaking IPO. B1 Palantir launched a broadside against the tech sector as it unveiled paperwork to take itself public. B11 The S&P 500 and Nasdaq again notched records, rising 0.4% and 0.8%, respectively. The Dow fell 0.2%. B11 GM is tapping salaried workers to help keep the lines running at a Missouri pickup-truck plant, drawing objections from the UAW. B1 Some mortgage lenders are asking customers to confirm that they don’t intend to seek forbearance. B1 Best Buy’s online sales surged in the latest quarter, but executives said product shortages crimped the gains. B1 A federal judge granted “Fortnite” creator Epic Games a partial reprieve in its battle against Apple. B4
STOXX 600 369.75 g 0.3%
10-YR. TREAS. g 11/32 , yield 0.680%
OIL $43.35 À $0.73
GOLD $1,911.80 g $15.90
EURO $1.1836
YEN 106.39
American Airlines Plans 19,000 Job Cuts
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES; RNC; CHIP SOMODEVILLA/PRESS POOL
DJIA 28248.44 g 60.02 0.2%
HHHH $4.00
WSJ.com
Industry braces for wave of mass layoffs as U.S. aid expires and travel fails to rebound BY ALISON SIDER
First lady Melania Trump addressed the Republican National Convention from the White House Rose Garden. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered recorded remarks from an official trip to Israel. The president’s daughter Tiffany Trump also spoke.
First Lady, Secretary of State Buck Tradition With Speeches BY ALEX LEARY AND REBECCA BALLHAUS First lady Melania Trump argued for her husband’s re-election from the White House grounds, saying he was fighting for Americans, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo weighed in from Jerusalem, as Tuesday’s second night of the Republican convention entered unusual territory for a political event. The speeches capped a night
of programming that upended norms for a convention, including videos of President Trump issuing a pardon and conducting a naturalization ceremony from the White House. It also featured more of an optimistic tone than Monday. In a convention marked by glossy tributes to Mr. Trump, the first lady was the speaker who made the most direct acknowledgment of the toll the coronavirus pandemic has
taken, with more than 177,000 people killed. “I know many people are anxious and some feel helpless,” Mrs. Trump said. “I want you to know you are not alone.” She praised the people who elected her husband in 2016. “We have not forgotten the incredible people who were willing to take a chance on a businessman who had never worked in politics,” she said, calling on them to award him a
second term. She also referenced civil and racial unrest that has swept across the country in recent months. Mrs. Trump and Mr. Pompeo both bucked tradition with their remarks. It is not typical for a sitting secretary of state to give political speeches, particularly while on a diplomatic Please turn to page A4 Re-election bid dwarfs 2016 campaign...................................... A4
American Airlines Group Inc. said it would shed 19,000 workers Oct. 1, the first big wave of the tens of thousands of pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and other airline employees in jeopardy of losing their jobs when protections tied to federal aid to U.S. carriers expire this fall. American’s cuts are short of the 25,000 potential job losses it warned were possible last month. But together with retirements and temporary leaves of absence, the reductions will make the carrier about 30% smaller than it was in March and are the clearest sign yet of the devastation coming for the airline industry as the summer travel season winds down and government funds run out. U.S. airlines have warned employees that more than 75,000 jobs could be cut this fall. This week Delta Air Lines Inc. said it would furlough 1,941 pilots unless it reaches a deal with their union on cost reductions. Earlier in the summer, United Airlines Holdings Inc. sent notices to 36,000 workers whose jobs it said could be at risk, though it hasn’t yet said how many will be cut. The airline sector was one of the few that had protections as broader unemployPlease turn to page A5
World-Wide First lady Melania Trump argued for her husband’s reelection from the White House grounds, saying he was fighting for Americans, and Secretary of State Pompeo weighed in from Jerusalem, as the second night of the GOP convention entered unusual territory for a political event. A1, A4
Ant Group Opens Up for IPO Ant Group, the Chinese financial-technology giant controlled by Jack Ma, revealed details about its earnings as it prepares for IPOs on exchanges in Shanghai and Hong Kong. B1 Ant Group revenue
Net income
125 billion yuan
25 billion yuan First half
Protesters in Kenosha, Wis., clashed with law enforcement for a third night in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man. A3
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FDA officials pushed back against claims that their authorization of convalescent blood plasma treatments for Covid-19 had been politicized. A5
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The Kremlin said it wasn’t involved in the sudden illness of Russian dissident Navalny and questioned German doctors’ assertion that he was poisoned. A6 Firefighters gained some ground on two massive wildfires in Northern California overnight Monday into Tuesday after hot and windy conditions abated. A3 Laura gathered strength as it churned toward the Texas and Louisiana coasts, where it was projected to make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane. A3 Trump will nominate Chad Wolf, the acting DHS secretary, to serve permanently in that role, the president wrote in a tweet. A3 Beijing alleged that a U.S. spy plane entered a no-fly zone over an area where the Chinese military was conducting live-fire drills. A6 CONTENTS Arts in Review.... A11 Business News.. B3,5 Crossword.............. A12 Heard on Street. B12 Markets..................... B11 Opinion.............. A13-15
Personal Journal A9-10 Property Report... B6 Sports........................ A12 Technology............... B4 U.S. News......... A2-3,5 Weather................... A12 World News........ A6-7
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s 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
21.2B
20 First half
75
72.5B
0
15
0 2017
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Note: 100 billion yuan = $14.47 billion
No Joke: Comics Need An Audience i
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Source: the company
Teva Indicted in Price Case BY BRENT KENDALL AND JARED S. HOPKINS WASHINGTON—The U.S. business of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. was indicted Tuesday on charges the generic drugmaker fixed prices on cholesterol medication and other drugs. The Justice Department’s antitrust division brought the case in a Pennsylvania federal court, alleging Teva Pharmaceuticals USA engaged in anticompetitive conduct that resulted in at least $350 million in overcharges to consumers. Prosecutors accused the company of fixing prices, rigging bids and allocating customers in three different conspiracies, including for pravastatin, a commonly prescribed cholesterol drug whose
brand name is Pravachol. A second conspiracy involved price fixing on medications used to treat arthritis, seizures, pain, skin conditions, and blood clots, the Justice Department alleged. The third alleged conspiracy involved drugs used to treat brain cancer, cystic fibrosis, arthritis, and hypertension, the department said. Teva participated in the conspiracies from May 2013 until at least December 2015, prosecutors alleged. “Today’s charge reaffirms that no company is too big to be prosecuted for its role in conspiracies that led to substantially higher prices for generic drugs relied on by millions of Americans,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, the Justice Department’s top antitrust official.
China Consulate Fight Tied to Military
Salesforce. #1 CRM.
i
Stand-ups find it isn’t funny writing when not on stage BY CHRIS KORNELIS The pandemic has cleared Lewis Black’s schedule, but like so many others, it hasn’t led to an increase in productivity. “Most of the stuff that I’ve been doing,” says the stand-up comedian and actor, “has been, literally, dealing with the tech problems associated with trying to get work done.” Writing jokes has been all but i m p o s s i b l e. To do that, he needs to be on stage, somewhere he hasn’t been since Please turn to page A8
Diplomats helped researchers evade FBI scrutiny, U.S. says, spurring Houston closure BY KATE O’KEEFFE AND ARUNA VISWANATHA WASHINGTON—When Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell told China’s ambassador that the Houston consulate must close within 72 hours, he delivered a related message: Remove all Chinese military researchers now in the U.S. The July 21 order on the researchers, which hasn’t been previously reported, was the culmination of months of rising concern in the Trump administration over what U.S. officials depict as an intelligence-gathering operation aided by Chinese diplomats to collect scientific research from American universities.
The alleged sources for that intelligence, according to U.S. officials and court documents filed in related cases, were Chinese postgraduate researchers in areas such as biomedicine and artificial intelligence who had, to varying degrees, hidden from immigration authorities their active-duty statuses with the People’s Liberation Army. Investigations are in early stages, and much about the events leading to the consulate’s closure remains classified and hard to assess. But U.S. officials say the interactions between researchers and Chinese diplomats spurred the Please turn to page A8 Beijing condemns U.S. spy plane overflight........................ A6
Teva rejected the allegations and promised to defend itself in court, saying in a statement that it was “deeply disappointed that the government has chosen to proceed with this prosecution.” The company said its own internal investigation found no price-fixing. The indictment is the highest-profile action in a longrunning investigation that has swept across the generic-drug industry and has resulted in cases against seven companies and four executives so far. Generic drugs account for some 90% of medications dispensed in the U.S. Most companies so far have agreed to settle charges by paying criminal penalties, admitting wrongdoing and agreeing to cooperate, in exPlease turn to page A2
Ranked #1 for CRM Applications based on IDC 2019H1 Revenue Market Share Worldwide. 17.3%
5.5% 5.3% 3.5% 3.5% 2015
2016
2017
2018
2019H1
Source: IDC, Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker, October 2019.
salesforce.com/number1CRM CRM market includes the following IDC-defined functional markets: Sales Force Productivity and Management, Marketing Campaign Management, Customer Service, Contact Center, Advertising, and Digital Commerce Applications. © 2019 salesforce.com, inc. All rights reserved. Salesforce.com is a registered trademark of salesforce. com, inc., as are other names and marks.