1. Belarus Opposition Leader Flees to Lithuania

After two days of unprecedented protests, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya — the 37-year-old political neophyte who rallied the country’s opposition around her campaign before losing Sunday’s elections to dictator Alexander Lukashenko — has decamped to Lithuania. Before that, she was detained by Belarusian authorities for seven hours after filing a complaint about alleged vote-rigging against her. Protests have grown, with many joining after they saw police brutalizing demonstrators with rubber bullets and stun grenades. Tikhanovskaya’s disappearance isn’t expected to quell the unrest, though President Lukashenko has vowed to crush what he’s claimed are foreign-instigated disturbances. 

Sources: BBC, The Guardian

2. Lebanon’s Government Resigns Over Explosion

A week after a massive blast flattened a large part of Beirut, killing 160, Lebanon’s prime minister and government have resigned. “I discovered that the system of corruption is bigger than the state,” Prime Minister Hassan Diab said to explain a failure to reform. The government will remain in a caretaker role until a new cabinet is formed. Authorities believe 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate — long improperly stored — ignited to cause the blast. Though he and the prime minister were warned about the danger, President Michel Aoun told reporters, “I am not responsible!”

Sources: Reuters, FT (sub)

3. Shooting Near White House Interrupts Trump Briefing

President Donald Trump was swiftly escorted out of a press briefing by the Secret Service yesterday after his security detail shot a man about a block from the White House. The victim, who allegedly claimed to be armed, was taken to a local hospital. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is reportedly considering measures to keep U.S. citizens and permanent residents from entering the country to control COVID-19 across the U.S.-Mexico border, though the U.S. has counted ten times more cases than reported in Mexico. Any such measures are likely to be challenged as unconstitutional.

Sources: Washington Post, Politico, CNN, WHO

4. McDonald’s Sues Former CEO Over Alleged Misconduct

They’ve got a beef. McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook was dismissed in November after he admitted to having a brief, non-physical and consensual relationship with an employee. He walked away with a severance package worth upwards of $40 million — and now the company wants it back, after revelations surfaced that he lied about and destroyed evidence of multiple other sexual relationships with employees. It’s rare for a huge company to so publicly air dirty laundry — but it could be a harbinger of the future as businesses prioritize their own reputation for holding executives to account over a tradition of silence. 

Sources: NYT, WSJ (sub)

5. Also Important …

President Vladimir Putin says a Russian-developed COVID-19 vaccine has received approval and has already been given to his own daughter. After plunges early this year, SoftBank saw a $12 billion profit upswing. And half a million people are without power after a “derecho” storm ripped through the Midwest.   

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1. EPA Approves New Way to Fight Mosquitoes

This doesn’t suck. Insect-borne diseases spread by the bites of ticks, fleas and mosquitoes tripled between 2005 and 2016, but yesterday’s EPA approval of nootkatone as an active ingredient to repel and kill biting insects has encouraged public health advocates. The oil, found in cedar bark and grapefruit peel, is more effective and long-lasting than other natural repellents like citronella. It appears to affect nerve cells, causing insects to twitch uncontrollably until they die. Nootkatone’s properties have been known for 25 years, but the mosquito-borne Zika virus, along with federal funding, spurred a push for EPA approval. 

Sources: WebMD, NYT

2. Uber, Lyft See Temporary Defeat in Driver Contractor Dispute

Could this drive them to ruin? A California judge issued a preliminary injunction against Uber and Lyft Monday to stop them classifying drivers as contractors rather than employees. The companies have fought to keep their employees as part of the gig economy, insisting the drivers prefer having flexible schedules and no benefits. Both companies have been struggling under the pandemic, with less demand for ride hailing apps’ services as people limit travel and contact with others. The injunction will take effect in 10 days, but both companies — which saw stocks drop immediately — say they’ll appeal.

Sources: Engadget, CNBC

3. How the Rise of the Gap Year Could Torpedo Colleges

Call it “defer madness.” With the pandemic keeping kids largely off campuses, universities are expecting a huge increase in deferrals from kids who choose not to pay a year’s worth of tuition for what’s likely to be online-only instruction. Still, that complicates school budgets, since it’s unclear to many universities just how much tuition they may have to work with this year, OZY reports. And if colleges change permanently — or many smaller institutions wither under the financial pressures of the pandemic — many students may end up never getting that degree at all.

Source: OZY

4. ‘Mulan’ Will See Theatrical Release … in China

While Disney’s live-action version of its 1998 animated film won’t be released in American theaters — Disney Plus subscribers will be asked to pay $30 to watch it — the movie will go to theaters in China, possibly as early as Sept. 4. Still, it may not get a rapturous response: The newly released Chinese poster has been widely ridiculed across the internet as amateurish, and the trailer sparked ire for getting historical details about China wrong. Chinese cinemas are doing better business than American ones, though analysts believe the pandemic may hasten the demise of theatrical releases altogether.

Sources: Variety, BI 

5. Where the Big Ten Goes, Others May Follow

Reports are flying that the Big Ten conference will cancel its college football season this fall, a domino that could tip the rest of the Power 5 conferences toward a shutdown. While some coaches and players have launched a #WeWantToPlay campaign (quickly retweeted by President Trump in pushing football-as-usual yesterday), the revelation that the virus may be causing myocarditis, a heart inflammation, in multiple athletes has given college presidents pause. The Mid-American Conference, which canceled fall football this weekend, says myocarditis and its possible long term effects factored into the decision to call the whole thing off.

Sources: ESPN, Detroit Free Press, Yahoo Sports