The Wall Street Journal - 16 12 2020

2020·22.21 MB·English

***** WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXVI NO. 142 WSJ.com HHHH $4.00
DJIA30199.31À337.76 1.1% NASDAQ12595.06 À1.2% STOXX600 392.84À0.3% 10-YR.TREAS. g 9/32, yield0.921% OIL $47.62À$0.63 GOLD$1,852.30À$23.60 EURO$1.2155 YEN103.66
Holiday Lockdown Looms in London as Cases Surge EU Seeks
What’s
Tougher
News
Oversight
Business&Finance
Of Tech
Europeanofficialswant
newpowerstooverseein- Firms
ternalworkingsatlargetech
companies,backedbythreats
ofmultibillion-dollarfines,as
theyseektoexpandtheirrole Proposalsaimtoboost
asglobaltechenforcers.A1
social-mediapolicing,
(cid:2)Twitterwasfinedunder
theEU’scurrentprivacylaw, levyhugefinesfor
afirstforaU.S.techfirmina
competitiveabuses
cross-bordercasesincethe
ruleswentintoeffect.B4
BYSAMSCHECHNER
(cid:2)Mnuchinsuggestedhe
wasunlikelytosupporta
Europeanofficialswantnew
consentordertoendthegov-
powers to oversee internal
ernmentconservatorships GES workings at large technology
ofFannieandFreddiebe- MA
I companies such as Facebook
f(cid:2)orUe.TSr.usmtopcklesavreaslloieffdic,ew.iAth2 S/GETTY bInilcl.i,obna-dckoelldarbfyintehsr,eaatsstohfeymsueletik-
R
theS&P500,Nasdaqand ME to expand their role as global
Dowadvancing1.3%,1.2% UM techenforcers.
S
and1.1%,respectively.B12 R TheEuropeanUnion’sexecu-
(cid:2)High-frequencytraders PETE tivearmproposedtwobillson
INLIGHTS:LondontavernsliketheChurchillArmspreparedfornewrestrictionsthatwilltakeeffectWednesday,limiting Tuesday—onefocusedonillegal
areusinganexperimental
restaurantsandpubstotakeawayanddelivery.ThemovefollowedasurgeinCovid-19casesintheU.K.capital. content,theotheronanticom-
typeofcabletospeedup
petitive behavior—that would
theirsystemsbybillionthsof
empower regulators in some
asecond,thelatestmovein FDA Sets Stage to Authorize
casestolevyfinesofupto6%
atechnologicalarmsrace.B1
or 10% of annual world-wide
(cid:2)VWsharesjumped revenue, or break up big tech
Tuesdayaftertopshare- companiestostopcertaincom-
holdersandunionleaders Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine petitiveabuses.
publiclybackedCEO Thebillsdon’tmentionany
Diess’sstrategyofrefocus- specific company but, as
ingonelectricvehicles.B1 drafted, one or both would
likelyapplytoseverallargeU.S.
(cid:2)CreditSuisse’snewCEO
tech companies including Al-
saidwealthmanagementwill BYTHOMASM.BURTON erna,analyzingthesafetyand bytheFDA,alsoincludednew curbsviraltransmissioncould phabet Inc.’s Google, Ama-
beapriorityforthebank, ANDPETERLOFTUS effectivenessofthevaccineina datasuggestingthefirstdose hastentheendofthecorona- zon.com Inc. Apple Inc. and
settingatargetforimproved
large clinical study. The find- ofitsvaccinecanreduceinfec- viruspandemic,ifenoughpeo- Facebook.
profitsfromthatactivity.B1
TheFoodandDrugAdmin- ingswillgobeforeanindepen- tions that don’t cause symp- plegetvaccinated. Atthesametime,theU.K.,
(cid:2)CondéNastnamedAnna istration said the Covid-19 dent advisory panel that will toms. “If we could demonstrate whichhasexitedthebloc,said
Wintouritsfirst-everglobal vaccinedevelopedbyModerna voteonThursdayonwhetherto If this finding holds up in thattheyreducetransmission, Tuesday that it is advancing
chiefcontentofficeras Inc. was “highly effective,” recommendFDAauthorization. furtheranalysis—includingaf- thatwouldacceleratethetime similar legislation covering
partofthecompany’spush settingthestageforanemer- Barring complications, the terthesecondofthetwo-dose when we can take off our whatitcalls“onlineharms.”It
tounifyitsinternational gencyauthorizationlaterthis FDA is aiming to authorize regimen—it could mean the masks and go back to a more would require social-media
andU.S.operations.B3 weekthatwouldaddasecond emergencyuseoftheModerna vaccinenotonlyprotectsindi- PleaseturntopageA6 PleaseturntopageA2
vaccinetothearsenalagainst vaccineonFriday,followingthe vidualsfromdisease,butalso
(cid:2)China’seconomicactivity
thepandemic. same timetable as last week curbs transmission of the vi- (cid:2)Leadersmovecloserto (cid:2)TwitterfinedinEuropeover
extendeditsmomentumlast
The agency on Tuesday withtheCovid-19vaccine,from rusfrompersontoperson. Covid-19reliefpact................A2 databreach.................................B4
monthwithabroadrecovery
postedonlinedocuments,pre- PfizerInc.andBioNTechSE. Avaccinethatpreventsas- (cid:2)ChallengesawaitBiden’s (cid:2)HeardontheStreet:New
asthecountryapproachesthe
paredbyitsstaffandbyMod- Moderna’sanalysis,posted ymptomatic infections and virusczar.....................................A6 ruleswillbite,eventually...B14
endofatumultuousyear.A9
World-Wide Nigerian Sanctions Fail Teacher Shortage Worsens
To Curb Iran Oil
(cid:2)TheFDAsaidtheCovid-19 Jihadists
Pandemic Woes in Schools
vaccinedevelopedbyMod- Crudeexportshaveclimbed,
ernawashighlyeffective, providingalifelinetothe
settingthestageforanemer- Re-emerge country’seconomy.A8
gencyauthorizationlaterthis
weekthatwouldaddasec- Iran’saveragecrudeand
ondshottothearsenal With Mass condensatesexports Administratorsscrambletostaffclassrooms;‘it’sallhandsondeck’
againstthepandemic.A1
(cid:2)TheEU’schiefdrugregu- 2.0millionbarrelsaday
latorwillaccelerateitsre- Abduction BY VALERIEBAUERLEINANDYOREEKOH staffingcrunchleavesteacherseducating
viewofaCovid-19vaccine childreninpersonandonlinesimultane-
aftercomingunderpressure PHOENIX—Asifthepandemicweren’tdis- ously,deep-cleaningtheirownclassrooms
1.5
fromsomegovernmentsto ruptiveenough,manyAmericanschoolsare andtakingturnsascrossingguards.
authorizetheshot.A7 BYJOEPARKINSON facingagrowingshortageofteachers. Theconsequencesareburnoutforteach-
ANDGBENGAAKINGBULE Schooldistrictsarerecruitingparentsas ers,frustrationforparentsandscantprog-
(cid:2)Congressionalleaders
substituteteachers,onlineclasssizesare ressforstudents.
saidtheywerecomingcloser 1.0
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria—Six soaringto50childrenormoreandbusdriv- Theshortageisn’tuniformnationwide,
toreachinganagreementon
years after the abduction of ersarebaby-sittingclassrooms.Someare butratherconcentratedinsomeregionsand
anothervirusreliefpackage,
276 schoolgirls ignited the consideringallowingasymptomaticteachers specialties.Morethan40statesreported
aftermonthsoffitfulefforts
global #BringBackOurGirls whowereexposedtoCovid-19tocontinueto shortfallsinmath,scienceandspecialedu-
toapprovemoreaid.A2 0.5
campaign,Nigeriaisagainreel- showup. cationin2018,butfewerstatesreported
(cid:2)JihadistgroupBoko ing from a mass kidnapping, Public-schoolemploymentinNovember shortagesinelementarygrades,accordingto
Haramsaidithadseizedstu- this time of more than 300 wasdown8.7%fromFebruary,andatits thelatestfederaldata.Thereareshortages
dentsfromanall-boysschool boys. lowestlevelsince2000,accordingtotheBu- insomecitieswithahighcostoflivingand
0
innorthwestNigeriatopun- Jihadist group Boko reauofLaborStatistics. someruralareaswithlowteacherpay.
ishthemforwhatitcalled HaramonTuesdaysaidithad Feb.2019 Jan.’20 Nov. Thatincludesteacherswhoquit,retired Nowhereistheimpactmorestarkthan
un-Islamicpractices.A1 seized students from an all- Source:TankerTrackers earlyortookleavesofabsenceduetothe PleaseturntopageA12
boys boarding school in Kat- pandemic,andlayoffsofsupportstaffsuch
(cid:2)SenateRepublicanlead-
sina, in northwest Nigeria, to asteachers’aidesandclericalworkers.The (cid:2)Schoolsspeedupinternetforruralstudents...A14
ersunitedincallingDemo-
punish them for “un-Islamic
cratJoeBidenthewinner
practices.” Local officials
ofthepresidentialrace, Well-Employed During the Crisis:
said 333 of the school’s 800
whilewarningcolleagues Salesforce.
studentsweremissingandas-
nottojoinalong-shotbid Landscaping Goats
sumedcaptive,anumbersome
tochallengetheresultsin
analystssaycouldmarkoneof
CongressinJanuary.A4 the largest mass kidnappings i i i #1 CRM.
(cid:2)Bidenchoseoneofhis of schoolchildren in his-
Hired for their insatiable love of weeds,
formerDemocraticpri- tory.Nigeriansurveillanceair-
maryrivals,PeteButt- craft and American drones
they’re able to work through lockdowns
igieg,toleadtheTrans- havebeendispatchedoverthe
portationDepartment.A4 sprawling forest where survi- Ranked#1forCRMApplicationsbasedon
(cid:2)Thepresident-electplans vors say the captors forced BYKONRADPUTZIER has boosted the demand. IDC2020H1RevenueMarketShareWorldwide.
19.8%
totapex-MichiganGov.Jenni- themtomarch. Goatscanbeonthejobduring
ferGranholmasEnergychief Oneofthestudentswhoes- Candace Thompson, man- lockdowns. Ms. Thompson
andex-Obamaadministration capedthecaptors—17-year-old ager of the Stuyvesant Cove turned to goats after New
EPAchiefGinaMcCarthyas Usama Male—said the abduc- ParkinlowerManhattan,was YorkCity’sspringrestrictions
nationalclimateadviser.A4 tionbeganjustafter10p.m.on pulling on a giant bindweed forcedthepark’susualgroup
Friday.Dozensofmeninmili- onedaywhenawomaneating of volunteers to stay home
(cid:2)Mexico’srulingparty
taryfatiguesshootingKalash- lunch nearby of- and left it full of
pushedthroughanewlaw
nikovsintotheairpouredinto feredsomeadvice. weeds.
curbingtheroleofforeign
the sand-caked school cam- “She went, ‘You Goats at work
law-enforcementofficers
pusandorderedtheentirestu- need goats,’ ” Ms. also offer instant
stationedinMexico.A9
dent body to march into the Thompson remem- entertainment for 5.3%
forest. After almost two days bers. children stuck at 4.8%
CONTENTS PersonalJournalA13-14 of walking in a hundreds- The park man- home during re- 33..98%%
ArtsinReview...A15 PropertyReport...B6
strong column with no food agerwasintrigued. mote learning.
BusinessNews......B3 Sports........................A16
Crossword..............A16 Technology...............B4 andlittlewater,hewasoneof Sheplacedanorder WhenLansingDa-
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020H1
Equities....................B10 U.S.News.............A2-7 theluckyfewwhoescaped. for 20 of the ani- vis of Mill Valley,
HeardonStreet.B14 Weather...................A16 “They said they would kill mals,whicharrived Yummy Calif.,hostedthree Source:IDC,WorldwideSemiannual
Opinion..............A17-19 WorldNews.......A8-9 whoevertriedtoflee,butIpo- inearlySeptember goats from Sep- SoftwareTracker,October2020.
sitioned myself near the back in a trailer from Rhinebeck, tembertoearlyDecemberon
> and waited for a chance to N.Y.Twoandahalfdayslater, his2-acreproperty,hisdaugh-
run,”hesaid,sittingalongside mostoftheweedsweregone. tersaged4,7and9wereex-
hisfather,Aminu,inthetown Goatscaping,asthistrickis citedtohavethemandgotto
salesforce.com/number1CRM
of Kankara. “Hundreds of my called,hasgrowninpopular- knowtheirdifferentpersonali-
fellowpupilsarestillincaptiv- ityinrecentyearsasanenvi- ties,whileneighborhoodkids CRMmarketincludesthefollowingIDC-definedfunctionalmarkets:SalesForceProductivityandManagement,
s2020DAollwRJigohntessR&esCeormvepdany,Inc. itysomewhereintheforest.” ronmentally friendly way to fedthemthroughthefence. AsMapaleprkslifecotairntcigeo.ncCosa.mm©,pi2an0icg2.n,0aMssaaalrneeasgofoethrmceeer.ncntoa,mmC,ueissntaocn.mAdelmlrrSaigerhkrvstsi.cree,sCeorvnetadc.tSCaleenstfeorr,cAed.cvoemrtiissinagr,eagnisdteDriegditatrlaCdoemmmarekrcoef
PleaseturntopageA8 clearovergrownlots.Covid-19 PleaseturntopageA12
A2|Wednesday,December16,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
*****
U.S. NEWS
Leaders Move Closer to Covid-19 Relief Pact
BYKRISTINAPETERSON standoffbyleavingouttheli-
ANDANDREWDUEHREN ability provisions and state
and local aid and proceeding
WASHINGTON—Top con- with the other relief mea-
gressional leaders said they sures.
werecomingclosertoreach- Aheadofthemeetingwith
inganagreementonanother othertopleaders,Mr.McCon-
coronavirus relief package, nell repeated his call to omit
broadcasting progress after the two issues from the bill,
monthsoffitfuleffortstoap- pointingtowardanotherrelief
provemoreaid. bill under the coming Biden
HouseSpeakerNancyPelosi administrationasanotherop-
(D., Calif.), Senate Majority portunitytoaddressthem.He
Leader Mitch McConnell (R., saidtheSenatewouldn’tleave
Ky.), Senate Minority Leader Washingtonuntilthetwopar-
Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and tiesreachedadeal.
HouseMinorityLeaderKevin “We all know the new ad-
McCarthy (R., Calif.) met re- ministration’sgoingtobeask-
peatedly on Tuesday, the ing for yet another package.
group’sfirstmeetinginweeks. It’snotlikewewon’thavean-
Lawmakers are hurrying to other opportunity to debate
craftanotheraidpackagethis GES the merits of liability reform
week,beforetheholidaysand MA and state and local govern-
the expiration of several key YI mentintheverynearfuture,”
aidprovisions. GETT Mr.McConnellsaid.
“We’re making significant DIS/ Sen.JohnCornynofTexas,
progress and I’m optimistic PO amemberofSenateGOPlead-
O
that we’re gonna be able to AT ership, said the decision to
K
complete an understanding OS split off the more controver-
sometime soon,” Mr. McCon- AS sialissuesindicatedanaware-
T
nellsaidTuesdaynight. SenateMinorityLeaderChuckSchumerexpressedhopeTuesdaynightthatanagreementcanbereachedsoon. ness that only the bill with
Thegroupmetintheafter- wideconsensushadapathto
noon and reconvened in the Pelosi earlier Tuesday for after a bipartisan group of otherprovisions. billion bill bundling together becominglaw.
evening. morethananhour,alsojoined lawmakerslargelywrappedup Butthebipartisancoalition manyofthelesscontroversial “Itisjustmyimpressionon
“We’re exchanging paper themeetingbyphone. their work on a compromise cameupshortinitseffortsto proposalsbutexcludingliabil- the way that the negotiating
and ideas back and forth, “We’recontinuingtowork. coronavirus-relief proposal. reach a broad deal on the ityprotectionsbackedbyRe- grouphasseparatedthosetwo
makingprogressandhopefully Ithinkthere’sprogress.We’ll That agreement included an thorniest issue: liability pro- publicans and $160 billion in issues—it seems to take Sen.
wecancometoanagreement getbacktogether,”Mr.McCar- extension of unemployment tections for businesses and state and local aid sought by McConnell’sadviceandleave
soon,”Mr.Schumersaid. thy said following the after- insurance and funding for other entities operating dur- Democrats. thosetothesideanddowhat
Treasury Secretary Steven noonmeeting. schools, vaccine distribution ing the pandemic. Instead, GOPleaderssaidlastweek we can,” Mr. Cornyn told re-
Mnuchin, who spoke to Mrs. Thetalkswereheldoneday and small businesses, among lawmakers released a $748 thatCongressshouldendthe porters.
Fannie, Freddie U.S.WATCH
Revamp Derailed
CENSUSBUREAU accordingtothemidpointfigure gains.Manufacturing,thebiggest neygeneralseekinginformation
fromthebureau’sdemographic componentofindustrialproduc- aboutitsadvertisingpractices.
U.S. Population Rises
analysis.Themedianageinthe tion,increased0.8%inNovember, NewJerseyAttorneyGeneral
Above 332 Million countrywas38.5yearsasof theFedsaid.Productionofmotor GurbirGrewalwantsthecompany
thatday,upfrom37.2in2010. vehiclesandpartsrose5.3%. toturnoverinternaldocuments
BYANDREWACKERMAN yougetthemoutofconserva- TheU.S.populationhasgrown —JanetAdamy Industrialproductiondecreased relatedtoadvertisinggunsinthe
torship? “ he said. “You need about8%overthepastdecade sharplyinMarchandAprilasthe state.Thesubpoenaincludesre-
WASHINGTON—JoeBiden’s toraisethird-partycapitaland tomorethan332millionpeople, ECONOMY coronaviruspandemictookholdin questsforanymarketingclaims
victory has likely ended the you need to retain capital. accordingtoaCensusBureau theU.S.,buthasgraduallyrecov- thatitsgunsaresaferthanothers,
Auto Sector Boosts
Trumpadministration’sefforts That’s,tome,theissue.” analysisreleasedbeforethere- eredinsubsequentmonths.The thatcarryingaconcealedweapon
to return Fannie Mae and The companies are allowed sultsofthedecennialcount. Industrial Production paceofgainsslowedinlatesum- enhancesaperson’slifestyle,and
FreddieMactoprivatehands. to retain just $45 billion of ThefigurespublishedTues- merandintothefall,however, thatnovicescanuseitsgunsef-
Treasury Secretary Steven earningsbetweenthemandare dayareseparatefromthose Aseventhstraightmonthof andoutputoverallinNovember fectivelyforself-defense.
Mnuchinsuggestedinaninter- expected to hit that limit in gatheredbythe2020census manufacturinggainshelpeddrive remained5%belowFebruarylev- Thecompany’slawyerssaidin
viewheisunlikelytosupport early 2021—far from the thatwrappedupinOctober. aNovemberriseinU.S.indus- els,accordingtotheFed. itscomplaint,filedinfederalcourt
a legal move—a consent or- roughly$280billiontheycould Theyareaparallelestimateof trialproductionasthenation’s —AmaraOmeokwe inNewJersey,thatthesubpoena
der—to end the government needunderaplancompletedby thepopulation’sdemographic autoandpartsplantsincreased “seeksevidenceofconsumerfraud
conservatorshipsofthemort- their regulator, the Federal contoursusingrecordsofU.S. output. NEWJERSEY relatingtoadvertising—butinreal-
gage-financecompaniesbefore HousingFinanceAgency. births,deaths,immigrationand Industrialproduction,amea- ity,itseekstosuppressandpun-
Gun Maker Sues
PresidentTrumpleavesoffice. Before leaving office, the Medicareenrollmentthatisde- sureoffactory,miningandutility ishlawfulspeechregardinggun
“We’regoingtonotdoany- Trumpadministrationislikely signedtoactasaqualitycheck activity,increasedaseasonally To Block Subpoena ownershipinordertoadvancean
thingthatjeopardizestaxpay- toletFannieandFreddieretain ontheactualcensusresults. adjusted0.4%inNovemberfrom anti-SecondAmendmentagenda
ers and puts them at addi- moreoftheirownearnings,Mr. Thatestimateshowedthere thepriormonth,theFederalRe- Smith&WessonBrandsInc. thattheAttorneyGeneralpublicly
tionalrisk,”Mr.Mnuchinsaid. Mnuchinsuggested,withoutde- wereabout332.6millionpeople servesaidTuesday,asbothman- filedsuitTuesdaytoblockasub- committedtopursue.”
“We also want to be careful tailinghowmuchmore. intheU.S.oncensusday,April1, ufacturingandminingposted poenafromtheNewJerseyattor- —ZushaElinson
thatwedon’tdoanythingthat AdvisersclosetoMr.Biden
overnight would limit access saidhewouldbeinnohurryto
tomortgagefinance.” privatize the companies. In- EU Seeks theEU’sdigital-policyandanti- clinedtocommentbutpointed One of the EU’s two pro-
MarkCalabria,theTrump- stead,hewouldfocusonways trustczar,saidTuesday. to a blog post in which the posedbills,theDigitalServices
appointed regulator of the tousethemtoboosthousingaf- The EU’s pair of proposals companysaidtheblocshould Act, would require large tech
companies,waspushingasre- fordabilityandpromotehome- More Tech willnowbeginmonthsoryears ensure “the same rules apply platformsthatreachmorethan
centlyaslastmonthtospeed ownership. of haggling over their scope toallcompanies.” 10%oftheEU’spopulationeach
up the mortgage giants’ exit Fannie and Freddie don’t anddetails.Eachbillmustbe Onevictoryfortechcompa- monthtoactivelylookforand
from government control be- make home loans. Instead, Oversight approvedbyboththeEuropean nies is that the EU proposal mitigaterisksfromillegalcon-
foreMr.Biden’sinauguration. theybuymortgagesandpack- Council,representingthebloc’s keepsthebasicliabilityshield tent and goods available via
Mr. Mnuchin said he is fo- agethemintosecurities,which 27nationalgovernments,and protectingdigitalintermediar- theirservices.Itwouldrequire
cusedonstepsthatwouldal- they sell to investors. Their the directly elected European iesfromresponsibilityforthe yearlyexternalauditsandim-
low the companies to build promise to make investors ContinuedfromPageOne Parliamenttobecomelaw. contentontheirservicespro- posenewtransparencyrequire-
capitaltoabsorbfuturelosses wholeincaseofdefaultkeeps companiesandsearchengines Tech companies reacted videdtheymakegood-faithef- ments. Large platforms could
and eventually raise money downthepriceofhomeloans totakemeasurestopreventa cautiouslytothenewpropos- fortstoaddressproblems.But beorderedtochangetheirbe-
from new, third-party inves- andunderpinsthepopular30- range of illegal or potentially als, which still could be re- the proposals add increasing havior following such audits
tors.“Therealissueishowdo yearfixed-ratemortgage. harmfulmaterialfromspread- shapedorscrapped.Previously, layersofobligationsforonline andcouldfacesignificantfines.
ingontheirplatforms,orface somehavewarnedagainstcre- The Digital Services Act
fines of up to 10% of annual atinganewsetofcompetition wouldalsoempowerregulators
globalrevenue.TheU.K.isalso rulesthatcouldhobbleinnova- Theproposalswill to apply local laws on illegal
pursuing new competition tion,oronerouscontent-mod- content. A city that requires
beginmonthsor
rulesfordominantonlineplat- eration obligations that could home rentals to be registered
Celebrate forms,includingpowerstosus- pushcompaniestoremovele- yearsofhaggling could, for instance, order a
pend,blockorreversetechgi- gal content, stifling free ex- home-sharingapptoremovea
overtheirdetails.
together. ants’ decisions and impose pression. listing for an unregistered
finesfornoncompliance. But Facebook, which has property or demand informa-
Together,thetwostrandsof complained about Germany’s tionaboutahostwhoisn’tpay-
legislationamounttothebig- content-moderationrules,said ingtaxes,anEUofficialsaid.
gest potential expansion of on Tuesday that it welcomed intermediaries,basedontheir TheotherEUbill,theDigi-
globaltechregulationinyears. harmonization of EU ruleson role in the digital ecosystem tal Markets Act, would pre-
They aim to update decades- the issue. The proposals are andtheirnumberofclients. emptively ban certain behav-
old laws that have largely “ontherighttracktohelppre- The European legislative ior by what it deems to be
shieldedtechcompaniesfrom serve what is good about the proposals provide a counter- gatekeepers—definedascom-
liabilityfortheirusers’activi- internet,”Facebooksaid. pointtosimilardiscussionsin panieswithEuropeanrevenue
ties.Themeasureswouldalso KaranBhatia,Google’svice the U.S., where the industry’s ofatleast€6.5billion,equiva-
createanewsetofcompetition president of government af- similar liability shield faced lenttoabout$7.9billion,ora
rulesforacadreofdigitalgi- fairsandpublicpolicy,saidhe criticismfromlawmakers.But market capitalization of at
antsthathavebeenaccusedof isconcernedtheproposals“ap- prospectsforacompetition-law least €65 billion (some $79
wieldingtheircontrolofonline pear to specifically target a overhaulinWashingtonremain billion),andwhichservemore
marketplacestoentrenchtheir handful of companies and unclear. In October, a Demo- than 10,000 active business
own positions and snuff out makeithardertodevelopnew cratic-led House panel sug- customers and 45 million ac-
competitors.“Weneedtomake productstosupportsmallbusi- gested several legislative tiveendusersinthebloc.
rulesthatcanbringorderinto nessesinEurope.” changestoreininthepowerof —StuWoo
chaos,” Margrethe Vestager, AnAmazonspokesmande- bigtechplatforms. contributedtothisarticle.
CORRECTIONS (cid:2) AMPLIFICATIONS
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THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. **** Wednesday,December16,2020|A3
U.S. NEWS
Retail Founder
Charged With
Sex Trafficking
BYBENCHAPMAN thoritiesraidedthecompany’s
Manhattanofficeaspartofan
Canadianfashionandretail international sex-trafficking
mogul Peter Nygard was investigation.
charged with sex trafficking Representatives for the
andracketeering,accordingto company didn’t respond to a
an indictment unsealed in requesttocomment.
Manhattan federal court on Nygard International filed
Tuesday. for bankruptcy in March. In
HewasarrestedMondayin April a Canadian judge al-
Canada,accordingtoprosecu- lowed an accounting firm to
torsintheU.S.attorney’sof- sell and liquidate part of the
fice for the Southern District company.
ofNewYork. Beforefilingforbankruptcy,
Federalprosecutorsaccused thecompanyhadabout1,450
him of years of criminal con- employeesandoperated170of
duct involving dozens of vic- itsownstoresinNorthAmer-
tims in the U.S., Canada and icaandmorethan6,000shops
the Bahamas. He faces nine insidedepartmentstores.
criminalcharges. Nygard International also
Mr. Nygard, 79 years old, operatedanumberofclothing OCK
previouslyhasdeniedthealle- lines,includingSLIMS,TanJay ST
R
gclaintieodnsth,raonudghoansTpuokeesdsmayandteo- agnardda. labelnamedforMr.Ny- HUTTE
S
comment on his arrest. His Prosecutors accused Mr. A/
P
lawyer also declined to com- Nygardofusinghiscompany’s NE/E
mentthroughthespokesman. influence, as well as its em- A
L
couMrtr.inNWygianrndipaepgpoenarTeudesidnaya panlodymeeasinatnaidnfausntdrse,amtoorfeacdruuiltt USTIN
J
afternoon, where his lawyer andminor-agedfemalevictims ApictureofPeterNygardinoneofhisNewYorkCitystoresinFebruary.TheCanadianretailmogulwasarrestedonMonday.
askedforapublicationbanto for his sexual gratification,
prevent certain information and that of his friends and unnamed female plaintiffs. con declined to comment on
frombeingmadepublicinthe businessassociates. Dozens of additional women thearrestofMr.Nygard.
proceeding. Mr. Nygard is accused of havesincebeenaddedtothe GregGutzler,aplaintiffat-
JusticeSheldonLanchbery frequently targeting women complaint. torneyinthecivilsuit,saidin
deniedtherequest,andseta andgirlswhocamefromdis- Lawyers for Mr. Nygard astatementthatMr.Nygard’s
January date for an adminis- advantaged economic back- havesaidincourtpapersthat criminalindictmentvalidates
trativehearing,accordingtoa grounds and had a history of the lawsuit’s allegations are the accusations of the plain-
courtspokeswoman. abuse,prosecutorssaid.Heal- false. The lawyers also ac- tiffs.
Mr. Nygard’s lawyer is ex- legedlycontrolledhisvictims cusedfinancierLouisBaconof “Onbehalfofthedozensof
pectedtomakeabailapplica- through threats and false fundingthelawsuit“toinflict survivors of decades-long
tion, but no formal request promises of career advance- devastating harm on Mr. Ny- abuse,weareencouragedthat
hasyetbeenfiled,thespokes- ment,prosecutorsadded. gard and the Nygard busi- asmallmeasureofjusticefor
womansaid. He is also being sued in a nesses.” Peter Nygard is finally devel-
Mr. Nygard founded pri- Manhattan federal court by Accordingtothefiling,Mr. oping,andrelievedthatsome
vately held Nygard Interna- womenaccusinghimofrape, Bacon and Mr. Nygard have degree of accountability is
tional in Canada in 1967. He sexualassaultandhumantraf- had a decadelong dispute in- hopefully forthcoming,” Mr.
steppeddownaschairmanof ficking. volving neighboring vacation Gutzlersaid.
theapparelcompanyinFebru- The class-action lawsuit homesintheBahamas. —VipalMonga
aryafterfederalandlocalau- was filed in February by 10 RepresentativesforMr.Ba- contributedtothisarticle.
White House Aide Returns Texas Taps
Firms as It
To Address Agency Hacks
Prepares
BYDUSTINVOLZ
Lawsuit
WASHINGTON—White
House national security ad-
viser Robert O’Brien has cut Vs. Google
short a multicountry trip to
EuropetoreturntotheU.S.to
addressthesuspectedRussian BYJOHND.MCKINNON
hackofgovernmentagencies, MaxBallDrop
signaling growing alarmSS WASHINGTON—Texas’sat- Earringswith
withintheTrumpadministra-PRE torney general said Tuesday Diamonds
tion about a cyber espionageATED he is hiring two prominent $2,495
ctiaamllypaoingenocfotnhseidmeoresdtdpaomteang--SSOCI alanwtitfrirumstsctaosheaangdaleinastpAoslpsihbale-
inginyears. A/A betInc.’sGoogle,asignalthat FOROURCONCIERGESERVICE:
P
ThechangeofplansforMr.R/SI thefilingofalawsuitislikely [email protected]
O’BriencomestwodaysafterAA imminent. 347-748-6005
itwasdisclosedthatmultiplePPL Texas has been leading a
RI JUDITHRIPKA.COM
federal agencies had beenT coalition of state attorneys
S
hacked as part of a globalRI generalthathasbeenzeroing
K
hacking campaign that is be- inonGoogle’sdominantpres-
lieved to have also ensnared InvestigatorsProbe grantedeasyaccesstonearly enceinthedigitaladvertising
private corporate networks 18,000entitiesthatdown- market, according to people
SolarWindsBreach
acrosstheglobe. loadedit.Investigatorsexpect familiar with the matter as
“AmbassadorO’Brienisre- thenumberofcompromised well as a civil subpoena sent
turningtoaddressthehacking entitiestobesmaller,perhaps last year by Texas Attorney
incident,” said John Ullyot, a Investigatorsaretryingto totalingdozensorhundreds. GeneralKenPaxton.
spokesman for the National piecetogetherhowsuspected SolarWindshassaiditis Mr.Paxtonsaidheintends
Security Council. Mr. O’Brien Russianhackersgainedaccess workingwithFireEyeInc.,a tohiretheLanierLawFirm,a Jingle
wastoholdmeetingsTuesday tosystemsatSolarWinds U.S.-basedcybersecurityfirm prominent trial firm with
eveningandWednesdaymorn- Corp.,aU.S.networkmanage- thatwasalsobreachedinthe Texasroots,aswellasKeller
ingandconvene“ahigh-level mentcompany,tointroduce hackingcampaign,andwithin- Lenkner,aChicago-basedfirm All The
interagency meeting” this maliciouscodethatcompro- telligenceandlaw-enforcement focusedoncomplexlitigation.
week,Mr.Ullyotsaid. misedsecurityatmultiplefed- officialstoinvestigate. “Texas law requires the Way
Mr.O’Brienhadbeensched- eralagencies. Severalagencieshavecon- Texas Attorney General’s Of-
uled to return Saturday after AsearlyasMarch,Solar- firmedintrusionsintotheirin- ficetonotifythe[Legislative
plannedstopsinItalyonTues- Windscustomersunwittingly ternalsystems,includingthe BudgetBoard]priortoretain- MEDITATION
day and visits later in the installedmalicioussoftwareas departmentsofState,Com- ing outside counsel for such BELLS
weektoGermany,Switzerland partofaroutineandseem- merce,Treasury,HomelandSe- actions,”Mr.Paxtonsaidina
and the U.K. He had already inglybenignupdateissuedfor curityandtheNationalInsti- statement.“Thatnotification
metwithPrimeMinisterBen- asoftwareproductknownas tutesofHealth,accordingto hasoccurred.”
jaminNetanyahuinIsraeland Orion,accordingtothecom- peoplefamiliarwiththematter. AGooglespokespersonde-
President Emmanuel Macron pany.Thatupdate,which TheRussianEmbassyin clinedtocomment.
inFrance. wouldhavebeendifficultto Washingtondeniedresponsibil- Googlehasdeniedanyanti-
Thehackingcontinuedfor identifyasathreat,contained ity,sayingtheallegationswere competitive behavior, saying
months, largely undetected whatinvestigatorscalleda “unfoundedattemptsofthe itoperatesinhighlycompeti-
bytheTrumpadministration backdoorthatcouldhave U.S.mediatoblameRussia.” tivemarketsandthatitsser-
andcybersecurityfirms,until vices benefit consumers and
the past week, according to businesses.
peoplefamiliarwiththemat- the hackers gained access to Government in response to a Google’s ad-tech business
ter. SolarWinds systems to intro- significantcyberincident,”the consists of software used to
Currentandformerofficials ducemaliciouscode. councilsaidonTwitter. buy and sell ads on sites
and cybersecurity experts On Tuesday, investigators Theseriousnessofthehack acrosstheweb.Thecompany
havedescribedthehackasan werestillintheearlystagesof haspromptedbipartisanscru- ownsthedominanttoolatev-
espionage operation rather understanding the scope of tinyfromCongress. erylinkinthecomplexchain
than one aimed at damaging theSolarWindshack,butsev- OnTuesday,threeRepubli- betweenonlinepublishersand
computer networks, and said eral agencies have confirmed canandthreeDemocraticsen- advertisers, giving it unique
it represents a significant intrusions into their internal atorsjointlyaskedtheFederal poweroverthemonetization
counterintelligencefailure. systems,includingthedepart- Bureau of Investigation and ofdigitalcontent.
The widespread hacking ments of State, Commerce, the Cybersecurity and Infra- Many publishers and ad-
campaign appeared to have Treasury, Homeland Security structure Security Agency to vertisingrivalshavecharged
begunwhenhackerscompro- andtheNationalInstitutesof provide information on the thatithastiedthesetoolsto-
mised systems belonging to Health,accordingtopeoplefa- hack investigation. They are getherandtoitsowned-and-
SolarWinds Corp., a U.S. net- miliarwiththematter. seeking a list of all federal operated properties, such as
work management company To streamline the federal agencies that are customers search and YouTube, in anti- PAULMORELLI.COM
that boasts national security responseacrossagencies,the of SolarWinds and how the competitiveways.
NYC: 895 MADISON (72ND & MADISON)
agencies, local governments, NationalSecurityCouncilhas agencies intend to support Thestateshavebeencoor-
largecorporationsanddefense activated what is known as a businessesthatmayhavebeen dinatingwiththeJusticeDe- PHL: 1118 WALNUT STREET
contractorsamongits300,000 Unified Coordination Group hacked. partment,whichfiledananti- 212.585.4200
customers.Investigators are “toensurecontinuedunityof The FBI and CISA didn’t trust lawsuit against Google
trying to piece together how effortacrosstheUnitedStates immediatelycomment. onOct.20.
A4|Wednesday,December16,2020 P W L C 10 11 12 H T G K R F A M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 O I X X **** THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
U.S. NEWS
Leaders Warn GOP on Vote Challenge Facebook
Eases Ban
TopRepublicansunite IncomingRep.MarjorieTay- iarwiththediscussion.
lor Greene (R., Ga.) is among Mr. McConnell, Sen. John On Politics
inacceptingBiden
the lawmakers also trying to Thune(R.,S.D.),andSen.Roy
win,tellcolleaguesnot recruit senators to challenge Blunt(R.,Mo.)eachspoke,ar-
theelectoralresults,saidaper- guing that it would be a bad In Runoffs
tojoinnewmove
son familiar with the efforts. vote for senators running in
“She’stalkingtoeveryRepubli- 2022.
BYLINDSAYWISE cansenatortogainsupportfor Both Mr. Thune and Mr. BYEMILYGLAZER
ANDSIOBHANHUGHES thiseffort,”thepersonsaid. Bluntareupforre-electionin ANDPATIENCEHAGGIN
House Minority Leader twoyears.“Theydon’twantto
WASHINGTON—SenateRe- OCK Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) beviewedasagainstTrump,” FacebookInc.saiditwould
publicanleadersunitedTues- RST didn’tcommentTuesdaywhen the person familiar with the allow political ads for the
day in calling Democrat Joe UTTE asked if he is willing to ac- callsaid. Georgiarunoffelectionsstart-
Bidenthewinnerofthepresi- SH knowledgethatMr.Bidenwon Senate GOP aides said the ing Wednesday but would
dential race, while warning PA/ theelectionandispresident- concernisthatthevotewould maintainabroadertemporary
colleaguesnottojoinalong- W/E elect. be seen by Mr. Trump’s base blackoutforU.S.adsaboutso-
shot bid to challenge the re- THE Attorney General William as a test of loyalty, even if it cial issues, elections or poli-
sultswhenCongresscertifies WN Barr,whosubmittedhisresig- hadnochanceofsuccess,and tics as part of its efforts to
A
electoralvotesinJanuary. H nation Monday effective Dec. Republican lawmakers who curbmisinformation.
S
“Oursystemofgovernment Mr.McConnellrecognizedDemocratJoeBidenaspresident-elect. 23, has said the Justice De- don’tsupporttheeffortcould Facebook’sdecision,which
hasprocessestodeterminewho partment hasn’t found evi- face anger from the presi- followsasimilarmovebyAl-
willbesworninonJan.20.The PresidentTrump. mallyobjectandforcevotesin dence of widespread voter dent’s supporters and poten- phabet Inc.’s Google, said
ElectoralCollegehasspoken,” Mr.BidensaidhecalledMr. bothchambers. fraud that could reverse Mr. tialprimarychallenges. Tuesdaythatittookintocon-
said Senate Majority Leader McConnell to thank him on MajoritiesintheHouseand Biden’selectionvictory. WhiteHousepresssecretary sideration feedback from ex-
MitchMcConnell(R.,Ky.).“So Tuesday and pledged to seek Senate have to agree for the DemocratssaidMr.McCon- KayleighMcEnanydeclinedto perts and advertisers about
today, I want to congratulate areasofcommonground. challengetobesuccessful,an nell’s acknowledgment was sayTuesdaywhetherPresident usingitstoolstoreachvoters
President-electJoeBiden.” Other Republican lawmak- extremely unlikely prospect overdue. TrumpacceptedtheElectoral ahead of the two U.S. Senate
Mr.McConnellwasthelat- ers still hope to contest the giventhatDemocratscontrol “The fact that it took six Collegevote.“Yesterday’svote runoff races in Georgia on
estinaseriesoftopRepubli- results at a joint session of theHouse,buttheeffortcould weeks for my colleagues to was one step in the constitu- Jan.5. Early voting began in
canstorecognizeMr.Bidenas CongressonJan.6,whenfed- setthestageforafinalpublic start recognizing reality and tionalprocess,”shesaid. the state this week, and the
president-electthisweek.His erallawrequiresCongressto fightoverthetally. stop undermining our demo- TheWhiteHousewasmade runoffs will determine which
comments came a day after countandcertifytheresultsof “Icaneitherfightforhon- cratic process is sad and dis- awarethatMr.McConnell,who party controls the chamber
theElectoralCollegeformally each state’s electoral vote. estandaccurateelections,orI appointing,” said Sen. Dick alsopraisedthepresident’sre- when President-elect Joe Bi-
counted the ballots and Rep.MoBrooks(R.,Ala.)said canjointhesurrendercaucus,” DurbinofIllinois. cordinhisremarks,wouldbe denbeginshisadministration.
cappedmorethanamonthof he would press ahead with a Mr. Brooks said in an inter- InaSenateRepublicancon- conveyingthemessagehede- Facebooksaiditdeveloped
unsuccessful GOP efforts to plantoobjecttovotesinmul- viewonTuesday.“Ipreferto ferencecallonTuesday,leaders livered,saidtwopeoplefamil- aprocesstoallowadvertisers
get courts and state officials tiplestates. fight for honest and fair and warnedtheircolleaguesagainst iarwiththeprocess. toreachGeorgiavotersabout
to overturn the election re- Ittakesonememberofthe accurateelectionsthatarethe challengingtheresultsonJan. —CatherineLucey the runoffs and to reject ads
sults in favor of Republican Houseandonesenatortofor- underpinningofanyrepublic.” 6,accordingtoapersonfamil- contributedtothisarticle. that target locations outside
the state or that don’t relate
totheelectionsthere.
Buttigieg Is Selected to Lead Transportation “We will continue to pro-
hibitanyadthatincludescon-
tent debunked by third-party
fact-checkersordelegitimizes
BYKENTHOMAS theGeorgiarunoffelections,”
ANDELIZACOLLINS Facebookwroteinablogpost
Tuesday. A Facebook spokes-
WASHINGTON—President- woman said the company
elect Joe Biden selected for- wouldannouncepubliclywhen
mer South Bend, Ind., Mayor itsbroaderblackoutforpoliti-
Pete Buttigieg, a onetime caladsislifted.
Democratic primary rival, to Facebook and Google are
lead the Transportation De- the biggest digital ad plat-
partment,Mr.BidensaidTues- formsinpoliticaladvertising.
day. Campaigns for President
Mr. Buttigieg dropped out Trump and Mr. Biden collec-
of the race in March and en- tively spent about $200 mil-
dorsed Mr. Biden along with lion on Facebook ads leading
other moderate Democrats. up to the 2020 election, not
Leading the Transportation including outside groups, ac-
Department, Mr. Buttigieg isSS cording to Facebook’s ad li-
expectedtoplayaprominentPRE brary.Butbothplatformsde-
A
roleintheincomingBidenad-M cided to limit political ads
U
ministration’spushtorebuildS/Z before and after the general
thenation’sroadsandbridges.ME electioninanefforttoreduce
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Mr.Buttigieg,a38-year-oldAY thespreadofmisinformation.
openly gay military veteranAB Google, which started al-
P
who served in Afghanistan,M lowingpoliticaladslastweek,
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emergedasasurprisingnext-NE/T said it no longer considered
generation contender for theHI thepostelectionperiodtobea
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Democraticpresidentialnomi-O “sensitive event” but is still
nation against Mr. Biden andSENCI enforcingitsadspoliciesand
notched a narrow victory inA disallows false information
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the Iowa caucuses. But thatRTH thatcouldunderminetrustin
win was overshadowed byMA elections.
technicalglitchesandreport- FormerSouthBend,Ind.,MayorPeteButtigiegisexpectedtoplayabigroleinMr.Biden’spushtorebuildtheU.S.’sroadsandbridges. Spokespeople for Demo-
ingdelaysinthecaucusesand cratic Senate candidates Jon
he faded in the contests that cently was under consider- New York City’s transit sys- quality,zero-emissions”mass ofthecoronaviruspandemic. Ossoff and RaphaelWarnock,
followed. ation for several roles in the tem,peoplefamiliarwiththe transitforeveryU.S.citywith Mr. Buttigieg would take along with the Democratic
Mr. Buttigieg served as a Biden administration. Mr. mattersaid. 100,000 or more residents. over a department whose SenatorialCampaignCommit-
two-termmayorofSouthBend Buttigieg, who represented a Mr.Biden’stransitionteam But it isn’t clear how the Bi- mostcriticalfunctionsareset- tee,havesaidtheearlierdeci-
from2012to2020,makingur- city of about 100,000 people, declinedtocomment. denadministrationwouldper- tingtransportationregulations sionstobanpoliticalads put
ban development and eco- beat out several others with Mr.Bidencampaignedona suade Congress to fund such anddistributingvastsumsof thematadisadvantage.They
nomic revitalization corner- experiencedealingwithmuch $2trillionplantorebuildthe aneffort,especiallygivencur- money, mostly to states to cited the Republican incum-
stonesofhisadministration. largertransportationsystems, nation’sinfrastructure,much rentresistancetofinancialre- fundtheirrespectivehighway, bents’ larger followings, say-
Mr.Buttigieghasspentthe including Los Angeles Mayor ofitrelatedtotransportation. liefpackagesformass-transit roadandtransitsystems. ingtheycouldshareinforma-
lastseveralmonthscampaign- Eric Garcetti and Sarah Fein- Amongthecampaign’sboldest systemsastheystrugglewith —TimPukoandEmilyGlazer tion more easily via their
ingforMr.Bidenandmorere- berg, the acting president of proposalswasacallfor“high- acollapseinridershipbecause contributedtothisarticle. accounts.
Energy, Climate Picks to Be Named
SAVE $70
BYANDREWRESTUCCIA creditedMr.Bidenwithplay-
$AV12039TV9Spe9ak9er ANDTIMOTHYPUKO ing a key role in bolstering
GeneralMotorsCo.andChrys-
Save$70 WASHINGTON—President- lerduringthatperiod.
electJoeBidenisplanningto Ms. Granholm and Mr. Bi-
tapformerObamaadministra- den have a close relationship
tionEnvironmentalProtection datingbackyears.Shehelped
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national climate adviser and NE presidentialdebateduringthe
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will lead a newly formed M sityprofessorandformervice
WhiteHouseOfficeofDomes- AUL presidentforenergyatAlpha-
Can’t Hear tic Climate Policy. Ali Zaidi, VIDP bet Inc.’s Google, and former
New York’s deputy secretary DA DeputyEnergySecretaryEliz-
for energy and environment, JenniferGranholmisaformerDemocraticgovernorofMichigan. abethSherwood-Randall.
Voices On TV? will serve as Ms. McCarthy’s Mr. Majumdar could be
deputy, people familiar with one person familiar with the withotherseniorofficials,in- nominatedforanothersenior
themattersaid. internaldeliberationssaidMr. cluding the incoming head of role at the Energy Depart-
AccuVoice®AV203Speakerhassixlevelsof Ms.McCarthy,whodeclined Bidenwasstilldeliberatingon theEnvironmentalProtection ment, possibly deputy secre-
voiceboosttomakeTVdialoguecrystalclear. tocomment,willworkclosely hisEPAadministrator. Agency and the White House tary,someofthepeoplefamil-
OurAccuVoice®AV203Speakerusespatentedhearingaid withformerSecretaryofState Ms. Granholm, who en- climatecoordinator,topursue iarwiththemattersaid.
technologyfortheclearestTVdialoguewehaveeverheard. JohnKerry,Mr.Biden’sspecial dorsedMr.Bidenforpresident Mr.Biden’scampaignpledgeto DuringtheObamaadminis-
Digitalalgorithmsliftvoicesoutofbackgroundsounds.The203 envoyforclimatechange.Her inMarch,servedasMichigan’s achievenet-zeroemissionsin tration, he became the first
deliverssixlevelsofvoiceboost–incaseyouneedextraclarity! position doesn’t require Sen- Democratic governor from theU.S.by2050. leaderofthedepartment’sAd-
Only17"wide,itfitsanywhere.Hookupissimple–oneconnecting ateconfirmation. 2003to2011andasthestate’s Ms. Granholm didn’t re- vanced Research Projects
cord.Room-fillinghometheatersound,withtheclearestvoices Mr.Biden’stopadvisersalso attorney general for the pre- spondtorequeststocomment. Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E,
we’veheardonanyspeaker,atanyprice. have expressed increased in- cedingfouryears.Oneofher A spokesman for Mr. Biden’s working there from 2009 to
terestinpickingRep.DebHaa- signaturepoliciesasgovernor transition team declined to 2012.Theagencyfundsearly-
land(D.,N.M.)toleadtheInte- wasamandateforthestateto comment. stage innovation projects,
“GreatforfolkswhohavetroublehearingtheTV.” CNET
rior Department. But House increase the share of its en- Asgovernor,Ms.Granholm modeledontheresearcharm
Democratshavepushedback, ergy derived from renewable pushedarenewableportfolio of the Defense Department
tellingtransitionofficialsthat sourceslikesolarandwind. standardrequiring10%ofthe thatisknownasacatalystfor
they can’t afford to lose an- Ifconfirmedasenergysec- state’s energy to come from breakthroughs.
GreatSound.MadeSimple. otherlawmakertotheadmin- retary, Ms. Granholm would renewable sources by 2015, a Mr. Biden has promised to
866-367-9869 istrationbecauseoftheparty’s overseeU.S.scientificresearch percentage that was later in- placeanewemphasisonthis
slimmajority,peoplefamiliar andthecountry’snucleararse- creased. During her tenure, kind of work in government,
60-DayHomeTrial|FreeShipping|zvox.com
withthediscussionssaid. nal,andcouldhelpincentivize she also worked closely with including creating a new
®ZVOX&AccuVoiceareregisteredtrademarksofZVOXAudio. The president-elect is ex- thedevelopmentoflow-carbon the Obama administration to agencycalled“ARPA-C,”toad-
ORDERATZVOX.COMORAMAZON- pected to formally announce energy sources through the helptheautoindustry,which dress climate change. Mr. Bi-
SEARCHFOR“ACCUVOICE203” key energy and environment distribution of federal loans. faced collapse following the denhascalledclimatechange
positions this weekend, but Shewouldlikelyworkclosely economic downturn. She has anurgentcrisis.
THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. Wednesday,December16,2020|A5
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
“TRUST IN YOUR SCIENTIFIC
INSTINCTS AND NEVER STOP
MOVING FORWARD.”
DR. JULIA HOENG
DIRECTORSYSTEMSTOXICOLOGY,PHILIPMORRISINTERNATIONAL
I’ve studied biology, biochemistry, math, and computer methods transparently. Not only is it in our best interest to
science,andreceivedmydoctoratefromCambridgeUniversity. demonstrate openness to the world at large, but it’s also
In 2008, when I learned Philip Morris International (PMI) important to engage the global scientific community in
was building a new laboratory to assess the products that order to always be moving the science forward.
would form part of a smoke-free future, I said, “I’m in.”
The potential public health impact of science-backed
Seeing the positive results from the first studies looking at smoke-free products is considerable. And while these
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oursmoke-freenicotineproductswasthrilling.Therewereso is addictive — the breakthrough is profound. And I feel
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PMI.COM/BETTER
A6|Wednesday,December16,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
**
U.S. NEWS
Pfizer Expands
Rollout of Its
Covid-19 Shots
BYJAREDS.HOPKINS cagoans.Weneedtostayvigi-
lant,”Ms.Lightfootsaid.
More U.S. hospitals began Fivepeoplegotthevaccine
receiving shipments of the asawaytoillustratethecom-
Covid-19vaccinedevelopedby plexlogisticsintherollout,as
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, Pfizer’s shot comes five-per-
withdoctorsandnursesbeing vial,saidChicagoDepartment
inoculatedforthefirsttime. ofPublicHealthCommissioner
Pfizerandlogisticscompa- Allison Arwady. Pfizer’s shot
niescontinueddistributionof is transported frozen, can be
its two-dose vaccine, as they refrigeratedforuptofivedays
worked to meet the govern- butthenmustbeadministered
S
ment’s goal of distributing withinafewhours. GE
A
millionsofdosesto636sites “These folks are the lucky IM
Y
adcaryo.sAsbthoeutco2u.n9trmyibllyioWneddonseess- oDnr.eAsrtwoagdeyt. us started,” said O/GETT
aresettobedeliveredbythe The first vaccine in New GL
A
end of the weekend to more Jersey was given to Maritza CI
than1,000locations. Beniquez, an emergency de- AEL
H
AtLorettoHospitalinChi- partmentnurse,atUniversity MIC
cago,fivehealth-careworkers Hospital’s Vaccine Clinic at TerrenceWong,associatechiefofpharmacyoperationsatRockyMountainRegionalVAMedicalCenterinAurora,Colo.,opensavaccinebox.
received the city’s first vac- Rutgers New Jersey Medical
cinesonTuesdaywithMayor School in Newark, according togetinitialdosesofthevac- ties, akin to nursing homes, specialgovernmentrelieffund ing facilities to use has
LoriLightfootandotheroffi- toNewJerseyGov.PhilMur- cinebecauseofthehospital’s and VA health-care workers, fortheuninsured. experienced delays and isn’t
cials watching nearby. “What phy’s office. Six acute-care abilitytovaccinatelargenum- accordingtothedepartment. WhileCaliforniabeganvac- yet fully online, said Jeff
wejustwitnessedishistoryin hospitalsaresettoreceivethe bers of people and store the TheVAhassaiditplansto cinations at one hospital in Smith,chiefoperatingofficer
the making,” Ms. Lightfoot state’s initial federally deter- shots at ultracold tempera- provideaCovidvaccinefreeof Los Angeles on Monday and ofCedars-SinaiMedicalCenter
said afterward at a press mined76,050dosesofthevac- tures,accordingtospokesman charge to veterans who re- another in San Francisco on inLosAngeles.
briefing. “I got goosebumps cinethisweek. BradDoboszenski. ceiveVAhealthcare. Tuesday, logistical problems “Cedars-Sinai and some
watchingthishappen.” The Minneapolis VA Medi- “Thevaccineisnotwaiting The Trump administration withacomputersystemmeant other large hospital systems
Lorettohasfewerthan200 cal Center gave out its first to go, the vaccines are being and officials with President- totrackpeoplewhogetvacci- have decided to leverage our
bedsinthecity’sAustinneigh- dosesofthevaccineTuesday, giveninMinnesota,”saidGov. electJoeBidenhavesaidthe natedaroseinthestate’smost existing electronic health re-
borhood,apredominantlyAf- according to medical center Tim Walz, who spoke at the vaccine would be provided populousmetroarea. cordsinsteadofthecountysys-
rican-American community directorPatrickKelly. medicalcenter. free of charge to Americans. In L.A. County, a patient tem to perform those func-
thathasbeenespeciallyhard The facility is one of the Under the VA’s plan, the Administrationfeeswouldbe registrationandtrackingsys- tions,” he said. The county is
hit by the virus. “Covid-19 is first 37 U.S. Department of firstinlinewillbethosewho billed to private or govern- temcalledPrepModthatpub- “establishingworkaroundsuntil
stillreal.ItisstillkillingChi- VeteransAffairsmedicalsites live in long-term-care facili- ment insurance plans or to a lic-healthofficialsarerequir- theirsystemisupandrunning.”
For Biden’s Virus Czar, Challenges Await New Case
Count Up
BYSTEPHANIEARMOUR 2012to2017.
ANDTARINIPARTI Mr.Zientspubliclycommit-
ted to operations working Slightly in
WASHINGTON—A crisis smoothlybylateNovemberand
awaitsJeffreyZients. madetheCentersforMedicare
By the time he starts as and Medicaid Services, which The U.S.
President-electJoeBiden’scor- oversawtheACAimplementa-
onavirus czar, an estimated tion, accountable by holding
400,000 people in the U.S. regular press briefings, said BYDAVIDHALL
could be dead from the pan- AndySlavitt,whoservedasthe
demic. Millions of vaccine agency’s acting administrator TheU.S.reportedmorethan
doseswillneedtobeadminis- duringtheObamaadministra- 193,000newcoronaviruscases,
teredbystates,andthenation tion. “He organized the brief- asthefirstdosesofthePfizer-
willremainsplitoverthebest ingswithslidesandmaterials BioNTechvaccinewereadmin-
waytoconfrontthevirus. SS everyweek,withallthedata,” isteredacrossthecountry.
RE
Mr.Zients,aninvestorand P saidMr.Slavitt. The nation’s tally of new
D
formerObamaadministration ATE Asimilarpublic-information casesforMondaywasslightly
economicadviser,hastackled OCI effortwillbeneededwhenMr. higherthanthepreviousday’s
health-related organizational ASS Bidentakesofficetoreassure totalbutdownfrompeaksof
challenges before. He is cred- SH/ people about the vaccine’s more than 200,000 reached
ited with turning around the WAL safetyandprovideupdateson earlier this month, according
bungledrolloutoftheAfford- AN initiatives to slow the virus’s to data compiled by Johns
S
ableCareAct’sHealthCare.govU spread,healthleaderssay. HopkinsUniversity.California,
S
websitein2013. JeffreyZientsspeakingduringaneventwiththepresident-electinWilmington,Del.,lastweek. Mr. Biden has called for which hit a record of more
“Like now, it was a very broadchangestothefederalre-
high-stakes situation with an Board Company, a health-care BillCassidy,aphysician. aimedatfixingHealthCare.gov. sponsetothecoronavirusand
uncertainoutcome,”saidDenis consultingandresearchfirm. Mr.Zientsdeclinedtocom- Mr.Zientshadnoexperience pressed people to commit to Monday’stallyof
McDonough,theWhiteHouse “Ourworriesinthisspecific ment, according to a spokes- inthetechnologyindustry,hav- wearing a mask for 100 days.
morethan193,000
chiefofstaffduringtheObama jobarethatheisnotonlycom- manwiththeBidentransition ing worked primarily in man- He has said he would back a
administration’s second term fortablewiththefinancializa- team. Supporters say critics agementconsultingbeforejoin- mask mandate on federally wasdownfrompeaks
whoisnowMr.Biden’spickfor tion of American health care, shouldlookathissuccesssta- inggovernment.But,aswillbe owned property, widen free
earlierthismonth.
veteransaffairssecretary. hehashastenedit,”Mr.Hauser bilizingHealthCare.govasevi- thecasewhenhetakeshisnew testing and put public-health
Thepandemic’sscalemeans said. “And we think that the dence he can make strides in job in January, there was a scientists in the forefront. He
thechallengenowisbigger.And personwhorunstheCovid-19 corrallingthepandemic. need to act quickly. Scores of wants 10 mobile testing sites
whilehedrawspraisefromoffi- responseisgoingtobeshaping FrustrationranhighinOc- peoplewereunabletocreatean and drive-through facilities in
cialswhoworkedwithhimdur- publicpolicyinsomeverycon- tober 2013 when the online applicationonHealthCare.gov, each state and has said he than 36,000 new cases for
ingtheObamayears,hisselec- sequentialwaysastohowthe platformtosignupforindivid- andtherewasanarrowwindow woulddeploymilitaryresources Sunday, reported just over
tionhasbeencriticizedbysome government interacts with ualhealthinsuranceunderthe forthemtosignup.Thefederal toboosthealth-carecapacity. 26,000infectionsforMonday.
progressiveDemocratsleeryof health-careproviders.” ACA tried to launch. By most government had spent more Mr.Zients,54yearsold,will Thecountryreportedmore
hisbusinessbackground:Heis Mr.Zientsalsolackspublic- accounts, it was a mess. The than$80million,andadditional have to implement the initia- than 1,400 fatalities from
on leave from his job as chief healthexperience,raisingcon- websitecrashedafterjusttwo costswereaddingup. tivesandgetuptospeedwith Covid-19forMonday,bringing
executive of investment firm cernsamongsomeinCongress, hours,anditlatercouldhandle First, Mr. Zients marshaled whattheTrumpadministration the total death toll to more
Cranemere and served on the though his position won’t re- only about 35,000 visitors at privatecompaniesandtechnol- hasputinplace. than 300,400. Nationally, the
boardofFacebookInc. quireSenateconfirmation. anyonetime. ogyfirmstoundertakearapid “Thesearehardissues,”said average number of daily
JeffHauseroftheliberalRe- “If you had that public- Less than two weeks after reviewofHealthCare.gov’sprob- TomFrieden,aformerdirector deaths over a seven-day pe-
volving Door Project, which healthbackground,thenyou’re the troubled start, Mr. Mc- lems, drafting a punch list of oftheCentersforDiseaseCon- riod has risen sharply in re-
scrutinizesexecutive-branchap- able to prioritize competing DonoughtookMr.Zientsfora fixestoprioritize.Thequickac- trol and Prevention. He said centweeks.
pointments,deridedMr.Zients priorities—which is more im- walkontheWhiteHouseSouth tiondidn’tsurprisepeoplewho the challenges existed in part Hospitalizations hit a re-
asfriendlytocorporationsand portant or not—because you Lawn.HehadknownMr.Zients, hadworkedwithhimbefore. becausetheTrumpadministra- cordfortheninthdayinarow
raisedconcernsabouthisprevi- know from a public-health whohadbeenactingdirectorof “He’s not a ditherer,” said tionhadleftstatesshouldering Monday, with 110,549 people
ousworkinthehealth-carein- background which one’s a theOfficeofManagementand Richard Cordray, the first di- much of the response rather inhospitalsacrossthecountry
dustry. Mr. Zients served as linchpin and which one can Budget in 2010 and 2013, and rectoroftheConsumerFinan- than taking a more muscular due to Covid-19, according to
chiefexecutiveoftheAdvisory wait,”saidLouisianaGOPSen. coaxed him to lead a mission cial Protection Bureau from federalapproach. theCovidTrackingProject.
Moderna’s
and the Trump administra- EfficacyratesforModerna’s withnoevidenceofinfection toms and that 185 of those fines as severe or medically
tion’s Operation Warp Speed Covid-19vaccine,bygroup developed asymptomatic in- were given a placebo, com- significant but not immedi-
Shot Nears overseeing distribution. Fed- fections after the first dose paredwithjust11ontheMod- atelylifethreatening.Incom-
Allparticipants
eral officials have said the andbeforetheseconddose.Of ernavaccine. parison, less than 1% of pla-
Modernavaccinewillbemore 94.1% these, Moderna found there TheFDAanalysisfoundthe cebo recipients had grade 3
Approval suitable for smaller hospitals were about two-thirds fewer Moderna vaccine appeared injection-sitereactions.
in rural areas because it is Ages18–64years asymptomaticcoronavirusin- somewhat more effective in Some 16.5% of vaccine re-
shipped in smaller quantities 95.6% fectionsamongvaccinerecipi- younger people than in se- cipientshadsystemicadverse
thanPfizer’sandcanbestored ents than among those who niors. Vaccine efficacy was reactions, such as fever and
atahighertemperature. 65+ hadgottenaplacebo,accord- 95.6%amongpeople18to64, fatigue, with a severity of at
ContinuedfromPageOne The FDA’s review of a 86.4% ing to a Moderna document and86.4%amongthose65and least grade 3, versus 3.7%
normalsemblanceoflife,”said 30,000-person clinical study postedbyFDA.Thedocument older. amongplaceborecipients.
WilliamSchaffner,professorof confirmed Moderna’s earlier Note:Starting14daysafterseconddose. didn’t include results follow- Modernastudieditsvaccine TheFDAsaiditwouldrec-
health policy and preventive disclosure that the vaccine Source:FDA ingtheseconddose. inpeople18andolder,andis ommendthatvaccinatedpeo-
medicineatVanderbiltUniver- was94.1%effectiveatprevent- Moderna’s new data show- seekingauthorizationforuse plebemonitoredforacondi-
sity.Hesaidmoredataarenec- ingCovid-19diseasewithcer- participantswithmedicalco- ingareductioninasymptom- in that population. The FDA tioncalledBell’spalsy,which
essarytoconcludewhetherthe tain symptoms, including se- morbidities[underlyingcondi- atic infections after the first clearedPfizer’svaccineinpeo- weakens facial muscles, be-
Covid-19vaccinescandothat. veredisease. tions] associated with high dose means it is possible to ple 16 and older because the causethreevaccinerecipients
APfizerresearchersaidlast TheModernavaccine,ifau- riskofsevereCovid-19.” “slowdownthespreadofthe studyincludedthatagegroup. intheModernastudyexperi-
week that the company was thorized,wouldbethefirstof Similarlyencouraging,FDA virusinthecommunitybybe- The FDA found no specific enced it. This condition also
studying whether its vaccine several expected to augment scientistsalsofoundthatthe ing vaccinated, in addition to safety concerns that would wasreportedinasmallnum-
protectsagainstasymptomatic U.S.vaccinesuppliesfollowing research“suggestedbenefitof protectingyourselffromsevere preclude its authorization of berofrecipientsofthePfizer
Covid-19 and hopes to com- the rollout to Americans this the vaccine in preventing se- disease,” said Moderna Chief thevaccine.Themostcommon vaccine in the Pfizer study.
plete that analysis early next week of the first shot, from vereCovid-19.”Theissueofef- ExecutiveStéphaneBancel. sideeffectsincludedinjection- Those rates are consistent
year. Pfizer.Vaccinesareconsidered fectivenessagainstseveredis- Moderna previously has site pain, fatigue, headache withwhatwouldbeexpected
DosesofModerna’svaccine critical to ending the pan- easehasbeenraisedaboutthe said its experimental vaccine andchills.Severeadversere- inthegeneralpopulationout-
could be shipped this week- demic, which has killed over studies of Covid-19 vaccines. was94.1%effectiveinprotect- actionswererarebutoccurred sideofaclinicaltrial.
end,withvaccinationsstarting 300,000peopleintheU.S.and The study found 30 cases of ingpeopleagainstCovid-19.In morefrequentlyafterthesec- The FDA is expected to
early next week. Which vac- morethan1.6millionglobally. severediseaseintheplacebo that first public, full analysis onddosethanafterthefirst. move quickly to approve the
cinepeoplegetwillbedecided FDA analysts found the group,versuszerointhevac- ofthepivotalstudy,theCam- About9.1%ofvaccinerecip- Modernavaccineifthereisa
byfactorsincludingavailabil- Modernavaccinewaseffective cinegroup. bridge, Mass., company said ients had injection-site reac- favorable recommendation
ity, with the Centers for Dis- “across age groups, genders, Moderna found that some 196peopleinthe30,000-per- tions that were classified as from an advisory committee
ease Control and Prevention racial and ethnic groups, and peoplewhostartedthestudy son trial experienced symp- “grade3,”whichtheFDAde- meetingonThursday.
wsj_20201216_a006_p2jw351000_2_a00600_1________xa2020.crop.pdf 1 16-Dec-20 07:23:00
THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. Wednesday,December16,2020|A7
U.S. NEWS
Europe Speeds Its Review of Vaccine
At-Home
Covid Test
Authorized
BYDREWHINSHAW effectiveandofhighquality.”
ANDBOJANPANCEVSKI TheEMAisporingoverthe
By FDA samedataasitscounterpartsin
TheEuropeanUnion’schief the U.K., Canada and the U.S.
drug regulator will accelerate did.Regulatorsanalyzepatient
itsreviewofaCovid-19vaccine data from large-scale human
BYBRIANNAABBOTT after coming under pressure trials submitted in rolling
fromsomegovernmentstoau- batchestoseehowmanyinfec-
TheFoodandDrugAdmin- thorizetheshot,astheconti- tionsoccurredinthosewhore-
istrationauthorizedaCovid-19 nent struggles to contain a ceivedaplacebo-likeshotcom-
testthatcanbeadministered wave of cases ahead of the pared with those who were
and processed at home, the Christmasperiod. giventhevaccine.Becausethe
first such test allowed to be The European Medicines virusisspreadingsowidely,it
soldover-the-counteratdrug- Agency said on Tuesday it took BioNTech only weeks to
storesorotherretaillocations would meet on Dec. 21, eight record the number of cases
withoutaprescription. days earlier than previously necessarytodeterminehowef-
The antigen test, made by scheduled, to consider autho- fectiveitsshotis.
EllumeUSALLC,isasingle-use, rizing the shot developed by But regulators also ask
disposable test that searches Germany’s BioNTech SE and questions to confirm the vac-
forpiecesofvirusproteinsand PfizerInc. cineisgenerallysafeandeffec-
returnsresultsinabout15min- So far, the U.S., U.K. and Stive,andcanbemanufactured
utes.Itisthesecondtobeau- Canadahavebegunvaccinating AGEataconsistentquality.Onthis
M
thorizedforat-homeuse. their citizens with the shot. Ifront,theEMAhasbeenslower
Y
Ellume’stestisexpectedto Oncethevaccineisclearedin GETTthantheU.K.,whosechiefreg-
costaround$30andrequires Europe, it would take several P/ulatorstartedposingquestions
U
a smartphone, the company daystoferrythedosesacross ALLearlierintheprocessandwas
says.Thetestisauthorizedto the continent, meaning vacci- NGquickertomakefollow-upque-
A
be used by people both with nations—insomecountriesat SEries, said people who worked
andwithoutsymptoms.Itcan least—could start before MedicalpersonnelperformedrapidCovid-19testingatanoutdoorfacilityinBerlinthismonth. with both agencies recently.
also be used on children as Christmas. The different regulators also
youngas2yearsold. Theagencyandseveralna- age and innumerable people done and as any EU member doses had been ordered cen- want data formatted differ-
Ellume, based in Australia, tionalgovernmentsinthebloc whomustfearfortheirjobs.” coulddoonitsown—andwait trallyintheEU,makingiteas- ently,creatingadelay.
aimstoship100,000testsaday hadsaidacarefulreviewwas On Tuesday, Italy’s Health instead for full EU authoriza- iertostartdistributionacross UgurSahin,BioNTech’schief
inJanuary,saidSeanParsons, neededtoensurepublicconfi- MinistrysaidithopedtheEMA tion.Buthetoldnationalradio thebloconthesameday. executive,saidinaninterview
the company’s founder and denceintheshotatatimeof couldauthorizeavaccineahead thathisgovernmentwaspush- EMAofficialshavesaidthey Friday that the EMA process
chiefexecutiveofficer.InOcto- mounting skepticism about ofschedule.Othernationsbadly ingforthetimetabletobeac- aremovingasfastastheycan wasn’t taking longer than
ber,thecompanyreceived$30 vaccinesinEurope. affectedbythevirus,including celerated. without eroding trust in vac- thoseintheU.S.andtheU.K.
million from the U.S. federal SomeEUleaders,however, FranceandSpain,haven’traised The EMA has no authority cines.Conversely,somepublic- because of scientific reasons,
governmentthroughtheRapid hadbeengrowingfrustratedat complaintsaboutthespeedof toissuethetypeofemergency- healthofficialsandmedicalin- but rather because the EU
AccelerationofDiagnosticsini- the pace of the review as the thereview. useauthorizationthattheU.K. stitutions have warned the agency was following its own
tiative at the National Insti- deathtollfromthevirusticks “Weshouldbeveryalertto andU.S.havegiven.IntheEU, agency that hasty authoriza- procedures.
tutesofHealth,andtheU.S.is higher. anypossibilityofbeingtangled tion of a shot that uses novel TheEUsignedacontractto
thecompany’sprimarymarket. AtanEUsummitlastweek, up in the red tape,” Polish technologywouldbeadifficult buy200milliondosesfromBi-
Clinical studies of the test atleastthreeheadsofgovern- Prime Minister Mateusz EUleaderslament sellonacontinentwherevacci- oNTechandPfizer—enoughto
wereconductedwith198par- ment complained that it was Morawiecki told the Journal. nationrateshavedeclined. vaccinate100millionpeople—
theU.S.andCanada
ticipants across five U.S. becomingpoliticallyuntenable “Some non-EU Western and OnFriday,theagency’slead- with the option for an addi-
states.Thetest’saccuracywas toexplaintotheircitizenswhy Asian countries have already aregettinga ersheldafour-hourvideocon- tional 100 million doses. Last
compared with that of the the U.S. and Canada were ad- started vaccinations. Mean- ference to assure the public month, it agreed to purchase
Europeanshotfirst.
gold standard, laboratory- ministering a Europe-made while, millions of EU citizens thattheyarebeingmeticulous 160milliondosesofasecond
based PCR test. Ellume’s test vaccine ahead of the EU, offi- arestillwaiting.” inreviewingclinical-trialdata vaccine, developed by Mod-
correctly identified 96% of cialsfamiliarwiththediscus- Germanyandseveralneigh- andthemanufacturingparticu- erna Inc., that uses the same
positivesamplesand100%of sionssaid. boringcountries—includingPo- lars. mRNAtechnology.
negativesamplesamongpeo- “IhopethattheEU,too,will land,CzechRepublicandAus- that power falls to national “Weareworkingaroundthe TheEMAisn’tsettomakea
ple with symptoms. The test get quick and unbureaucratic tria—are asking residents to governments. Yet not all gov- clocktowardsthelicensingof decisionontheModernashot
fared slightly worse among approval of the first vaccines stay at home through Christ- ernmentshavethecapacityto the first Covid-19 vaccine,” until Jan. 12. After that, it
people without symptoms. It while observing all scientific mas, restricting social gather- swiftly review highly special- EMAExecutiveDirector Emer could be months before it
correctlyflagged91%ofposi- standards,”AustrianChancellor ingsandchurchservices,after ized clinical-trial data and Cookesaidinanemailedstate- makesdecisionsonothercan-
tivesamplesand96%ofnega- Sebastian Kurz told The Wall asurgeincasesthreatenedto reachajudgment. ment.“Europeancitizenshave didates, such as aJohnson &
tivesamples. StreetJournal.“Theearlierwe overwhelmhospitals. Mr. Spahn has said in the told us they want a fast ap- Johnson vaccine, which is in
For people without symp- intheEUareabletostartvacci- OnMonday,GermanHealth pastthatEUgovernmentshad proval, but more importantly large-scale clinical trials, and
toms, a positive on the test nating,thebetter.Becauseev- MinisterJensSpahndefended agreed not to start a race for they want a thorough evalua- another developed by Astra-
shouldbetreatedaspresump- erydayofthepandemicinEu- hisgovernment’sdecisionnot emergencyauthorizationsoas tion of the benefits and the ZenecaPLC.
tiveandconfirmedbyanother rope means thousands of tograntthevaccineemergency not to create tensions within risks of the vaccine, so that —LaurenceNorman
test,theFDAsaid. deaths, severe economic dam- authorization—astheU.K.had thebloc.Healsosaidvaccine theycanbeconfidentitissafe, contributedtothisarticle.
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A8|Wednesday,December16,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
****
WORLD NEWS
Iran Skirts Sanctions, Boosts Oil Exports
Severalfirmsthat from 230,000 earlier in 2020. transitionteamhassaidthere
Petro-Logisticssawanincrease will likely be changes to pol-
monitorpetroleum
in exports to about 447,000 icy,includingamovetorejoin
tradesayshipments barrelsaday,from222,000. the 2015 nuclear agreement
The more conservative fig- withIran.JakeSullivan,desig-
haveroughlydoubled
ures suggest U.S. sanctions nated as Mr. Biden’s national
have kept most Iranian crude security adviser, said this
BYBENOITFAUCON bottled up. But the sharp in- monththattheadministration
crease seen across the three would be prepared to honor
LONDON—Iranhascircum- markettrackerssuggestsTeh- thetermsofthedeal—amove
ventedU.S.sanctionsandex- ran has been more successful likelytorequirea rollbackof
ported more oil to China and recentlyinsellingitsoil. U.S.sanctions—anduseitasa
other countries in recent Secretary of State Mike SS basis for follow-on talks
months, providing a lifeline PompeosaidlastyeartheU.S. PRE aroundbroaderconcerns.
foritsstrugglingeconomyand was aiming for zero oil ex- ATED Most oil buyers and ship-
undermining the Trump ad- portsfromIran,havingprevi- OCI persstoppedtradingwithIran
ministration’sso-calledmaxi- ouslysoughttodrivethembe- SS after Washington slapped a
A
mum pressure campaign low 1 million barrels a day, S/ full embargo on Iran’s crude
A
againstTehran. down from their 2018 pre- RG shipmentsaftertheTrumpad-
A
The scale of Iran’s petro- sanctionslevelsof2.5million V ministrationpulledoutofthe
O
leumsalesisdifficulttogauge, barrelsaday. ST Obama-era nuclear pact with
NE
giventheiroftencovertnature. Amongthebiggestcustom- R Tehranin2018.
E
Severalfirmsthatmonitorthe ers for Iran is China, which, AnIranianoiltankerdockedatarefineryinVenezuelainMay. Iranian traders and some
globaloiltradesayshipments according to Beijing’s official prospective buyers said they
from Iran have roughly dou- trade statistics, imported andanIranoilofficial. withthematter. Mr. Pompeo has said that were expecting U.S. pressure
bled from the low levels seen 62,000barrelsadayofIranian Iranianshippershavegone Americanofficialsacknowl- sanctions have cut Iran’s oil toeaseonceMr.Trumpleaves
earlierthisyear,althoughesti- oilinOctober,upfromzeroin toincreasinglengthstoevade edgethatIranisexportingoil, revenue by $70 billion since office.
matesvarywidely. June. Industry watchers said sanctions,switchingoffradio but say sanctions have still May 2018 and that reducing The Iranians “need to sell
Onthehighend,U.S.-based the actual totals were likely transponders to avoid track- caused severe economic con- pressureonTehranwouldbea oil,andweneedenergy,”said
TankerTrackers.com, which muchhigherandincludedoil ing,whileoperatorstransport- sequencesforthecountry,in- dangerousmove.InNovember, oneofficialinItaly,formerlya
uses satellite imagery to fol- transshipped through other ing Iranian crude have cluding sending the rial Keith Krach, the undersecre- top customer for Iranian
low deliveries, estimated Ira- Asiancountries. changedtheirships’namesor sharplylower. tary of state overseeing en- crude. Purchases will restart
nian crude oil exports hit 1.2 Venezuela—undersocialist doctoredbillsoflading. The Iranian currency has ergy policy, described U.S. quickly once sanctions are
millionbarrelsadayoverthe leaderNicolásMaduro,longat More recently, they have depreciated 85% since early sanctionsonIranas“remark- lifted,thisofficialsaid.
fall,upfrom481,000barrelsa oddswithWashingtonandun- beguntransshipmentsofoilin 2018, while inflation of over ablyeffective.” Thissummer,oil-richVene-
dayinFebruary. der American sanctions—has regionsoncethoughttobetoo 30% in Iran has turned meat Iranwillbeoneofthebig- zuela started buying Iranian
Meanwhile, SVB Interna- also started buying Iranian risky,includingwatersoffthe intoaluxuryproduct.Govern- gestforeign-policychallenges gasolineafteritsrefineriesall
tionalinWashingtonsaidIran gasoline. And Syria resumed coast of U.S. allies Iraq and ment budget cuts last year facingPresident-electJoeBi- butshutdown,inpartbecause
exported 585,000 barrels of Iranian oil imports this year, theUnitedArabEmirates,ac- sparkedprotestsduringwhich denwhenheenterstheWhite ofseparateAmericanrestric-
crudeoiladayinNovember,up accordingtoshippingtrackers cording to people familiar hundredswerekilled. House in January, and his tionsonCaracas.
WORLDWATCH
SAUDIARABIA TheJapanAerospaceExplo-
rationAgency,orJAXA,hadsaid
Austerity Pushed
ithopedtocollectatleast0.1
After Pandemic gramofmaterial,theequivalent
ofafewgrainsofrice.
SaudiArabiaplanstospend “Itwassofarbeyondour
lessnextyeartoreininapan- predictionsthatwewerepracti-
demic-inducedbudgetdeficit, callyatalossforwords.Itwas
pursuingausterityevenasa reallyemotional,”saidJAXAsci-
rallyinoilpricessignalsahigher entistHirotakaSawada.
demandforcrudeandaglobal —PeterLanders
(2) economicrecovery.
GES Thegovernmentexpectsto Tokyo ‘Twitter Killer’
MA trimitsbudgetdeficitfrom12%of
YI economicoutputthisyearto4.9% Sentenced to Death
GETT in2021,asitlowersspendingby
SSE/ about7%to990billionSaudiri- AJapanesecourtonTuesday
RE yals,($264billion),theFinance sentencedamantodeathfor
P
NCE- MinistrysaidTuesday.Statereve- killinganddismemberingnine
A nuesareforecasttogrownearly people,mostofwhomhad
R
GENCEF 1ta0x%estoan8d49oiblirleliovennruiyeasl.sonhigher pcioasltmededsiuai,ciindaaltchaosuegthhtastonso-
N/A SaudiArabia’sbudgetan- shockedthecountry.
MO nouncementisacloselywatched TheTachikawabranchofthe
ULAI measureofspendinginthewider TokyoDistrictCourtfoundTaka-
AS Gulfregionandanindicatorof hiroShiraishi,knownasthe
KOL Riyadh’sexpectationsonthedi- “Twitterkiller,”guiltyofkilling,
TheschoolwheregunmenabductedstudentsinNigeriawaseerilyquietTuesday,whileconcernedparentswaitedoutside,below. rectionofoilprices.CrownPrince dismemberingandstoringthe
MohammedbinSalmanisex- bodiesofthevictimsinhis
Jihadists pectedtofaceatrickyeconomic apartmentinZama,nearTokyo.
balancingactnextyearasthe Mr.Shiraishi,30yearsold,
kingdom’sdefactorulerwillhave pleadedguiltyandsaidhe
Claim Mass tocutspendingonsomeprojects wouldn’tappealhisdeathsen-
relatedtohisplantodiversify tence.
theeconomyyetstilltrytocre- PolicearrestedMr.Shiraishiin
Kidnapping atejobsforhisyoungpopulation. 2017afterfindingthebodiesof
TheSaudigovernmentfore- eightfemalesandonemalein
castsareturntogrowthof cold-storagecasesinhisapart-
roughly2%nextyear.Unemploy- ment. OnTwitter,Mr.Shiraishi
ContinuedfromPageOne mentamongSaudisstandsat usedthename“Hangman,”prom-
Boko Haram’s claim of re- roughly15%,accordingtothe isingtohelphisvictimsdieand
sponsibilityhassurprisedsome latestgovernmentstatistics. invitingthemtohisapartment.
analysts,markingadeparture —RoryJones —AssociatedPress
from the extremist group’s
usualareaofoperationinthe JAPAN AFGHANISTAN
country’snortheast.
Asteroid Mission At Least 4 Killed in
“WhathappenedinKatsina
was done to promote Islam,” Retrieves Black Dirt Bombings, Shooting
said Abubakar Shekau, the
group’s leader and Africa’s Japan’sspaceagencysaidit Abombingandashootingat-
most-wantedterrorist,witha recoveredfarmoreblackdirtthan tackinKabulkilledatleastthree
$7 million U.S. bounty on his itwastargetingfromtheasteroid people,includingadeputypro-
head. “Western education is Ryugu,confirmingthesuccessof vincialgovernor,whileadeputy
notthetypeofeducationper- pus in recent days, pleading world’sdeadliestjihadistcam- mediatorsforaransomandex- itsHayabusa2missionninedays provincialcouncilchiefwaskilled
mitted by Allah and his holy withtheauthoritiestosavethe paigns. changeofBokoHaramprison- afteritdelivereditspayloadto inwesternAfghanistanonTues-
Prophet.” boys. “Only in Nigeria have we ers. A total of 112 have never theAustralianoutback. day,officialssaid.
He didn’t give any figures OnTuesday,thecampuswas seenmilitantswalkintoahigh returned home and many are Scientistsplantostudythe Theattacksarethelatestin
for the number of boys kid- eerilyquiet.Students’belong- school and abduct the whole fearedtohavediedincaptivity. material,whichisthoughttore- relentlessviolenceinAfghanistan
napped in Kankara, but the ings were strewn across the studentbody,”saidBulamaBu- Thetestimonyofthesurvi- tainthechemicalcompositionof evenastheTalibanandAfghan
massabductionappearstobe dormitory floors; textbooks karti, an analyst at the Tony vors of Kankara suggests the theearlysolarsystemsome4.6 governmentnegotiatorshold
evenlargerthanBokoHaram’s andstraysoccercleatssatnext Blair Institute for Global kidnap operation was eerily billionyearsago,forcluestothe talksinQatar,tryingtohammer
2014kidnappingof276school- tobagsthatwouldhavesoon ChangebasedinLondon.“The similartotheabductioninChi- originsoflifeonearth. outapeacedealthatcouldput
girlsfromthetownofChibok, been packed for the end-of- security situation across the bok. Mr. Male and other wit- TheHayabusa2missionwas anendtodecadesofwar.
which gave rise to the global yearholidays. northisrapidlydeteriorating. nessessaiddozensofgunmen launchedin2014.Itcollected AnAfghaninteriorministry
#BringBackOurGirlscampaign Boko Haram’s claim of re- AnattackonNigeria’schildren onmotorcyclessurroundedthe samplesfromthesurfaceof spokesmansaidastickybombat-
andsparkedaU.S.militaryin- sponsibility comes after a is an attack on the country’s boarding school and opened Ryuguandfromanartificialcra- tachedtothearmoredvehiclebe-
tervention. A new hashtag, bloody two weeks across the future.” fireonpolice,beforerounding terontheasteroidcreatedby longingtoKabul’sdeputyprovincial
#BringBackOurBoys, began to northern frontiers of Africa’s The Kankara attack is par- up students and telling them firingaprojectile.Aftertraveling governorkilledhimandhissecre-
trend in Nigeria as fresh de- most populous nation. In late ticularly embarrassing for they were soldiers—the same morethan3.2billionmiles, taryandwoundedtwoothers.
tails trickled out. The United November,thegroupabducted PresidentMuhammaduBuhari, technique used in the Chibok Hayabusa2flewbyearthearly Nooneimmediatelyclaimed
Nations has strongly con- andthenslaughteredsome70 a native of Katsina, who has abduction. thismonthanddroppedacap- responsibilityfortheattacks.
demned the abductions and farmersinthevillageofZam- repeatedly claimed that Boko Mr.Malesaidhewalkedfor sulewiththesamplesinside. —AssociatedPress
called for the children’s “im- Haram and its affiliates have morethan12hoursinbarefeet
mediateandunconditionalre- beentechnicallydefeated.But ashehadnotimetocollecthis
lease.” BokoHaram’sclaim since last year, the militants sandalsduringtheabduction.
Boarding schools across havebeenadvancing,overrun- Sufferingfromanemia,hefelt
comesaftera
several northern states have ningdozensofsmallermilitary weak and dizzy. In the dark-
beenclosedandthegovernor bloodytwoweeksin basesandlootingweapons. ness,henoticeddozensofstu-
ofKatsinaappearedontelevi- Shekauhastraditionallyop- dents had slipped from the
northernNigeria.
sionintears.Thelocalgovern- eratedinnortheastNigeriabut crowds and disappeared into
menthassaidthatthekidnap- hasbeenquietlybuildingalli- theforest.
pers have been in contact to ancesinthenorthwestforthe Asthemilitantsorderedthe
discussaransomtoreleasethe pastyear.Inrecentvideomes- group to rest near a village
boys, although Shekau said abari in Borno state. Last sages, he has claimed that while they discussed how to
therewerenonegotiations. week,thegroupkilled28peo- Boko Haram has cells in the avoidbeingseen,heslippedoff
Nigerian Defense Minis- pleandburned800homesina northwest,andappearedtoad- and hid under a tree. He SS
ter Salihi Magashi confirmed village across the border in dresspotentialnewrecruitsin sneaked into the forest and RE
P
pathtleiaodtngaesdweataorscdho-uanendvdee-rrryestwhcuianeygonpaeencrd-- snoourTtthhheeerrrnnisNNiniigggeerrv.iiaolceonmceesacarmosids tphineSgrheeogkfiaoutnhadelirFesuccthlaeondoitlglhaienrlkgsiudafnrgaoepm.- rnheeaalmpcheeddedhZimaanghoon,meawerhbaeyfrteervliaollca3ag6les- SSOCIATED
essarytoensuretheboys’re- the government’s faltering ChibokGovernmentSecondary hourordeal. A/A
turn. strategy to combat a decade- School in 2014. After three “IthoughtIwouldneversee AX
J
Distraught families have long insurgency that has me- years,103werefreedindeals myparentsagain.…IhopeIwill ThecapsulefromJapan’sHayabusa2missionrevealedalarge
convergedontheschool’scam- tastasized into one of the brokered by a team of Swiss seemyfriends,”hesaid. amountofasteroidmaterial,farmorethanscientistsexpected.
THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. Wednesday,December16,2020|A9
WORLD NEWS
China Extends Mexico Law to Rein In U.S. Agents
Its Wide-Ranging
BYJOSÉDECÓRDOBA
ANDSANTIAGOPÉREZ
Economic Recovery
MEXICO CITY—President
Andrés Manuel López Obra-
dor’s ruling party pushed
BYJOSHCHIN cluding Tuesday’s data, have through a new law Tuesday
defiedthosepredictions. curbingtheroleofforeignlaw-
BEIJING—China’seconomic “China’seconomycontinued enforcementofficersinMexico,
activity extended its momen- to gather steam in November a move the U.S. believes will
tum in November with an thankstopreviouscredit-eas- cripplebilateraleffortstobat-
across-the-boardrecovery,put- ing policy and robust export tlepowerfuldrugcartels.
tingtheworld’ssecond-largest demand,”saidLiWei,anecon- The legislation, which
economy on stronger footing omistwithStandardChartered passedbyavoteof329to98
as it approaches the end of a PLC. inthelowerhouse,followsthe
tumultuousyear. China’s fixed-asset invest- October arrest in the U.S. of
S
incMluadjionrgeincodnuostmriiaclionudtipcuatt,oirns-, monentm,awnhuicfahcitnucrliundge,ssppreonpdeirntgy iMsteexricoon’sdforurmgetrradfefifceknisnegmainnd- REUTER
vestmentandconsumerspend- and infrastructure projects, corruptioncharges.Theshock- G/
R
ing, all grew at faster paces rose 2.6% in the January-No- ingdetentionofGen.Salvador BE
N
last month, supporting job vemberperiodcomparedwith Cienfuegos prompted Mr. Ló- OSE
growth and driving down un- last year, according to data pez Obrador to question the R
employmentrates,accordingto from the statistics bureau. roleoftheU.S.DrugEnforce- ANE
J
officialdatareleasedTuesday. Thatwasfasterthanthe1.8% mentAdministration,portray- AnewsecuritylawpassedafterthearrestintheU.S.ofMexico’sformerdefenseministerondrug
Industrialoutputrose7.0% pace recorded in the first 10 ing it as a rogue agency run- traffickingcharges.Gen.SalvadorCienfuegosisshowninanartist’ssketchinaNewYorkcourt.
inNovemberfromayearear- months of the year, and beat ningroughshodoverMexican
lier—itshighestlevelinmore economists’ expectations of sovereignty. whomtheyshareinformation.”
thantwoyears,China’sofficial 2.5%. Thecurbstotheoperations CongressDelays theblackmarketatunfavorable The new law is likely to
National Bureau of Statistics Economic growth in the of foreign agents, aimed at rates. make U.S. agencies reluctant
Bank-BillVote
said.Theresultwasatickup fourth quarter is expected to DEA and other U.S. law-en- Thecentralbanksaidthe to share information with
from 6.9% in October, which accelerate further from the forcement agents, are a blow bill,aspassedlastweekbythe Mexicaninstitutionstheycon-
beatthe6.8%riseexpectedby third quarter because of re- totheU.S.DepartmentofJus- Senate,wouldput$195billion sidertobecorrupt,andMexi-
economistspolledbyTheWall boundsinproductionandde- tice,formeragentsandsecu- MEXICOCITY—Mexico’s inreservesatriskbecausethe can officials won’t meet with
StreetJournal. mand,saidFuLinghui,astatis- rityanalystssaid. lowerhouseofcongresson bankcouldendupbuyingdol- their U.S. counterparts be-
The industrial sector was tics-bureauspokesman. Last month, Attorney Gen- Tuesdaypostponeddebateon larsfromillicitsources. causeoftherequirementthey
the first to rebound from the Grossdomesticproductex- eral William Barr dropped abillthatbankerssaidwould Followingsharpcriticismof disclose the meetings, said
shock of the pandemic early panded4.9%yearoveryearin charges against Gen. Cienfue- jeopardizethecentralbank’s theproposalfromthecentral Mike Vigil, a former DEA di-
thisyear,afterBeijingrushed thethirdquarter,astrongre- gos and handed him back to autonomybyrequiringittobuy bank,privatebanksandmajor rectorofinternationalopera-
torestoreproductionandbusi- boundfromthe6.8%contrac- Mexico, saying the general’s foreigncurrencyincashthat credit-ratingfirms,lawmakers tions.“Thepolicywillstiflebi-
ness in the second quarter. tionitexperiencedinthefirst detentionwouldstiflebilateral banksareunabletoputinto inMexico’slowerhouseaban- lateralcooperation,”headded.
Economistshadanticipatedin- quarterwheneconomicactiv- security cooperation. On Fri- thefinancialsystem. donedplanstodebateandvote A senior Mexican govern-
dustrialproductionwouldslow ity ground nearly to a halt to day,beforethebillbecamelaw, Proponentsarguedthe onthebillTuesday.Both ment official said Gen. Cien-
in recent months, as a resur- containthespreadofCovid-19. Mr.Barrsaidinunusuallyblunt measureaimstobenefitMexi- housesofcongressplantohold fuegos’sarresthadahugeim-
gence of the coronavirus languagethattheU.S.waswor- canswhoreceiveremittances jointhearingstoagreeonabill pactonthecountry’ssecurity
threatened to hurt demand (cid:2)HeardontheStreet:Stimulus riedthelawwouldimperilfu- ortouristdollarsincashbut thatcouldbevotedoninthe establishment. “There was a
abroad.Butofficialfigures,in- won’tdoheavylifting..........B14 ture security cooperation be- can’texchangethemorare sessionstartinginFebruary. clamortohaveclearrules,and
tweenthetwocountries. forcedtoexchangethemon —JuanMontes respect for Mexico,” he said.
“Wearetroubledbylegisla- “Thearrestwasseenasanin-
tioncurrentlybeforetheMexi- sult to Mexico. The govern-
can Congress, which would agentwithinthreedaysofits contacts. A representative mentwasblindsided.”
havetheeffectofmakingthe occurrence. Foreign agents from Mexico’s Foreign Minis- TheU.S.has50DEAagents
citizens of Mexico and the must report to the govern- try must be present at any postedinMexico,accordingto
United States less safe,” said mentanyinformationtheydig suchmeeting.Failuretocom- Mexicanofficials.Securityex-
Mr. Barr, who is leaving his up and provide monthly re- ply with the new rules could pertsandformerofficialssay
post before the end of the portsoftheiractivities. leadtoadministrativeorcrim- those agents have provided
S
GE month.Thelaw“canonlyben- “It puts too many condi- inalsanctions,thelawsays. the bulk of intelligence for a
A
IM efit the violent transnational tionsontheactionsofforeign “There cannot be foreign string of high-profile arrests
Y
SSE/GETT cojortiihnmetrilnyacfrligimhotirnignaaglns,”izthahetaitsoanwisde. aanrde eatixgopennesrtsat,t”otsnhaeiidnUtJneoirvrngearetsiCiothynaaoblfarGte,ulaaan-- apDgloeelnootrrsecsionmPMamdeiixetitrcinnoaga,rcarreimlsatewinsmg,”apskeaeoidr- acleongtdeicncsdaaptrtryuarftefriscakfofefircslke,eardiniJncogluaqdnuianírng-
RE
P ThelegislationordersMex- dalajara. fromtherulingMorenaparty. “ElChapo”Guzmán,whotwice
NCE- ico’s local, state and federal Meetings by Mexican offi- “They shouldn’t meet with escapedfromamaximum-se-
A
FR officials to report to the fed- cialswithforeignagentsmust state or municipal authorities curityMexicanjailbeforebe-
NCE eral government every tele- havepriorauthorizationfrom behindthebackofthefederal ing arrested with the help of
GE phone call, meeting or com- agroupofseniorMexicanoffi- government,decidingwhoisa theDEA,extraditedtotheU.S.
A
WorkersonatruckassemblylineinWeifang,China,onTuesday. munication with a foreign cials charged with regulating reliable authority or with andsentenced.
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For personal, non-commercial use only. Do not edit, alter or reproduce. For commercial reproduction or distribution, contact Dow Jones Reprints & Licensing at [phone] or www.djreprints.com.
A10|Wednesday,December16,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. Wednesday,December16,2020|A11
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