Christchurch, Hurricane Laura, Wisconsin Protests: Your Thursday Briefing

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Good morning.

We’re masking the rising danger from Hurricane Laura, the unrest in Wisconsin and the third evening of the Republican Nationwide Conference.

A lifetime with out parole for the Christchurch gunman

In March final yr, Brenton Tarrant murdered 51 Muslims throughout Friday prayers in Christchurch, New Zealand, utilizing doctored triggers to make his weapons extra deadly and a strobe mild to disorient his victims. As he was taken away, he instructed the New Zealand police he wished he had killed much more.

In the present day, Mr. Tarrant’s marketing campaign of hate lastly ended. He’s the primary legal in New Zealand ever sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for release — the country’s most severe punishment.

The sentence follows three intense days of tearful and defiant testimony by victims, totaling 91 statements.

Quote of note: “The damage he caused to this nation was heinous; no one will forget,” said Gamal Fouda, the imam of Al Noor mosque, where Mr. Tarrant killed 44 people. But, he added, one message in particular must be remembered: “This person wanted to divide us, but he couldn’t,” Mr. Fouda said. “Now he is the loser, and we are the winners.”

Shock waves from a shooting in Kenosha, Wis.

On a third chaotic night of demonstrations in Kenosha, Wis., over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, armed citizens turned out as self-declared protectors of property. Now, an Illinois teenager, Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide in a shooting that left two people dead and a third wounded.

Germany’s lessons in school reopening

Early in the coronavirus pandemic, Germany shuttered its schools. Later, as the country began to reopen, it moved to a hybrid model of remote and in-classroom learning. A new experiment is now underway: Teachers and students have been summoned back to classes, testing whether new vigilance and strict social distancing rules are enough.

These efforts to get children back in classrooms have been a “roller coaster,” as one headmaster put it, but have also reinforced crucial lessons about what works.

It’s the same story in Denmark and Norway: Schools can reopen and remain open — if they build on a foundation of fast and free testing, robust contact tracing and low community spread. But most countries, and most parts of the United States, simply can’t match those conditions.

By the numbers: By the end of last week, 49 infections had been recorded among teachers and students across Berlin. But thanks to swift, targeted measures, no more than 600 students out of some 366,000 have had to stay home on any day. Of 803 schools, only 39 have been affected.

Here are the latest updates and maps of the pandemic.

In other developments:

• The first study to look at immune response to the coronavirus by sex suggests men produce a weaker immune response to the virus than women.

• Madrid’s mayor asked residents of the city’s southern neighborhoods to stay home in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. Spain is facing one of the most severe surges in coronavirus infections in Europe in recent days.

• Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, extended a nationwide nightly curfew for another 30 days to curb the spread of the virus.

• The local authorities have tightened restrictions in Marseille, the second-largest city in France, where the per capita rate of cases is more than four times the national rate.

If you have 8 minutes, this is worth it

Inside TikTok’s talks with Microsoft

As TikTok scrambles to sell itself to a U.S. company, Microsoft is still seen as the likeliest buyer — in part because it was already in talks with the app and its owner, the Chinese company ByteDance, about a smaller deal when President Trump ordered TikTok’s U.S. operations to be sold or to cease operations by Sept. 15.

Our reporters delved into the complicated tale of coincidence and opportunity, talking to more than a dozen people who were involved or briefed on discussions.

Sweden: The Swedish military deployed four naval warships and an unspecified number of ground forces and warplanes to the island of Gotland in response to a major Russian naval exercise.

Snapshot: Above, residents gathered at the Burton Complex, an event center in Lake Charles, La., for assistance with evacuation ahead of Hurricane Laura. The storm was projected to make landfall early Thursday near the Texas-Louisiana border, with forecasters warning of “unsurvivable” damage. Shelters like this one are being set up throughout the hurricane zone, but Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas encouraged evacuees to consider booking rooms in hotels and motels instead.

What we’re reading: This BBC report a couple of rock musician within the late Soviet period, Viktor Tsoi, and the way one among his songs has grow to be an anthem for change in Belarus. Steven Erlanger, our chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe, says it’s “an excellent reminder of the shut relationship between Moscow and Minsk.”

Cook dinner: Gado-gado, an Indonesian dish, is an enormous, cool, juicy mixture of greens from the market with completely comfortable, yellow-centered hard-boiled eggs, crispy brown fried shallots and a deeply savory peanut sauce.

To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the break from the information. You possibly can attain the staff at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about President Trump’s strategy to appeal to suburban voting blocks.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: “That hurts!” (three letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Kurt Streeter, a writer at The Times since 2017, will take on the Sports of The Times column starting in September.