Headlines edition

Monday headlines: Sniffles and lies

The White House is trying to block billions in the upcoming coronavirus relief bill for states to conduct testing and contact tracing.

The US has been incapable of controlling the pandemic, and now the government resists addressing the resulting economic reality.

The source of our inability to control the pandemic goes back to mid-April, when the White House “embraced overly rosy projections to proclaim victory and move on.”

After days of haggling, EU leaders make a final push for a coronavirus recovery deal.

A large study in South Korea suggests school reopenings will trigger more outbreaks.

A map shows the chances that everyone’s wearing a mask in five random encounters with five people.

The Swedish island of Gotland hires a troupe of medieval knights to safeguard against COVID-19.

Tens of thousands are set to walk off the job today in more than two dozen US cities for the “Strike for Black Lives,” protesting systemic racism.

Adam Serwer: Without activists like John Lewis and C.T. Vivian, America would remain “a white republic, not a nation for all its citizens.”

A group of more than 30 moms in Oregon created a barricade to protect protesters from federal officers. Also, “Naked Athena.”

Anne Applebaum: The use of federal force in Portland is "performative authoritarianism," with a goal, in part, to generate content for the White House pro-Trump shows like "Fox & Friends."

Peter Kafka: “This is July. Imagine the escalation over the next few months, since they have convinced themselves this is a good election strategy.”

Right-wing media paint Portland as “city under siege.” A recent tour of town shows otherwise.

In a highlight from Sunday’s Chris Wallace interview, he points out that Trump’s recent cognitive test involved identifying an elephant. (Two ways to summarize the interview: sniffles and lies.)

A ceramics artist makes 100 mugs in 100 days.

Lorrie Moore uses Normal People as an opportunity to vent millennial hate.

Your Monday escape read: “The true story of the heartthrob prince of Qatar and his time at USC.”