The Morning Dispatch: Suez Stoppage Stretches On

Happy Thursday! We are one week away from the start of baseball season. Isn’t it glorious?

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• Japanese officials said North Korea fired two ballistic missiles early this morning, the country’s second weapons test in less than a week. Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s prime minister, said the missile test “threatens the peace and security of Japan and the region, and is a violation of United Nations resolutions.”

• Facebook announced on Wednesday it blocked a group of Chinese hackers that had “abused” its platform to target Uyghur Muslims living outside of China with malware to enable surveillance.

• AstraZeneca issued updated Phase III clinical trial data for its COVID-19 vaccine finding it to be 100 percent effective against severe illness and hospitalization, and 76 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19. The pharmaceutical company had been criticized by public health officials for publishing “outdated” data earlier this week.