by Korva Coleman and Jill Hudson First Up Harvard Global Health Institute/Microsoft AI/Screenshot by NPR Here's what we're following today. How severe is the spread of COVID-19 in your community? If you're confused, you're not alone. Though state and local dashboards provide lots of numbers, from case counts to deaths, it's often unclear how to interpret them — and hard to compare them to other places. A new tool backed by a coalition of top scientists compares outbreak severity down to the county level. Click here to see how your county is doing. The White House now says President Trump has been briefed on an alleged Russian plot to pay bounties to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. A few of the Democratic lawmakers who have already been briefed are demanding more answers from the president about the allegations. In a tweet on Wednesday, the president called the story a “Fake News Media Hoax.”  The nation’s top infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told lawmakers on Tuesday the spike in coronavirus could mean as many as 100,000 new virus cases per day. Fauci said some parts of the country skipped over checkpoints or guidelines for determining when to reopen. Hong Kong police on Wednesday arrested at least 70 people protesting in the city. They are the first arrests under a new draconian national security law Beijing passed on Tuesday. Here are five takeaways about what the law means for Hong Kong. Martin Gugino, the 75-year-old protester pushed to the ground by Buffalo police earlier this month, has been released from the hospital. Two Buffalo police officers have been suspended without pay and face assault charges. Is it safe to fly again? Some airlines, including United and American Airlines, say yes and are filling planes to capacity instead of keeping empty seats to ensure social distancing. But Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control, called that decision "disappointing,” saying it “sends the wrong message." Click here to read the transcript. After more than 120 years of flying over the state of Mississippi, the Confederate battle flag is no longer a part of the state's official flag. On Tuesday, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed into law a bill fast-tracked by the Mississippi Legislature over the weekend that calls for a new design. Newsletter continues after sponsor message Today's Listen Maria Fabrizio for NPR Talking with your loved ones about death can be an uncomfortable, sometimes distressing subject. But planning for the end of life isn’t only about you;it’s about your loved ones. The Life Kit team has a few pointers to ease you into getting started. (Listen here or read the story) A big advertising boycott of Facebook officially kicks off on Wednesday. What brands are participating, what do they want, and what impact is this having on the world's biggest social network? (Listen here)   NASA/JHU-APL NASA is on a mission to explore Titan — the largest moon of Saturn. To do that, scientists are building a nuclear-powered, self-driving drone (technically an octocopter) called Dragonfly. Scheduled to launch in 2026 and arrive on Titan in 2034, Dragonfly could provide clues about how the building blocks of life started here on Earth. (Listen here or read the story) Individual racism is pretty easy to explain. Systemic racism, though, is bigger and more complicated — and there's more skepticism about whether it really exits. Racism has always been framed as there’s a white person who doesn’t like people of color. NPR's Noel King talked to Ijeoma Oluo, author of So You Want To Talk About Race, about how systemic racism works. (Listen here) The Picture Show Salgu Wissmath Inspired by their own journey as a nonbinary person, Salgu Wissmath, a photographer from Sacramento, Calif., decided to document feelings of gender dysphoria. It's a term that describes the anguish and distress that a person may have as a result of a disconnect between their gender identity — who they feel they are — and the gender a doctor assigned them at birth. Wissmath talked to a number of trans people for the project, diving into personal experiences that have marked their identities. The results are deeply intimate, illustrative portraits that explore and celebrate the many aspects of the fluidity and complexity of gender. Before You Go CBS Entertainment Alums of CBS's unscripted hit series Survivor say the show routinely stereotypes Black contestants. The father of Chicano literature, Rudolpho Anaya, has died at 82. His seminal novel, Bless Me Ultima, told the story of a Mexican American boy and his mentor, and inspired Chicago writers. President Obama presented him with the National Medal of the Humanities in 2016. What's your public radio station's top song of the year? Click here to find out. Belgium’s king has expressed deepest regrets for his country’s brutal treatment during colonialism toward the people of what’s now Democratic Republic of the Congo. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: dailynewsletter@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Politics, Health and more!