Medical experts fear the coronavirus outbreak in China could be bigger than reported, the U.S. Army is taking steps to coordinate more with Europe over Russia, and this year’s Oscars winner is a foreign film.

These, and more, are the newsworthy stories from this past week.

Science and Environment

• A recent Finnish study found that those whose personality was deemed more disagreeable were more drawn to high-status cars.
  
  “These are people who often see themselves as superior and are keen to display this to others.”
  
  “These personality traits explain the desire to own high-status products, and the same traits also explain why such people break traffic regulations more frequently than others.”
  
  – ZME Science

Health and Society

• Residents of the coronavirus epicenter of Wuhan are growing more dubious about the accuracy of the diagnostic tests authorities use, and medical experts around the globe have expressed fears the outbreak could be much bigger than Chinese data suggests—in large part because of potential flaws in testing.
  
  Doctors and epidemiologists are calling for hospitals to use chest scans instead of relying on swab tests.
  
  – The Wall Street Journal

• South Korean thriller “Parasite” became the first foreign-language film to win the Oscars’ top prize in the awards’ 92-year history, “an astounding achievement for a $11 million Korean-language theatrical effort that grew through word-of-mouth”.
  
  – The Hollywood Reporter

Government and Politics

• There’s a growing body of evidence that China devotes massive resources to influencing the political environments of foreign countries, including the U.S.
  
  Unlike Russia, the Chinese Communist Party focuses on cultivating long-term relationships and using economic levers to coerce people into compliance, rather than targeting a specific election event.
  
  – Axios

• The Army is establishing a new military headquarters to coordinate with European allies over Russia.
  
  – The Wall Street Journal

• 109 U.S. troops suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of Iran’s Jan. 8 missile attack on U.S. bases in Iraq, the Pentagon said, and 76 have returned to duty.
  
  – Axios

• The Trump administration recently announced restrictions on permanent immigration for people from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania.
  
  While Myanmar has a relatively small Muslim population (4%), the Muslim populations of the other five are between 30% (Tanzania) and 86% (Kyrgyzstan).
  
  – Axios

• The Justice Department sued New Jersey and the Washington county that is home to Seattle over their laws and policies limiting local cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
  
  Two weeks ago, the government sued California over a new law banning for-profit immigration detention centers. Separately, New York state sued the Trump administration over its decision to bar the state’s residents from enrolling in Global Entry.
  
  – The Wall Street Journal