News at a glance: A COVID-19 drug nixed, a Chinese database investigated, and a new energy research leader confirmed

A 'fever' hits unprotected North Korea Aid agencies are gearing up for a robust response against what North Korea calls a "malignant fever" sweeping the country that is almost certainly covid -19. As Science went to press, new cases of the illness appeared to be doubling every 2 days in the world's last large population, some 25 million people, lacking immunity to the disease from vaccination or infection. "We're looking at a major, major catastrophe," says Kee Park, a global health specialist at Harvard Medical School. Early in the pandemic, North Korea closed itself off from the world in a…