Monday, 26 July 2021

Russians Top Biles and Americans in Olympic Gymnastics Qualifying Round

TOKYO (AP) — The trouble started early. A step out of bounds on floor exercise here. A short landing there.

Over the course of two hours on Sunday, the mistakes — some almost imperceptible, some laid bare for the world to see — kept piling up, chipping away at the aura USA Gymnastics has built over the past decade. Not even the greatest of all time was immune to the realities of a sport where perfection is unattainable.

For 11 years, the Americans flirted with it, at least from a competitive standpoint, flying all over the globe, then flying back home with their suitcases stuffed with gold.
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It still might happen at the Tokyo Olympics. But for the first time in a long time, it appears it won’t happen without a fight.

Russia pulled off a stunner in qualifying, posting a top score of 171.629, more than a full point ahead of the U.S. total 170.562. While reigning Olympic champion Simone Biles topped the all-around with teammate Sunisa Lee close behind in third, the Americans ended their session looking up at another name on the scoreboard in the team standings for the first time since the 2010 world championships.

“This was not the finals,” U.S. high-performance director Tom Forster said. “This was getting into the finals. So this might be a great awakening for us and we’ll take advantage of it.”

China, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Italy and host Japan also advanced to Tuesday night’s final. Olympic legend Oksana Chusovitina’s journey is over. The 46-year-old from Uzbekistan did not qualify during the vault final at her record eighth Olympics.

Athletes, judges and administrators rose to their feet to salute Chusovitina as she made her way off the floor. She waved to the crowd with tears in her eyes before posing for pictures with whoever wanted one.

“I’m saying goodbye to sports,” Chusovitina said. “It’s kind of mixed feelings. I’m alive, I’m happy, I’m here without any injuries, and I can stand on my own.”

Something the Americans have done in the team competition for 10 years. After going largely unchallenged over two Olympic quads, they suddenly have company.

Forster raised eyebrows following the Olympic Trials last month when he said taking the top four finishers in the all-around in rank over a squad that could potentially score a bit higher by taking a specialist didn’t matter. He reasoned sacrificing a tenth or two here or there wasn’t going to matter based on the history of blowout wins by the Americans at world championships since he took over in 2018.

“We thought it was a good order, and I still feel good about it,” Forster said, who later added, “it will all work out.”

It always has since Biles joined an already dominant program in 2013. Everything will be reset for the finals, when the format changes to three-up/three-count. The pressure will be greater. And the Americans have found a way to thrive under it.

Inside a largely empty Ariake Gymnastics Center, they finally faltered. At least by their towering standards.

Not even Biles was immune.

While the 24-year-old star topped the all-around with a total of 57.731 and advanced to the finals in all four events, it didn’t come easy. She backpedaled all the way off the mat following a tumbling pass on her floor exercise, then basically did the same on vault. She responded with a solid set on uneven bars, but a spectacular beam routine ended with her temporarily reeling following her dismount, something Forster said he’s never seen her do.

Biles, who came to Japan as the face of the U.S. Olympic movement and possibly the Games themselves, saluted the judges then walked off the podium with a smile that looked like a combination of relief, sarcasm and frustration.

There was plenty to go around.

Jordan Chiles’ relentlessly consistent run that carried her to a spot on the team ended with a major mistake on bars and a fall on beam. Grace McCallum stepped out of bounds on floor. Lee had two of her scores (vault and floor) dropped in the team competition, though her electric bar set helped her surge into third behind Biles and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade.

The biggest bright spot for the Americans may have been the spectacular performance by Jade Carey. Competing as an individual after earning a nominative berth through the World Cup circuit, Carey earned a spot in the vault and floor exercise finals and only missed out on the all-around due to the rules that limit finals to two athletes per country.

Carey’s decision to pursue an individual berth is symbolic of the depth the Americans have enjoyed during their rise to supremacy. Yet they no longer appear to have the market cornered on excellence.

ROC’s performance’s offered proof that the former gymnastics superpower is in the midst of a resurgence led by 21-year-old Angelina Melnikova. Even better, the Russians survived the balance beam relatively unscathed.

The 4-inch piece of wood set 4 feet off the ground has been the place where the country’s gold-medal hopes have gone to die in recent years, yet there were no major issues during qualifying. The only serious miscue came when Lilia Akhaimova fell off during the end of an acrobatic series. No biggie. The Russians were allowed to drop her score.

Things will be different in the finals, when the margin for error disappears. While Melnikova stressed she didn’t want to forecast what might with a medal on the line, she believes what has long been a walkover for the Americans will turn into something far more compelling.

“We hope that (we win),” Melnikova said. “We’re also going to struggle and fight. We have to. That’s the expectation for us.”

And suddenly, it looks doable.

___

More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2020-tokyo-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports



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Heat wave to cover huge swath of US in coming days, bringing high temperatures to millions



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Scientists warn Britain could see frequent heatwaves of 40C in the next decade - Daily Mail

  1. Scientists warn Britain could see frequent heatwaves of 40C in the next decade  Daily Mail
  2. How hot could Britain get? Prepare for temperatures of 40C  The Times
  3. UK weather – Brits told to prepare for 40C days within ten years as extreme heatwaves hit the UK...  The Sun
  4. Brits warned to prepare for 40C days within 10 years as UK to face extreme heatwaves  Daily Star
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Australia dominates India 7-1 to stay unbeaten at Olympics



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Large meteor wows Norway after blazing through night sky - BBC News

Large meteor wows Norway after blazing through night sky  BBC NewsView Full coverage on Google News

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As UK restrictions end, what will be the new normal for pubs? - The Guardian

As UK restrictions end, what will be the new normal for pubs?  The Guardian

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Emmanuel Macron ‘pushes for Israeli inquiry’ into NSO spyware concerns - The Guardian

  1. Emmanuel Macron ‘pushes for Israeli inquiry’ into NSO spyware concerns  The Guardian
  2. Amnesty seeks moratorium on surveillance technology | Human Rights News  Al Jazeera English
  3. All the bad guys loved an Uzi. Now Israeli cyberspies are the autocrat's weapon of choice  The Times
  4. Officials who are US allies among targets of NSO malware, says WhatsApp chief  The Guardian
  5. Pegasus leaks: WhatsApp boss says top government officials were targeted in 2019 by NSO spyware  Daily Mail
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Nancy Mace Called Herself a 'New Voice' for the GOP. Then She Pivoted.



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Met Office issue amber warnings as thunderstorms and flooding hit parts of UK - The Mirror

  1. Met Office issue amber warnings as thunderstorms and flooding hit parts of UK  The Mirror
  2. Met Office issues crushing update about the second heatwave forecast for August  Wales Online
  3. Surrey weather: More thunderstorms forecast as Met Office issues new amber weather warning  Surrey Live
  4. Met Office shoots down hopes of early August heatwave  Cornwall Live
  5. Homes face risk of flooding as thunderstorms threaten southern England  Evening Standard
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Denbigh: Man in hospital after 'serious assault' - BBC News

Denbigh: Man in hospital after 'serious assault'  BBC News

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Piers Morgan says it's unfair that Kate Garraway's husband Derek never got Covid jab - The Mirror

  1. Piers Morgan says it's unfair that Kate Garraway's husband Derek never got Covid jab  The Mirror
  2. The vaccine may well have saved my life: PIERS MORGAN reveals he caught Covid at Euros final  Daily Mail
  3. Piers Morgan says getting Covid after two jabs gave him 'new perspective' on virus and vaccines  Chronicle Live
  4. Piers Morgan says Kate Garraway's husband Derek is 'still effectively in a coma'  The Mirror
  5. Piers Morgan says he couldn’t cope with Kate Garraway’s gruelling routine caring for husband Derek Dra...  The Irish Sun
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Trump gets Taliban leader's name wrong and impersonates him with grunts, videos show



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Professor calls for border restrictions between Donegal & rest of ROI - Highland Radio

Professor calls for border restrictions between Donegal & rest of ROI  Highland Radio

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Sunday, 25 July 2021

Thousands March for LGBTQ Rights at Berlin Parade

BERLIN (AP) — Some 35,000 revelers marched for LGBTQ rights at Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day celebration on Saturday, twice as many as expected.

The parade started with a call from Klaus Lederer, Berlin’s senator for culture, to make the city a “queer-freedom zone” in response to deteriorating safety for gays and lesbians in Hungary and neighboring Poland.

“LGBT-free zones” have been declared in parts of Poland, while Hungary recently passed a law banning the depiction of homosexuality or gender reassignment to minors that has been denounced as discriminatory by human rights groups.

Lederer said the situation in the two EU members “sends shivers down my back.”
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The senator also noted that the pandemic had been particularly hard for some gays and lesbians at home as shelters were closed. He said “there is still much work to be done.”

Organizers of the parade had been expecting around 20,000 people amid social distancing rules and a ban on alcohol to combat the risk of new coronavirus infections.

There was no parade last year due to the pandemic so many people took advantage of the warm sunny weather and relatively low rate of infections to take part in the last major gathering for Berlin’s Pride month.

Nearby, the United States embassy flew a rainbow flag under the American flag.

The parade was led by five trucks that were spaced apart to give demonstrators more room as they danced their way to techno beats past the city’s iconic Brandenburg Gate. Organizers made repeated calls for revelers to put masks on and keep their distance – though it wasn’t always possible due to the sheer number of people.

The celebrations were preceded by an apparent homophobic attack on a male couple in a Berlin subway late Friday. Police said the men were sitting in a train when they were approached by a stranger who insulted them and then punched one of the men several times. Other passengers intervened and he was apprehended after fleeing briefly.

Also Friday, Bishop Christian Stäblein asked during a service at Berlin’s Marienkirche for forgiveness from the LGBTQ community for the suffering caused to them by the evangelical church.



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Thousands march in Hungary Pride parade to oppose LGBT law



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After Vandalism, NYC George Floyd Statue Cleaned and Set to Be Moved

NEW YORK — A statue of George Floyd that was defaced in Brooklyn has been cleaned and is headed for Manhattan’s Union Square.

The artwork was unveiled on the Juneteenth holiday in a spot on Flatbush Avenue. Five days later on June 24, it was vandalized with black paint and marked with the logo of a white supremacist group.

But members of the group that installed the statue painstakingly cleaned it, and local residents and one of Floyd’s brothers gathered around it this week to bid farewell ahead of its long-planned move to Union Square as part of an exhibition in September.

“I heard the news about the vandalism. I was so proud that I got word that Flatbush held it down. They really supported us, looked out for the statue, looked out for the spirit of my brother,” Terrence Floyd said at the gathering. He added to news reporters: ”You try to stop us, but you can’t stop us. And we still gonna continue, with love.”

Andrew Cohen of Confront Art, the group behind the statue, said people spent hours cleaning off the paint with toothbrushes and hands.

“The only method that worked was really, really putting the elbow grease into it,” he said.

The statue is going back to a studio Monday for further cleaning.

No arrests have been made in the vandalism.



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Afghanistan curfew imposed as Taliban militants advance



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COVID-19: How the pandemic has led to a rise in 'the working homeless' - Sky News

COVID-19: How the pandemic has led to a rise in 'the working homeless'  Sky News

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Boris Johnson’s poll lead cut sharply following Covid ping fiasco - The Independent

  1. Boris Johnson’s poll lead cut sharply following Covid ping fiasco  The Independent
  2. Boris Johnson wants to mimic Tony Blair’s project, say No 10 sources  The Guardian
  3. Boris Johnson's two years as PM: A casual relationship with the truth and a disdain for the rules  Sky News
  4. Dawn Butler called Boris Johnson a liar. But there’s a good reason why that’s not allowed  Telegraph.co.uk
  5. Saved by the bell, Boris Johnson’s government flip-flops off for the summer  The Guardian
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R. Kelly sexually abused teenage boy he met in McDonald's and bribed officials for information about his legal case, prosecutors allege



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Shocking video shows firefighters in California ride through blazing flames during Tamarack wildfire



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Piers Morgan caught Covid-19 after Euro 2020 final at Wembley - Metro.co.uk

  1. Piers Morgan caught Covid-19 after Euro 2020 final at Wembley  Metro.co.uk
  2. Piers Morgan caught Covid at Euro 2020 final despite being double-jabbed  The Mirror
  3. Double jabbed Piers Morgan thinks he caught covid amid Euro final chaos  Cornwall Live
  4. Piers Morgan says he caught Covid at Wembley Euro2020 final despite being double jabbed  Wales Online
  5. Piers Morgan reveals he caught Covid at Euro 2020 final despite being double jabbed  indy100
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Covid vaccines routinely thrown in the bin as not enough people are coming forward - Telegraph.co.uk

  1. Covid vaccines routinely thrown in the bin as not enough people are coming forward  Telegraph.co.uk
  2. Covid symptoms: The five most common signs of coronavirus after having two vaccines  Express
  3. US buys 200m Pfizer jabs for children and possible boosters  Financial Times
  4. Editorial: Please, Florida, get COVID vaccine this weekend  Orlando Sentinel
  5. Delta variant: Now is 'probably the most dangerous' time to avoid vaccination, doctor says  Yahoo Finance UK
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Typhoon In-Fa sweeps towards China after flooding chaos



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Evacuations as army prepares to detonate WW2 bomb in Goole - The Guardian

  1. Evacuations as army prepares to detonate WW2 bomb in Goole  The Guardian
  2. Goole WW2 bomb: Army experts carry out controlled explosion  BBC News
  3. Major incident declared after undetonated World War Two bomb discovered in Yorkshire housing estate  Daily Mail
  4. The huge 500lbs bomb causing traffic chaos in Yorkshire  Yorkshire Live
  5. Goole WW2 bomb: M62 closed as Army prepares to detonate device  BBC News
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Far-right and others march against French virus rules



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Warren Gatland forced into late change after forward ruled out - RUCK.co.uk

  1. Warren Gatland forced into late change after forward ruled out  RUCK.co.uk
  2. British and Irish Lions: Wyn Jones out of first Test against South Africa; Rory Sutherland to start  Sky Sports
  3. Injury rules Wyn Jones out of first Test against Boks | PlanetRugby  planetrugby.com
  4. Blow for the Lions as Wyn Jones ruled out of first Test with injury  The42
  5. Lions forced into late change as Sutherland replaces injured prop Jones  Yahoo News Australia
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Several Arrested as Thousands Protest Lockdown in Sydney

SYDNEY — Thousands of people took to the streets of Sydney and other Australian cities on Saturday to protest lockdown restrictions amid another surge in cases, and police made several arrests after crowds broke through barriers and threw plastic bottles and plants.

The unmasked participants marched from Sydney’s Victoria Park to Town Hall in the central business district, carrying signs calling for “freedom” and “the truth.”

There was a heavy police presence in Sydney, including mounted police and riot officers in response to what authorities said was unauthorized protest activity. Police confirmed a number of arrests had been made after objects were thrown at officers.
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New South Wales Police said it recognized and supported the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly, but the protest was a breach of public health orders.

“The priority for NSW Police is always the safety of the wider community,” a police statement said.

The protest comes as COVID-19 case numbers in the state reached another record with 163 new infections in the last 24 hours.

Greater Sydney has been locked down for the past four weeks, with residents only able to leave home with a reasonable excuse.

“We live in a democracy and normally I am certainly one who supports people’s rights to protest … but at the present time we’ve got cases going through the roof and we have people thinking that’s OK to get out there and possibly be close to each other at a demonstration,” said state Health Minister Brad Hazzard.

In Melbourne, thousands of protesters without masks turned out downtown chanting “freedom.” Some of them lit flares as they gathered outside Victoria state’s Parliament House.

They held banners, including one that read: “This is not about a virus it’s about total government control of the people.”

A car protest rally is also planned in Adelaide, which is also under lockdown, with police warning they will make arrests over unlawful activity.

By Friday, 15.4% of the nation’s population aged 16 and above have received both jabs for COVID-19.

“We’ve turned the corner, we’ve got it sorted. We’re hitting the marks that we need to make, a million doses a week are now being delivered,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. “We are well on our way to where we want to be by the end of the year and potentially sooner than that.”

The federal government said it will send thousands of extra Pfizer doses to Sydney while adults in Australia’s largest city are also being urged to “strongly consider” AstraZeneca in view of the scarcity of Pfizer supplies.

 



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Fatuma Kadir: Girl who went missing from her home in Bolton found in London - Sky News

  1. Fatuma Kadir: Girl who went missing from her home in Bolton found in London  Sky News
  2. Fatuma Kadir: Parents' plea to find missing Bolton schoolgirl, 11  BBC News
  3. Urgent police appeal to find missing schoolgirl - and people she travelled to Birmingham New Street with  Birmingham Live
  4. Fatuma Kadir: Girl, 11, discovered in London after vanishing from Bolton home  Evening Standard
  5. Missing Fatuma Kadir, 11, 'went to London to set up clothing business'  The Times
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Thousands march in Budapest Pride to oppose anti-LGBTQ law - The Guardian

  1. Thousands march in Budapest Pride to oppose anti-LGBTQ law  The Guardian
  2. Budapest prepares for Pride but for many LGBT+ people it is a worrying time to be in Hungary  Sky News
  3. An act of defiance: Pride set to go ahead in Budapest despite Orban’s LGBT+ offensive  The Independent
  4. Budapest Pride march is a protest against anti-gay laws, say organisers  The Guardian
  5. Thousands join Pride event in Hungary as LGBTQ people face growing hostility  CNN
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A possible tropical depression is looming. That’s why South Florida is under flood watch



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A third of states have passed more restrictive voting laws. Here's what you should know



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First images of Derek Chauvin in prison are released



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Vaccine Requirements Loom in New York City: 'Time for More Mandates'



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A United Airlines flight was evacuated after a teenager AirDropped a photo of an airsoft gun to other passengers, report says



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California family say they were treated like criminals on a Southwest flight because their toddler wouldn't keep his mask on



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Saturday, 24 July 2021

What You Didn’t See on TV at the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony

Well, these Games have somehow begun. The Opening Ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics, a year delayed, publicly opposed in a host country that has spent north of $20 billion on them—nearly triple the original budget—went off Friday night on a humid 82-degree evening Tokyo, in an Olympic Stadium eerily quiet since it was devoid of its traditional horde of excited spectators.

You could have spent a better part of the night staring at the colors of the empty seats: patterns of white, red, forest green. In normal times, tens of thousands of fans from around the world would have filled them, lighting the stadium with flash bulbs, and celebrating the athletes marching in the parade of nations. Tonight, the scoreboard warned the approximately 900 stakeholders and special guests in attendance—dignitaries including First Lady Jill Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron—to “clap. Do not sing or chant.” (The protestors outside the stadium—who could be heard inside during quieter moments—had no issues chanting.)
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In March 2020, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) postponed the Games for a year, this night was supposed to celebrate the world’s triumph over COVID-19. It would be the party of all parties to cheer what the Olympics are purported to be all about—the power of the human spirit, especially when rallied against a common enemy like SARS-CoV-2. Instead, for the select few in attendance, it was almost like celebrating a wedding without the bride and groom. And that lack of fulfillment spilled over to the television audience, who also witnessed a far more subdued affair than in years past. The stadium floor served as a stage, and the clapping from the few people here had that polite theater vibe. The absent roar that usually marks the host country’s entrance couldn’t help but stand out. When the public address announcer asked for a moment to remember all who died in the pandemic, the place felt downright funereal.

No matter, these Olympics are happening, Japan’s state of emergency and positive Covid tests and all. The day before the ceremonies, their creative director, Kentaro Kobayashi, was fired because of a joke he made about the Holocaust in the 1990s. This development somehow fit the moment: it was yet another blow to the already-reeling Tokyo Games. On Monday, a composer for the opening ceremony resigned because he bullied childhood classmates, including those with disabilities. And earlier this year, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, Yoshimoro Mori, made sexist comments and was forced to resign.

The show still provided some memories. Tap dancers on the wooden tables, for example, gave the night a catchy rhythm. Essential workers carrying the Olympic flag was a welcome touch. Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron. Tokyo made the most of it.

Live from a hollow venue in Tokyo, here are six things from the Opening Ceremony you might not have seen on TV.

1. Sad non-spectators.

A few hours before the Opening Ceremony, hundreds of people crowded outside the entrance of the Olympic Stadium, taking selfies near a statue of the Olympic rings and Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo. A metal fence near the Japan Olympic Museum divided the could-be spectators from the media and other workers entering the venue: some pressed against it, getting as close to the Olympics as they could. “It’s the Olympic Games,” said Borja Berecibar, a web developer who lives in Tokyo, through the fence. He was there with his wife. “If I can’t see it, I wanted to at least come here to feel it. It’s so sad.” He wishes the Games were delayed until next year. Like many in the throng, a few hundred strong, socially not-distanced, Berebicar wondered why he and others couldn’t be inside the stadium, perhaps in socially distanced in seats, if people were permitted to gather, with little regard for social distance. Just a few yards away, Yoshiko Kimura brought her husband and three children, aged 5, 9, and 11 because she feels the Olympics are a “once in a lifetime happening” and she wanted her children to “feel the atmosphere” even if they couldn’t enter the stadium.

2. Why the workout?

One of the first scenes of the ceremony featured a woman running alone on a treadmill, an apt metaphor for the world’s running in place in its fight against COVID-19. “All over the world, there are many other solitary athletes like her,” said the Tokyo 2020 media guide distributed to press shortly before the start, by way of explanation. “They are all individual, separate ‘points’, but they are connected by an invisible bond.” The runner, by the way, was Arisa Tsubata, a nurse and boxer who won a national championship just two years after taking up the sport.

TOPSHOT-OLY-2020-2021-TOKYO-OPENING
Jewel Samad—AFP via Getty ImagesNurse/boxer Arisa Tsubata performs during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, at the Olympic Stadium, in Tokyo, on July 23, 2021.

3. Sense of direction.

In the bowels of the stadium, near where the athletes lined up to enter the ceremonies for the scaled down parade of nations, hung a true catch-all sign that captured the essentials that the pandemic has prioritized. It told the Olympians to keep their distance, that the marching entrance was 60 meters ahead of them, and that the “toilet” was 250-meters behind them. What else, really, does an Olympian need to know?

4. Go Ghana.

Despite that order that people in the stadium not sing or chant, the Olympians from Ghana, as they entered the dark tunnel under the stadium onto the parade of nations stage, sang away—and had fun doing it. The volunteers assigned to cheer the athletes as they entered appreciated the Ghanian enthusiasm. It was a nice break from a fairly staid parade. After all, once they came into the stadium, several Olympians spent the evening sitting around tapping on their phones.

OLY-2020-2021-TOKYO-OPENING-GHA
Hannah McKay—AFP via Getty ImagesGhana’s flag bearer Nadia Eke leads the delegation during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games opening ceremony’s parade of athletes, at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on July 23, 2021.

5. Australian Rules.

In a quite unscientific survey of delegations entering the tunnel, during a portion of the parade of nations, we vote Australia—a country that has stood out for its Covid-control measures—as the most socially-undistanced crew.

6. Cardholder Intel.

For each each delegation that came into the stadium, a local volunteer carried a white placard, with the country’s name written in a dialogue bubble found in manga, Japanese comics and graphic novels. Their outfits featured manga tones. We asked the woman who held the Great Britain sign her favorite things about the country. She mentioned the Beatles and the Sherlock Holmes books. Behind her was the British Virgin Islands placard holder. His favorite? “Sherlock Holmes.”

Opening Ceremony - Olympics: Day 0
Matthias Hangst—Getty ImagesFlag bearers Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi of Team Great Britain leads their team out during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on July 23, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

We wanted to ask more eager placard-holders about their favorite aspects of their assigned nations. But an official told us we weren’t allowed. In a state-of-emergency Olympics, the rules will rule.

Read more about the Tokyo Olympics:



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SC police got phone data of Josephson’s alleged ‘fake Uber’ killer. Here’s what they found



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Iowa man with guns at Chicago hotel 'didn’t mean to startle'



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Met Office storm warning for campsites and caravans - BBC News

  1. Met Office storm warning for campsites and caravans  BBC News
  2. UK weather: Britain faces another day of 88F as 2.3MILLION staycationers hit the road  Daily Mail
  3. Thunderstorms set to hit Wales today in new Met Office yellow weather warning  Wales Online
  4. Basingstoke residents urged to be careful when taking to the roads this weekend as heavy rain moves in  Basingstoke Gazette
  5. Met Office issues yellow alert for damaging hailstorms today - see list of areas  The Mirror
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FBoy Island and Sexy Beasts Represent the Best and Worst of 2021’s Trashy Summer Dating Shows

You know the summer TV season is in full swing when the new reality dating shows start to sound like fake NBC series from 30 Rock. Too Hot to Handle, Are You the One?, I Wanna Marry ‘Harry’—these are the high-concept, low-I.Q. series that keep us mildly amused when it’s too humid out to think. But this July is a banner month even for hot trash summer. First Netflix unveiled Sexy Beasts, which sends singles to meet potential mates done up in SFX makeup worthy of David Cronenberg. HBO Max counters, on the 29th, with FBoy Island, a resort-set dating competition that challenges three women to separate the nice guys from the cads. It’s impossible to hear the title without thinking of Jack Donaghy’s beloved MILF Island.
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Although the trailer for Beasts caused a brief eruption of incredulity on social media, there is nothing shocking about the existence of these two extremely silly shows. What’s truly surprising is the gulf in quality between them. FBoy happens to be a funny, addictive, shrewdly executed twist on a familiar format. I can’t say the same for Beasts, which gets old as soon as you get over the novelty of people in Halloween drag deliberating over whether they “feel a connection.” When it comes to entertainment value—the only criterion by which it’s fair to judge this stuff—the distance between good and bad trash can be vast.

NetflixA first date in ‘Sexy Beasts’

Beyond its furry, greasepaint-caked, The-Masked-Singer-meets-Love-Is-Blind exterior, Beasts harkens back to the low-budget cable dating shows of the aughts: Blind Date, elimiDATE, Next. While the makeup is elaborate, the format is simple. A man or woman whose face is obscured by a custom animal, sci-fi or horror mask has three one-on-one chats with similarly disguised singles of the opposite sex. (Normally I would complain about the lack of queer couples, but in this case, I think the LGBTQ community lucked out.) Following an elimination that ends with a glimpse of what the person who got cut looks like without the zombie mask, the remaining contestants go on longer dates and a final selection is made. The freshly scrubbed couple shares a kiss for the cameras, though who knows if they ever so much as see each other again.

All of this is executed with the least possible effort or ingenuity, from the generic bar where the first dates take place to the casting, which must’ve prioritized cockiness over all other traits. Eliminations take place, for unknown reasons, at a posh British country estate dubbed the Sexy Beast Manor. Instead of an on-camera host, we get voiceover narration from comedian and Catastrophe star Rob Delaney, who sounds like he’s being held hostage in some sort of Mystery Science Theater 3000 scenario. “Could you fall in love with someone based on personality alone?” he asks in the intro. But the conversations are so shallow, I’d hate to think they offer an accurate glimpse of anyone’s personality. And it’s not as if participants get zero information about each other’s looks; body shape, skin color and sense of style are all on display.

Ultimately, Beasts is just dull—the only real sin for a summer reality-TV confection. Episodes that top out at 25 minutes feel twice as long and culminate in no great desire to hit the “next episode” button. So (and here’s something I never thought I’d type) thank heavens for FBoy Island. Like Love Island, Temptation Island and, sure, MILF Island before it, FBoy transports a couple dozen hot people to the kind of luxury-beach-resort backdrop where even non-exhibitionists might plausibly wear swimsuits all day. At the center of the game are three gorgeous women, Sarah, Nakia and CJ, looking to get into serious relationships with men who really care about them. Of their 24 chiseled suitors, half are self-identified Nice Guys—guileless dudes who really have come to find love—and half are FBoys (a cleaned-up version of the obvious profane slang term) competing solely for a cash prize.

HBO Max‘FBoy Island’ host Nikki Glaser

In the wrong hands, a premise like this could yield the same sexist schlock that is standard for this kind of dating show: look at these poor, stupid girls falling for all the old womanizer gambits. This is where FBoy’s smart execution makes all the difference. Crucially, the women not only come off as relatively intelligent and perceptive, but also generally have each other’s backs, collaboratively sleuthing to sniff out FBoys and saving each other from unpleasant dates. It’s a refreshing change from the catfights that The Bachelor and its clones are always serving up. With a few fun exceptions, the show also conceals from both viewers and the other men whether each contestant is a Nice Guy or an FBoy. This shatters the illusion that it’s easy to tell who’s who, while also maintaining suspense and allowing us to play along from home.

I binged through the six episodes sent for review, each one clocking in around 45 fleet minutes, and they deliver some pretty enjoyable twists. Some have to do with FBoys pulling off devilishly believable Nice Guy acts; one contestant outed as an FBoy even, confusingly, seems to have convinced himself that he’s actually playing as a Nice Guy. The subsequent chaos makes for a classic reality-TV “huh?” moment. But, without giving too much away, some of the best surprises involve well-timed rule changes and other tweaks to the format, all gleefully rolled out by host and executive producer Nikki Glaser. An advisor to the women and a gentle antagonist to the FBoys, Glaser, a comedian, brings just the right level of self-aware humor. “We watch these shows… and we laugh with the people we’re watching them with,” she has said. “But the shows rarely make fun of themselves or acknowledge the fact that what’s happening is hilarious.”

FBoy Island is not trying to be anything more than a sudsy summer distraction. And by that metric, it’s a masterpiece. In contrast to Sexy Beasts, which never gets more entertaining than it is in the trailer, the show gets better—juicier, funnier, occasionally sexier, more original and compelling and clever—the more time you spend with it. As streaming services thirsty for cheap content pile on interchangeable reality fare, that’s worth celebrating. Two decades into the reign of reality TV, and with all due respect to Jack and Liz, it’s a pleasure to see some of the genre’s torchbearers do more than the minimum.



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Stonehenge may be next UK site to lose world heritage status - The Guardian

  1. Stonehenge may be next UK site to lose world heritage status  The Guardian
  2. UNESCO strips Liverpool of world heritage status  Al Jazeera English
  3. Fears Edinburgh could lose world heritage status over giant 'bin hubs'  Telegraph.co.uk
  4. Why could Stonehenge be stripped of world heritage site status?  The Guardian
  5. World Heritage Sites: How are they selected? | Inside Story  Al Jazeera English
  6. View Full coverage on Google News


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Ad men sacked to improve gender pay gap win sex discrimination claim - The Guardian

  1. Ad men sacked to improve gender pay gap win sex discrimination claim  The Guardian
  2. London: Middle-aged white men win sexism case after company addressed gender pay gap  Metro.co.uk
  3. Ad men win sex discrimination case after sacking in JWT agency's diversity drive  The Times
  4. Two men win sexism case after being sacked in company's drive to plug gender pay gap  Mirror.co.uk
  5. View Full coverage on Google News


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Printer ink pricier than champagne finds Which?

According to a Which survey a pint of printer ink could cost up to £1,300.

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How the U.S. Is Spearheading Efforts to Thwart Chinese Cybercrime

On July 19, the White House accused the Chinese government of supporting a hacking operation, revealed in March, targeting Microsoft Exchange Server software. The view from the U.S. intelligence community is that Chinese state security played a role in illegally accessing email services on a server used by governments and some of the world’s biggest companies, including military contractors. The Biden Administration also accuses China of hiring “criminal contract hackers who carry out both state-sponsored activities and cybercrime.”

Though the Administration’s response doesn’t appear to include the sorts of sanctions that have been imposed on Russia, a far less important commercial rival than China, its statement featured considerably stronger language about China’s pattern of “irresponsible and destabilizing” behavior in cyberspace, behavior unworthy of a country with pretensions to global leadership. The White House knows that comment will draw a prickly response from Chinese officials.
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Unlike Donald Trump, President Biden showed up for this fight with China backed by lots of friends. In fact, Washington has the backing of every member of the G-7 and NATO, a group that includes nations traditionally reluctant to criticize the Chinese government too aggressively. These allies are mostly unwilling to contemplate sanctions against China, at least at this point, and the E.U. says only that the latest attacks came from Chinese territory rather than explicitly calling them state-backed. But the White House statement made the point that the Biden Administration is working actively toward a common cyberapproach. There’s no question that the joint statements from the E.U., U.K., Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will confirm Chinese suspicions that Biden means to divide Europe and allies from China where possible and to build broad technology alliances with an eye to confronting China’s bid to set new rules in cyberspace.

Cyberespionage is a fast-growing threat. Among the world’s most powerful countries, each government knows that an attack on the critical infrastructure of another invites retaliation. China can attack the U.S., but its leaders know the U.S. can hit back. That’s why most of the action in cyberspace among cybersophisticated nations is focused on stealing secrets and intellectual property. The bad news is that there are no enforceable rules that limit a government’s ability to share its cybertools with outside actors like hackers.

The ransomware charge that the Biden Administration has leveled at China is serious. In 2020 alone, the total known cost of cybercrime was over $1 trillion in global losses, more than double the costs in 2018. Hospitals have also faced a surge in ransomware attacks.

For now, no warning from Washington, coordinated with allies or not, will halt Chinese hacking operations. The scale of cyberthreats is growing, and Biden hasn’t found the right combination of carrots and sticks to make much difference. The Administration promises “further actions to hold [China] accountable.” That leaves future sanctions on the table.

For now, the Chinese have lost significant face. They’ll respond with statements that remind Washington and the world that the U.S. doesn’t always behave “responsibly” in cyberspace either. Beijing will also threaten some of the other countries that joined the U.S. condemnation, including by warning of less access to the Chinese marketplace for their companies.

The clear message from all this is that the U.S.-China rivalry is escalating, and no one has yet figured out a way to slow the momentum.



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Report: 'QAnon Shaman' in plea negotiations after mental illness diagnosis



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Youth violence likely to explode over summer, UK experts fear - The Guardian

Youth violence likely to explode over summer, UK experts fear  The Guardian

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Jadon Sancho: England winger completes £73m move to Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund - BBC Sport

  1. Jadon Sancho: England winger completes £73m move to Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund  BBC Sport
  2. Jadon Sancho signs for Manchester United | New Signings 2021/22  Manchester United
  3. Jadon Sancho: Manchester United sign England winger from Borussia Dortmund for £73m  Sky Sports
  4. Manchester United announce Jadon Sancho signing as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gets star in £73m deal  Daily Mail
  5. United complete the transfer of Sancho  Manchester United
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