Tuesday 3 August 2021

How Will Delta and COVID-19 Change This Back-to-School Season? Here’s What to Know

Getting the kids ready to go back to school each fall is stressful enough in a normal year, never mind in the midst of a pandemic. Between the more transmissible Delta coronavirus variant, rising cases across the country and new masking guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there’s a lot for parents to navigate as they plan for schools to reopen this August and September.

On the whole, experts seem to agree it’s time to get kids back into their classrooms. Remote learning set many children—especially students of color—back academically, cut them off from essential social services like free or reduced-cost meals, and took a major toll on their mental health. As many districts have reduced remote schooling programs, even the most reluctant parents may have little choice but to send their kids back to school, short of homeschooling.
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The worry, of course, is that in-classroom learning could facilitate the ongoing spread of COVID-19. But on the positive side, a year of scientific progress means that schools may now be better equipped to prevent viral spread in their classrooms, hallways and locker rooms. Public health experts and school administrators now know that layered mitigation methods, including face masks, distancing and ventilation, can help reduce transmission. Additionally, kids over 12, as well as their teachers and parents, can get vaccinated—the best tool to prevent getting sick and to reduce the spread of the virus.

To help parents of school-age children navigate the upcoming back-to-school season, TIME spoke with pediatric infectious disease experts about how to keep kids—and those around them—safe this school year.

What risks does COVID-19 pose to my child?

It’s rare for COVID-19 to cause severe illness among school-age children, but it does happen. Those with underlying medical conditions, such as heart disease, immune disorders and diabetes are at higher risk, according to the CDC. Some 400 children have died after contracting COVID-19 in the U.S., according to CDC data. Of course, while any death is tragic, that figure represents only around 0.01% of children known to have tested positive for the disease. In other words, it’s unlikely that kids will suffer the worst impacts of the virus.

Indeed, while children can also develop “long COVID”—suffering from persistent COVID-19 symptoms long after getting infected—preliminary evidence suggests that the condition is far less common in children than adults. A study by Swiss researchers published in JAMA on July 15 found that only 4% percent of the kids surveyed who had tested positive for COVID-19 were still experiencing symptoms after 12 weeks.

That said, there’s still a lot we don’t know about COVID-19. Dr. Aaron Milstone, a professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, notes that some viral illnesses, like measles, can cause harm years after exposure in children, and we can’t know for sure that COVID-19 won’t have future consequences. “I do think it’s important to acknowledge that there are unknown risks, although small,” he says.

How has the Delta variant changed the risk of getting COVID-19 at school?

The Delta variant is more transmissible than the version of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) that circulated for much of the previous 16 months or so, which means that it could spread faster in schools, just like it does anywhere else. Though it doesn’t seem to cause more severe illness (in either children or adults), Dr. Sean O’Leary, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, says he’s concerned that kids could carry the virus back home to vulnerable family members, or in the other direction, putting teachers and staffers at risk. “I think it has the potential to be bad,” he says.

Delta’s emergence is a reminder that schools will need to stay flexible as the virus continues to circulate. Milstone points out that the dynamics of the pandemic are changing over time—vaccine-generated immunity may wane over time, people of mixed vaccination status are increasingly socializing with one another, and fewer people are taking precautions like masking or distancing (though the CDC’s new guidance may help change that). “We have to keep up with the virus,” Milstone says.

The best preventative method, of course, is mass vaccination. And most evidence suggests that Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine, the only shot authorized in the U.S. for kids aged 12-15, is effective against the Delta variant. Vaccines aside, schools can help protect students, teachers and staff by implementing “layered” prevention methods, including masks, distancing and ventilation, says Dr. William Raszka, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Vermont Medical Center. These efforts are especially important for protecting students younger than 12, who can’t yet be vaccinated.

Could my child carry COVID-19 to someone else, like family members or their teacher?

Children can pass COVID-19 to other people, although the risk of transmission tends to be higher with older children, says Dr. Liz Whittaker, a senior clinical lecturer in pediatric infectious diseases and immunology at Imperial College London. A study conducted in South Korea in winter 2020 involving 5,706 COVID-19 patients found that children below 9 years old were less likely to spread the virus to other groups compared to kids aged 10-19, who appeared to spread it as much as adults.

O’Leary says widespread community vaccination is the best way to limit these risks. “What we’ve seen throughout the pandemic, including now with this Delta variant, is that [the number of] cases in kids basically reflect what’s going on in the surrounding community,” he says. “The most important thing to help schools be successful this year is get everyone to get vaccinated, down to age 12.” And, if schools practice layered mitigation methods, it should keep teachers at low risk of infection, says O’Leary, especially if they’re vaccinated.

Parents can take steps to help prevent outbreaks at schools as well. Whittaker urges families to keep their kids home if they seem unwell, and consider having older children wear a mask even if they’re not going into school—and even if they’re vaccinated—in order to keep the people around them safe. And don’t forget the basics, she adds. “Like washing your hands before you eat, which we should do anyway,” she says.

Could schools trigger a COVID-19 outbreak in my community?

So far, schools haven’t been a major driver of COVID-19 outbreaks. Instead, they’re more likely to reflect the level of transmission that’s already happening in a given community.

For instance, in an April study published in Pediatrics, researchers who studied North Carolina schools with 90,000 in-person students and staff found only 32 school-based local infections over a nine week period, while 773 other people were infected elsewhere in the community. However, it’s important to note that the schools studied for that paper practiced mitigation strategies like universal masking, 6-foot distancing and symptom monitoring.

That said, Milstone notes schools “tend to be more conservative” and take more precautions to limit viral spread compared to other institutions. In fact, schools probably aren’t more dangerous than other activities many kids are already doing, he says. “I would say a kid who’s masked in school is less likely to bring [COVID-19] home from school than they are from bringing it home from their Sunday school group or … a birthday party with 10 other kids where they’re probably not masked.”

How can I get ready to send my child back to school during the pandemic?

If your child is too young for the shot, getting vaccinated yourself is one of the best ways to protect them from contracting COVID-19, as it reduces the risk you’ll spread the virus to other people. “If you’re sending a child to school, you absolutely want to make sure you’re vaccinated if the child’s too young to be vaccinated,” says O’Leary.

O’Leary also tells parents that they should take a close look at the mitigation measures their children’s school has in place, including whether face masks are required, and advocate for more precautions. And regardless of the school’s policy, it may be smart to talk to children about wearing face masks. Generally, O’Leary says, kids are “better than the adults at wearing masks!”

And most importantly, if your children are 12 or older and eligible, get them vaccinated—and don’t wait. People aren’t considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after their second Pfizer shot, which is usually scheduled three to four weeks after their first injection. That timetable means you’ll need to go ASAP to ensure your child is protected for their first day of school.

Milstone acknowledges his perspective is skewed as an infectious disease physician; with his career, he sees an unusual number of children very sick with COVID-19. All the same, he says that seeing children die from a disease that can be prevented by vaccination is very difficult.

“I’ve said this my whole career, right?” he says. “It’s really discouraging to watch people die of vaccine preventable diseases. And especially kids, who don’t get to make that choice for themselves.”



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Almost Every Doctor Recommends Sunscreen. So Why Don’t We Know More About Its Safety?

Each year, as Memorial Day approaches, Holly Thaggard braces herself for the headlines. About how sunscreen may be damaging coral reefs. About the possible flammability of spray-on sunscreen. Headlines—as there were this year—about how sunscreen contains chemicals that could harm your health.

“This has happened every single year for the last decade of my life,” says Thaggard, founder of Texas-based Supergoop, a sunscreen company that brands itself as reef-safe and free of hundreds of potentially problematic ingredients.

This year, the is-sunscreen-dangerous news cycle started in May, when Valisure, an independent laboratory dedicated to quality-testing pharmaceuticals and personal-care products, released a report warning that its scientists found benzene—a carcinogen also found in vehicle emissions and cigarette smoke—in 78 U.S. sun-care products. Benzene is not an ingredient in sunscreens, but rather a contaminant likely introduced during the manufacturing process, and experts say it’s not clear whether the amount detected in sunscreens could actually lead to health risks. But in July, Johnson & Johnson voluntarily recalled five of its Neutrogena and Aveeno sunscreen sprays due to the presence of benzene. The company stressed that the recall came from an abundance of caution, and that “the levels detected in our testing would not be expected to cause adverse health consequences,” but it still kicked off a fresh flurry of worrisome news stories.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) maintain that wearing sunscreen is safe, and crucial to reducing the risk of skin cancer. But it’s hard to blame consumers for asking questions, given persistent concerns about the environmental and health effects of sunscreen. In 2018, for example, Hawaii passed a ban on sunscreens containing the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate, for fear they could damage coral reefs. The FDA in 2019 requested extra safety data on sunscreen components as part of a more stringent regulatory strategy. And consumer watchdogs like the Environmental Working Group routinely publish warnings about the potential health risks of sunscreen chemicals like oxybenzone; recently, many have pointed to a 2020 study that found uncertain evidence it could cause thyroid tumors in rats.

As of now, there is no strong evidence that sunscreen harms human health and plenty of data to show that it helps prevent skin cancer. But paradoxically, tighter regulations may be a blessing for the sunscreen industry. As it stands, according to a survey from cosmetic procedures database RealSelf, almost half of Americans say they never wear sunscreen and only 11% wear it every day. And each time a scary new story about sunscreen breaks, Thaggard says, consumers get more and more confused—and perhaps less likely to use the stuff. “Having more restrictions and having more testing only makes it more expensive and only makes it a little bit more difficult” for sunscreen companies to operate, Thaggard says. But, at the same time, “people need to feel good about applying their products.”

Proving they’re safe, once and for all, is the only way to make that happen.


Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the U.S. About a fifth of Americans will develop some form of it during their lifetimes, and about 7,000 die from melanoma each year. Those stats are especially striking because most skin cancers are preventable. Many cancers are caused by an opaque confluence of genes, lifestyle and bad luck, making them extremely difficult to avoid. Skin cancer, by contrast, is almost always caused by one thing: excess sun exposure.

The sun gives off two kinds of potentially damaging rays. UVA light causes wrinkles and other markers of aging, while UVB light is the primary cause of sunburn. Both can contribute to skin cancer, so effective sunscreens must block both. They can do so using either physical or chemical filters, or some combination of the two. Physical formulas use minerals—typically zinc or titanium dioxide—to create a physical barrier against the sun’s rays, while the latter use chemicals such as oxybenzone, avobenzone, octinoxate and homosalate to absorb UV light. Mineral sunscreens can leave a telltale white residue on the skin, while chemical formulas tend to sink in more completely.

From a user-friendliness perspective, that easy absorption is an asset. But it’s also the source of some concerns about sunscreen and health.

When the FDA began regulating sunscreens as over-the-counter drugs in the 1970s, it set standards for things like product labeling and testing of a formula’s sun protection factor, or SPF—the measure of how much UVB exposure is required to burn the skin with sunscreen on versus without it. (These days, products labeled as “broad spectrum” protect against both UVB and UVA light.) But the FDA does not actually test individual sunscreens—or any cosmetics or personal-care products, for that matter—before they hit shelves. As long as sun-care companies formulate their products using a set list of active ingredients laid out by the FDA, and follow its guidelines for manufacturing and testing, they do not have to apply for agency approval prior to selling their goods. While the FDA sets the standards they must follow, companies are responsible for their own safety, efficacy and quality testing.

That hands-off approach is, in part, due to an outdated regulatory standard. The agency began beefing up its safety-testing requirements after most sunscreen ingredients had already been on the market for years, essentially grandfathering them into approval without much oversight. And for years, scientists thought sunscreens sat atop the skin rather than penetrating it, exempting manufacturers from the safety testing required for products that can be absorbed into the body.

That assumption was wrong, according to a body of research that includes a pair of FDA studies published in 2019 and 2020. They found that ingredients commonly found in chemical sunscreens, including oxybenzone and octinoxate, can penetrate the skin and seep into the bloodstream, lingering in the body for days at a time. That doesn’t necessarily mean those chemicals are harmful—in fact, the studies’ authors urged consumers not to stop wearing sunscreen because of their findings—but it raises the stakes for finding out if they are.

So far, the research looks fairly comforting. A 2020 research review published in the International Journal of Dermatology found no conclusive evidence that either oxybenzone or octinoxate causes health problems. It did note that oxybenzone exposure (which can also come from the use of other personal-care products) is associated with changes in hormone, kidney and thyroid function, but concluded that there’s not enough evidence to establish cause and effect. A 2021 report from the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety also noted that, while there are concerns that oxybenzone may disrupt hormones, those data are “not conclusive.” It did say, however, that products should only be considered safe if oxybenzone makes up no more than 2.2% of their formula; U.S. sunscreens can contain up to 6% oxybenzone.

Dr. Henry Lim, a dermatologist at Michigan’s Henry Ford Health System and a past AAD president who has done research and consulting for multiple personal-care brands, notes that sunscreen ingredients have been around for decades, and there’s no evidence that they’ve caused population-level health issues. So why the persistent concerns about sunscreen’s safety?

In some animal research, chemicals like oxybenzone and octinoxate have been linked to reproductive and hormonal disorders. While there’s no concrete proof that the chemicals harm humans, oxybenzone has also been detected in the breast milk of women who report using cosmetics that contain UV filters, as well as in humans’ urine. Contamination issues, like this year’s benzene scare, are another trigger for concern, particularly given the FDA’s laissez-faire regulation of personal-care products.

Dr. Jennifer Beecker, a Canadian physician certified in emergency medicine, family medicine and dermatology, adds that people are, in general, more attuned to the chemicals they put on and in their bodies than they used to be. That’s understandable, after several recent high-profile incidents in which beauty products were linked to health issues—perhaps most notably Johnson & Johnson baby powder’s connection to the cancer mesothelioma.

“Everything in the world is a chemical,” Beecker says, and many are harmless. Even still, consumer concerns about chemicals and potentially unsafe ingredients may help propel the “natural beauty” industry to a nearly $50 billion valuation by 2025.

When it comes to sunscreens, it’s not only personal health that has some people nervous. Sun-care products’ effects on the environment have also been a major topic of discussion in recent years—one that researchers are still trying to understand.


When you go for a swim in the ocean after applying sunscreen, or shower at the end of the day, some can wash off your body and end up in waterways. That, according to the National Ocean Service (NOS), could be a big problem. When certain sunscreen chemicals—including oxybenzone and octinoxate—contaminate aquatic environments, they may bleach or kill coral and cause reproductive issues and birth defects for fish, mussels and sea urchins, the NOS says.

In 2018, Hawaii became the first state to ban the sale of sunscreens using oxybenzone and octinoxate, citing their potential damage to coral reefs. The policy went into effect in January of this year, and Key West, Aruba, Palau, the U.S. Virgin Islands and several other tourist destinations have followed suit. “We’re dealing with living beings, and beings that have just as much of a right to be here as we do,” says Hawaii state senator Mike Gabbard, who introduced the bill.

Gabbard this year pushed for an expansion of the policy, which would have also banned the sale of formulas containing avobenzone or octocrylene in Hawaii, but it didn’t pass. He says he plans to try again next year, with a bill that would ban all chemical sunscreens in several marine life conservation districts in Hawaii.

Lim says such legislation may be premature. A research review published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry this year found that while sunscreen ingredients are commonly found in ocean water, they may not collect at levels great enough to actually harm coral. The most concerning research around sunscreen chemicals and coral, Lim says, occurred in laboratory settings, not under real-life conditions. (Gabbard says he stands by the policy and the research review that went into it.)

For both people and the planet, Lim says, there is no clear-cut proof that sunscreen is harmful. But there have been enough rumblings about potential issues associated with sunscreen, he says, to justify revamping the FDA’s regulatory process.

In 2019, the agency announced plans to do just that. At that time, the FDA said zinc and titanium dioxide, the basis for most mineral formulas, could generally be considered safe—but asked the sun-care industry for more safety data on a dozen commonly used chemical filters, including oxybenzone and octinoxate, about which less is known. In May of this year, the agency also announced its intent to assess sunscreens’ effects on the environment. An update to its regulatory policy is expected in September. That could bring new rulings on ingredient safety; the addition or elimination of some chemicals from the agency’s approved active ingredients list; and/or more guidance on the production of newer sunscreen formats, like sticks and powders.

In a statement to TIME, an FDA spokesperson said the agency is assessing the claims in Valisure’s benzene report, noting that “if the FDA’s testing raises any safety concerns, the FDA will work with manufacturers to address these concerns.” The spokesperson did not offer details on how the agency’s regulatory process may change in September, but said “drug manufacturers are responsible for following current good manufacturing practices and ensuring the safety and quality of their products.”

If the FDA does provide substantive new information about or requirements for ascertaining sunscreen safety later this year, it could mean a seismic shift for the sunscreen industry, which has thus far existed without much supervision. ​​Most companies, at least publicly, say that’s a good thing. “Our members are committed to continue working with the FDA and leverag[ing] our industry’s formulation expertise to further demonstrate the safety of UV filters in sunscreens,” reads a statement from the Personal Care Products Council, a trade group that represents many sunscreen and cosmetics manufacturers, including Edgewell Personal Care, the parent company of brands like Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic.

Johnson & Johnson, which owns brands like Neutrogena and Aveeno, did not respond to TIME’s questions about its post-benzene-recall testing plans, nor its stance on additional FDA regulation.

Supergoop, for its part, retains a Washington, D.C., public relations agency with one job: booking CEO Thaggard meetings on Capitol Hill, where she can stress the regulatory needle she feels the FDA must thread. Thaggard says her company supports the need for closer studies of sunscreen ingredients, and voluntarily avoids using oxybenzone and octinoxate. But making innovative sunscreens that people of all skin types and colors actually want to wear, she says, requires the freedom to innovate—and a variety of available ingredients.

Some dermatologists share her concern. Already, Lim notes, U.S. companies must work from a shorter list of approved ingredients than Europe’s. “If, say, one knocks out oxybenzone, it would be significantly more difficult for the industry to make a good product in the U.S.,” he says. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, a nonprofit that often provides scientific analysis to the government, is currently weighing the potential health and environmental benefits of eliminating ingredients like oxybenzone against the potential public health downside of limiting the number of sunscreen products on the market.

Beecker adds that independent testing is an important way to ensure that brands are manufacturing their products properly. The questions that remain are, first, who would oversee that process, and second, whether brands would agree to it.

On the second point, at least, the answer may be yes. Running studies or submitting to extra testing is an expensive hassle for sunscreen companies, to be sure. But if the FDA can put safety concerns to bed, potentially coaxing more people into wearing sunscreen daily, manufacturers stand to gain—and so, in theory, would the public. An uptick in sunscreen usage would hopefully mean a downturn in cancer diagnoses, and healthy returns for the companies lining drugstore shelves with SPF lotions, sprays and gels.

As consumers await the FDA’s ruling, Beecker says they shouldn’t concern themselves too much with their sunscreen products.

“UV radiation is a well-established carcinogen…. Every day I have to tell patients very bad news because they have skin cancer,” she says. “We have tons of data that sunscreen prevents [skin cancers] that kill people. I still think the benefits way outweigh the risks.”



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La La Anthony Shares Her Favorite Moments Inside Her New Brooklyn Brownstone



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Mass Shooting in Queens Leaves 10 Wounded


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Monday 2 August 2021

Motorcyclist intentionally run down and killed in Minneapolis is identified



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Rep. McCarthy facing calls to resign after reportedly joking about hitting Pelosi with gavel



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The next pandemic is already happening – targeted disease surveillance can help prevent it



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‘Jeopardy!’ champ Matt Amodio breaks top 10 record, reveals lessons learned from Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer



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FDA Signals It Will Expedite Full-Approval Process for COVID Vaccines



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Tourists Flee as Wildfires Threaten Turkish Beach Resorts

ISTANBUL — Wildfires raged Sunday near Turkey’s holiday beach destinations of Antalya and Mugla as the discovery of more bodies caused the death toll to rise to eight. Residents and tourists fled the danger in small boats while the coast guard and two navy ships waited out at sea in case a bigger evacuation was needed.

Authorities warned tourists and residents to keep evacuating Turunc, a town in the seaside resort of Marmaris in Mugla province. Fires enveloped the area and strong winds made firefighting efforts more difficult. A helicopter attempted to extinguish the blazes, which were unreachable by land.
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As residents of villages around Marmaris pleaded for more help on social media, people boarded small boats carrying suitcases. Others waited anxiously to see if the fire would come down to the shore.

Turkish news agency DHA said the bodies of a Turkish-German couple were found in their burned home in Manavgat, Antalya, bringing the overall death toll to eight in the fires that began on Wednesday. Fires were also encroaching on a village near the town and villagers were evacuating in trucks.

Earlier Sunday, police water cannons, usually used to control riots, helped helicopters and fire trucks in Mugla’s popular district of Bodrum to fight fires. Turkish television showed fires had reignited after being extinguished earlier, with blazes and smoke approaching a village.

Civilians were trying to protect homes and olive groves but some houses were already damaged. Social media videos showed tourists in Bodrum scampering down streets rolling their luggage to escape the nearby flames.

The health minister, Fahrettin Koca, said at least 27 people affected by the fires were still receiving treatment in hospitals while hundreds of others had been released.

The minister of forestry and agriculture, Bekir Pakdemirli, tweeted that 111 wildfires were “under control” across Turkey. His tweets showed that, since Wednesday, wildfires had ignited in 33 provinces.

Panic-stricken tourists were evacuated Saturday from hotels in Bodrum as a fire rolled down the hill toward the seashore, including some 100 Russian tourists.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan toured some of the affected areas on Saturday and promised to help residents rebuild their homes. But social media users criticized him for arriving in Marmaris in a massive convoy that caused more traffic and for having bags of tea thrown from his bus to people gathered to hear him speak.

While Turkish authorities say they are investigating whether the fires may have started as “sabotage” by outlawed Kurdish militants, experts mostly point to the climate crisis, as seen by the drastic increases in temperatures, along with accidents caused by people. Erdogan said Saturday that one of the fires was started by children.

A heat wave across southern Europe, fed by hot air from North Africa, has led to wildfires across the Mediterranean, including on the Italian island of Sicily and in western Greece, where some residents had to be evacuated by boat to escape the flames.

Temperatures in Turkey and nearby countries in southeast Europe are expected to climb to 42 degrees Celsius (more than 107 Fahrenheit) Monday in many cities and towns. Antalya was already registering 41 degrees Celsius (106 Fahrenheit) on Sunday.

Meanwhile, in Turkey’s eastern Van province, floods over the weekend destroyed at least six houses after a small river overflowed amid heavy rains. Villagers were told to quickly leave their homes and climb to higher locations.

Floods in northern Turkey last month killed at least six people.



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Thomas Partey injury scare as Arsenal star limps off during Chelsea FC friendly - Evening Standard

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Susan Collins Criticizes Pelosi for Rejecting GOP Picks for January 6 Committee



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How risky is the booming housing market?



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Xander Schauffele Wins Olympic Gold Medal in Golf

KAWAGOE, Japan — Four feet between his golf ball and the cup was all that separated Xander Schauffele from an Olympic gold medal, and he couldn’t help but let his mind wander.

For Schauffele, it would be as special as a major, the championships that have eluded him far too many times, most recently at the Masters. For his father, an Olympic medal to share after his own aspirations ended in a horrific car accident that cost him his left eye.

Schauffele bowed his head and closed his eyes to snap back into the present.

“I just reminded myself, this is just a 4-footer,” he said Sunday. “All you have to do is make it. No big deal.”
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He made it. It was a big deal.

With more pressure than he needed, Schauffele got the prize he wanted in a conclusion to men’s golf so wild that nine players were still in the mix for a medal as the last three players measured their putts on the 18th green.

The putt that mattered most belonged to Schauffele, who had to lay up short of the water and rely on a wedge and a putt for par and a 4-under 67.

“I maybe put more pressure on myself wanting to go win this more than anything else,” he said. “And with my dad, he dedicated a big chunk of his life for quite some time to obtaining a medal, and that was taken away from him. … It was more than just golf for me. And I’m just really, really happy and fortunate to be sitting here.”

Rory Sabbatini set an Olympic record with a 61 — with two bogeys on his card — that nearly was good enough for a sudden-death playoff for the gold. He was more than happy to win the silver medal for Slovakia.

The bronze? Well, that was complicated.

Hideki Matsuyama ended his dream of adding gold to a Masters green jacket by missing too many putts along the back nine at Kasumigaseki Country Club. He still had a 12-foot birdie putt for the bronze on the final hole. He missed that, too, putting him in a seven-man playoff among players from seven countries for the final medal.

Matsuyama was eliminated on the first extra hole, along with Paul Casey, with a bogey.

Less than a month removed from recovering from COVID-19, the Japanese star was one shot out of the lead with four holes to play, and wound up without a medal.

No gold, silver or bronze. He still has a green jacket.

Rory McIlroy, Mito Pereira and Sebastian Munoz were bounced on the third playoff hole with pars. That left C.T. Pan and British Open champion Collin Morikawa, who both shot 63, and Pan won with an 8-foot par.

Stefan Schauffele watched the medal ceremony from off the 18th green, tears behind dark sunglasses as his son put the medal around his neck.

The father was 20 when he was invited to train with Germany’s national team as a decathlete. He was hit by a drunk driver, an accident that left him blind in one eye and no longer able to compete in the sports he loved.

He eventually found golf, which he passed on to his son.

“Because of what happened to me, I promised myself I will make sure my kids will find out how good they are at whatever they’re trying to do. In this case, it was golf,” the father said. “That was fueled by the fact I never found out how good I was.”

Schauffele, whose mother was raised in Japan and has grandparents in the city who were kept from watching him under the ban on spectators, appeared to have this won all along.

Sabbatini finished with a fist-pumping birdie on the 18th hole. That put him one shot behind Schauffele, who still six holes remaining and two good scoring chances.

And then one swing changed everything.

Schauffele sent his tee shot well right of the fairway on the par-5 14th and into the bushes. He had to take a one-shot penalty just to get out, took three more shots to reach the green and made a 5-foot putt for bogey.

He was tied for the lead, with Matsuyama one shot behind.

Schauffele kept his California cool and delivered two clutch putts at the end.

“I was trying so hard to just stay calm,” Schauffele said. “But man, it was stressful. And I made that putt and it was just a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.”

Sabbatini had plenty to be happy about with silver. Born in South Africa, he decided at the end of 2018 to become a Slovakian citizen through his wife, Martina, who had a relative running the tiny Slovak Golf Federation. His wife caddied for him this week.

That made him eligible for the Olympics, and now Slovakia has its third medal in the Tokyo Games. It has a gold in women’s trap and a silver in men’s kayak. Sabbatini is the first Slovakian to compete in Olympic golf.

“The sole purpose of it was to generate future generations of Slovak golfers,” Sabbatini said. “It’s not exactly the prime sport for kids to grow up and want to go play in Slovakia, so hopefully we can inspire future Olympians.”



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Krystsina Tsimanouskaya: Belarusian Olympic athlete says she was taken to Tokyo airport against her wishes after complaining about coaches - Sky Sports

  1. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya: Belarusian Olympic athlete says she was taken to Tokyo airport against her wishes after complaining about coaches  Sky Sports
  2. Belarus Olympics: Krystsina Tsimanouskaya refuses to fly home  BBC News
  3. Belarusian Athlete Told To Pack Her Bags, Taken To Tokyo Airport After Criticizing Her Coaches  Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
  4. Belarus Olympics kidnapping: Team officials bundle female sprinter to Tokyo airport  Daily Mail
  5. Belarusian athlete forcibly taken to airport after criticising coaches for 'negligence'  FRANCE 24
  6. View Full coverage on Google News


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NHS urged to redistribute near-expiry vaccines as take-up slows in young - The Guardian

  1. NHS urged to redistribute near-expiry vaccines as take-up slows in young  The Guardian
  2. NHS just updated its Vaccination Passports ...but only iPhone owners will see the changes  Express
  3. Jab Britain! Big business to offer youth incentives for vaccines - Normality in sight  Express
  4. View Full coverage on Google News


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Why white supremacists and QAnon enthusiasts are obsessed – but very wrong – about the Byzantine Empire



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A Trump supporter was arrested after a church prayer group member sent texts to the FBI that showed him inside the Capitol Building on Jan. 6



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Republicans have been hammering Democrats with 'socialism' smears for years. Now Democrats have a chance to turn these ridiculous claims into an advantage.



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Matt Gaetz says he has the 'freedom variant' as he mocks experts who warn about worsening COVID-19 mutations



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Iran spied on her for months and plotted to kidnap her from her Brooklyn home, but a defiant Masih Alinejad says she refuses to be intimidated by the Islamic Republic



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New York police chief gets $774K payout after contract is terminated



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Pizza and taxi rides used to lure UK youth into getting Covid-19 vaccination - CNN

  1. Pizza and taxi rides used to lure UK youth into getting Covid-19 vaccination  CNN
  2. Uber and Deliveroo will offer young adults cheap food in exchange for a Covid vaccine  Daily Mail
  3. Welsh Government 'not considering' offering incentives to get young people vaccinated  WalesOnline
  4. Uber and Deliveroo discounts to lure young people in UK to get Covid jab  The Guardian
  5. Ministers hope fast food and taxi perks will overcome vaccine hesitancy of young  The Independent
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Kris Wu: K-pop star detained on suspicion of rape in China - Sky News

  1. Kris Wu: K-pop star detained on suspicion of rape in China  Sky News
  2. Kris Wu: K-Pop star arrested on suspicion of rape  BBC News
  3. Pop star Kris Wu detained on suspicion of rape  The Guardian
  4. Former Exo singer Kris Wu detained in China over rape allegation  Metro.co.uk
  5. Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu detained on suspicion of rape  Daily Mail
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Pay rise for Aldi lorry drivers amid shortage - BBC News

Pay rise for Aldi lorry drivers amid shortage  BBC NewsView Full coverage on Google News

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Sunday 1 August 2021

Boreham: Woman dies and two seriously injured after car crashed into digger near the A12 - Essex Live

  1. Boreham: Woman dies and two seriously injured after car crashed into digger near the A12  Essex Live
  2. Boreham collision: Woman dies as car hits digger  BBC News
  3. A12 traffic: Car overturns and catches fire in crash with digger that shuts Boreham Interchange slip road  Essex Live
  4. A12 Essex: Woman, 29, dies in crash | Echo  Echo
  5. A12 traffic updates as woman dies near Boreham  East Anglian Daily Times
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Russians Behind SolarWinds Cyberattack Hacked Federal Prosecutors: Justice Department

WASHINGTON — The Russian hackers behind the massive SolarWinds cyberespionage campaign broke into the email accounts of some of the most prominent federal prosecutors’ offices around the country last year, the Justice Department said.

The department said 80% of Microsoft email accounts used by employees in the four U.S. attorney offices in New York were breached. All told, the Justice Department said 27 U.S. attorney offices had at least one employee’s email account compromised during the hacking campaign.

The Justice Department said in a statement Friday that it believes the accounts were compromised from May 7 to Dec. 27, 2020. Such a timeframe is notable because the SolarWinds campaign, which infiltrated dozens of private-sector companies and think tanks as well as at least nine U.S. government agencies, was first discovered and publicized in mid-December.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

The Biden administration in April announced sanctions, including the expulsion of Russian diplomats, in response to the SolarWinds hack and Russian interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Russia has denied wrongdoing.

Jennifer Rodgers, a lecturer at Columbia Law School, said office emails frequently contained all sorts of sensitive information, including case strategy discussions and names of confidential informants, when she was a federal prosecutor in New York.

“I don’t remember ever having someone bring me a document instead of emailing it to me because of security concerns,” she said, noting exceptions for classified materials.

The Administrative Office of U.S. Courts confirmed in January that it was also breached, giving the SolarWinds hackers another entry point to steal confidential information like trade secrets, espionage targets, whistleblower reports and arrest warrants.

The list of affected offices include several large and high-profile ones like those in Los Angeles, Miami, Washington and the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, where large numbers of staff were hit, handle some of the most prominent prosecutions in the country.

“New York is the financial center of the world and those districts are particularly well known for investigating and prosecuting white-collar crimes and other cases, including investigating people close to the former president,” said Bruce Green, a professor at Fordham Law School and a former prosecutor in the Southern District.

The department said all victims had been notified and it is working to mitigate “operational, security and privacy risks” caused by the hack. The Justice Department said in January that it had no indication that any classified systems were affected.

The Justice Department did not provide additional detail about what kind of information was taken and what impact such a hack may have on ongoing cases. Members of Congress have expressed frustration with the Biden administration for not sharing more information about the impact of the SolarWinds campaign.

The Associated Press previously reported that SolarWinds hackers had gained access to email accounts belonging to the then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and members of the department’s cybersecurity staff, whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries.

___

Suderman reported from Richmond, Va.



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Kevin Durant Becomes Top Scorer in U.S. Men’s Olympic History

SAITAMA, Japan — Kevin Durant is now the leading men’s scorer in U.S. Olympic basketball history.

Durant made a 3-pointer in the second quarter Saturday night against the Czech Republic to give him 337 points in his Olympic career, passing Carmelo Anthony.

Anthony scored 336 points in his four Olympics. Durant is playing for the third time.

He was the Americans’ leading scorer in both 2012 and 2016, scoring 30 points in the gold-medal game both times. He wasn’t off to a strong start in Japan but was already up to 11 points midway through the second quarter.

Durant has scored in double figures in all of his 19 appearances in the Olympics.

Durant is still a long way from the top scorers in Olympic history. Brazil’s Oscar Schmidt scored 1,093 points and Andrew Gaze of Australia had 789. Both of them appeared in five Olympics.

Pau Gasol of Spain and Luis Scola of Argentina are currently playing in their fifth and own the third and fourth spots.

 



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Weed withdrawal: More than half of people using medical cannabis for pain experience withdrawal symptoms



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Monzo bank in money laundering rules investigation

Monzo warned investors that the investigation could have a negative impact on the digital bank.

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Covid vaccine passports deny people of freedoms, Boris Johnson warned - Evening Standard

  1. Covid vaccine passports deny people of freedoms, Boris Johnson warned  Evening Standard
  2. Inside Boris Johnson's money network  Financial Times
  3. Labour calls for PM to explain ‘advisory board’ for wealthy Tory donors  The Guardian
  4. Cabinet revolt over vaccine passports  Daily Mail
  5. Is Boris adrift? Two years in, the Prime Minister faces defining policy decisions and calls for a shake-up  Telegraph.co.uk
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Five-year-old boy dies after being found in Bridgend river - Wales Online

Five-year-old boy dies after being found in Bridgend river  Wales OnlineView Full coverage on Google News

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High Wycombe murder inquiry launched after dying man found in street - The Guardian

  1. High Wycombe murder inquiry launched after dying man found in street  The Guardian
  2. High Wycombe: Murder arrest after man found dead in street  BBC News
  3. Police arrest suspect after man found dead on High Wycombe street  Daily Mail
  4. Murder investigation launched after man 'found on the floor surrounded by group of men'  Bucks Free Press
  5. Man in 50s found dead in street surrounded by gang as police launch murder probe  Mirror.co.uk
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Doorbell video shows 'amateurish' hitman disguised as an Amazon driver fighting with father who opened the door



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Nicola Sturgeon nightmare: Norway snubbed independence as country has 'loyalty to London' - Express

  1. Nicola Sturgeon nightmare: Norway snubbed independence as country has 'loyalty to London'  Express
  2. Opinion: Drug deaths in Scotland continue to rise – and a political 'blame game' isn't helping  The Independent
  3. Sturgeon caves: SNP admits they could adopt Tory law after Scotland's drugs shame exposed  Daily Express
  4. Covid vaccine: Nicola Sturgeon's tantrum about lesser mortals questioning her words can't hide need for her government to do better – Brian Wilson  The Scotsman
  5. Scotland's drug-deaths crisis: Lives depend on holding Nicola Sturgeon's government to account – Scotsman comment  The Scotsman
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Weekly Biden Report Card: Inflation up, vax goal still unreached, approval rating struggles



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How Aston Villa could spend Manchester City's £100m if Jack Grealish leaves - Birmingham Live

  1. How Aston Villa could spend Manchester City's £100m if Jack Grealish leaves  Birmingham Live
  2. Jack Grealish: Manchester City's £100m transfer bid for England midfielder expected to be accepted by Aston Villa  Sky Sports
  3. Exclusive: Michael Ball hopes Man City will not break the bank for Harry Kane  FootballFanCast.com
  4. "GREALISH IS WORTH MORE THAN £100M!" Aston Villa fan Anton says £100m is 'derogatory' to Villa!  talkSPORT
  5. Jack Grealish: Man City table £100m bid for Aston Villa and England midfielder  Sky Sports
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UK weather forecast: Heatwave in 2 weeks after Britain battered by lightning - Evening Standard

UK weather forecast: Heatwave in 2 weeks after Britain battered by lightning  Evening StandardView Full coverage on Google News

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Latin to be introduced at 40 state secondaries in England - The Guardian

Latin to be introduced at 40 state secondaries in England  The GuardianView Full coverage on Google News

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Alzheimer’s symptoms: Signs in your driving may indicate early stages of condition - Express

Alzheimer’s symptoms: Signs in your driving may indicate early stages of condition  Express

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'Duck Dynasty' star Willie Robertson gives update on 'household' after dog bite scare, new addition to family



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COVID-19: New deadlier coronavirus variant that could kill one in three infected people 'a realistic possibility', SAGE warns - Sky News

  1. COVID-19: New deadlier coronavirus variant that could kill one in three infected people 'a realistic possibility', SAGE warns  Sky News
  2. New Covid variant could kill up to one in three people, government advisors warn  The Mirror
  3. Future Covid variant that could kill 1 in 3 is ‘realistic possibility’, SAGE warns  Evening Standard
  4. Sage experts 'almost certain' new variants will eventually beat vaccines  Metro.co.uk
  5. ‘Realistic possibility’ of super Covid variant which could kill up to one in THREE people  Express
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Footage shows a 'frustrated' contractor using an excavator to wreck a new apartment complex over unpaid work



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Suspected 'kamikaze drone' attack on an Israeli-linked tanker that killed 2 was retaliation for Israel's bombing of Syria, says Iranian TV



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Missouri senator didn’t disclose emails in reform school investigation, lawmaker says



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Katie Price flees to St Lucia on her fourth holiday abroad in two months after conman stole thousands... - The Sun

  1. Katie Price flees to St Lucia on her fourth holiday abroad in two months after conman stole thousands...  The Sun
  2. Katie Price 'flees to a secret location' after she was 'devastated' by conman  The Mirror
  3. Katie Price is seen leaving the country after a conman used her to steal thousands from her fans  Daily Mail
  4. 'Devastated' Katie Price jets off after rogue trader 'conned thousands from fans'  OK! magazine
  5. Katie Price off to 'secret' location after fans conned by rogue trader  Metro.co.uk
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A World War II Nazi tank discovered in a retiree's basement leads to legal spat. There was also a torpedo and an anti-aircraft gun.



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Navy Charges Sailor With Arson in Fire That Destroyed Warship


By John Ismay from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3fbFUQP

Saturday 31 July 2021

Muammar Gaddafi’s son ‘back from the dead’ and planning political comeback



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Meet The Quirky Alien Enemies In No More Heroes 3 - Nintendo Life

Meet The Quirky Alien Enemies In No More Heroes 3  Nintendo LifeView Full coverage on Google News

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Trump: Bipartisan infrastructure bill will lead to 'massive socialist expansion'



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Scarlett Johansson sues Disney over streaming of Black Widow - BBC News - BBC News

  1. Scarlett Johansson sues Disney over streaming of Black Widow - BBC News  BBC News
  2. Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit against Disney could change Hollywood forever  The Independent
  3. Scarlett Johansson sues Disney over streaming of Black Widow  BBC News
  4. Scarlett Johansson suing Disney over Black Widow streaming release  The Guardian
  5. The Disney and Scarlett Johansson lawsuit could have big implications for the future of streaming  GamesRadar+
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Death toll in wildfires that hit southern Turkey rises to four - The Independent

  1. Death toll in wildfires that hit southern Turkey rises to four  The Independent
  2. Turkey: Three dead in fires as authorities investigate causes of blazes - including possible sabotage  Sky News
  3. Wildfires raging across southern Turkey force residents to flee  Guardian News
  4. Turkish authorities investigate after wildfires leave three dead  ITV News
  5. Death toll in Turkish wildfires rises to four as tourists are evacuated  The Telegraph
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Trump Pressed Justice Dept. to Declare Election Results Corrupt, Notes Show


By Katie Benner from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/37eEVuA

UK politics news – live: New Cameron lobbying details emerge, while Tories receive £10m from developers - The Independent

  1. UK politics news – live: New Cameron lobbying details emerge, while Tories receive £10m from developers  The Independent
  2. David Cameron met vaccines minister shortly before award of contracts to company he advises  The Independent
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Can Biden Finish What Obama Started And Close Down Guantanamo?

Nineteen years after he was captured in Afghanistan, and five years after a review board ruled he posed no threat to the United States, Abdul Latif Nasser was finally released this month from the U.S. military prison complex at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and repatriated to his native Morocco. He became the first prisoner transferred from the notorious detention facility in more than three years.

The move became the first real sign that there’s an effort underway to close Guantanamo. Since President Joe Biden came into office, however, administration officials at the Pentagon, State Department and National Security Council have quietly been working on a strategy to shutter the facility, built after the al-Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Designed to detain individuals apprehended by the U.S. in its War on Terror, the prison has been become a costly and damaging quagmire for the U.S. government, once labeled by Amnesty International as the “gulag of our time.”
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

One of former President Barack Obama’s first orders in 2009 was to close the facility within a year; he failed. Now, twelve years later, his former Vice President is taking on the same arduous challenge that will require help from Congress and wholesale changes in the military commissions process.

After Nasser’s transfer, Guantanamo now houses just 39 inmates. Ten of them are already cleared for release, and 17 others are eligible for a periodic evaluation by a parole-like board about whether they, too, can be transferred. A dozen more high-value prisoners, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and other alleged plotters of the Sept. 11 attack, are set to remain at Guantanamo Bay until they are tried in military tribunals there. The Biden Administration wants to repatriate the detainees who have been cleared for release to foreign countries and work with Congress to lift current restrictions that block the remaining prisoners’ transfer to U.S. mainland facilities.

At the core of White House’s push to close Guantanamo is the desire to rein in the powers America wielded in the age of terrorism. It’s a chapter that Biden has indicated—at least outwardly—he would like to move beyond. The President has announced the U.S. military plans to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan by Aug. 31 and wrap up its combat mission in Iraq by year’s end. The Geneva Conventions and the international laws of war state that when a conflict is ended, prisoners detained pursuant to that conflict must be released and repatriated unless they’re charged with crimes.

Over the years, Guantanamo prisoners’ physical treatment and the U.S. government’s legal contortions to hold so many without charge have sparked international outcry from the United Nations, human rights organizations and the Cuban government, which complained that the territory was being used as a “concentration camp.” Of the roughly 780 people detained in Guantanamo since its establishment in 2002, many have been found to be non-combatants with no ties to either the Taliban or al-Qaeda, mistakenly apprehended or wrongfully turned over by anti-Taliban bounty hunters in Afghanistan. Just ten men at the prison today have cases dealing with war crimes, and only two have been tried, convicted and are now serving time.

The outcome of the Administration’s low-profile efforts to end this era is less than certain. Rather than delivering speeches or issuing mandates, Biden has worked behind-the-scenes to finish the work Obama started. The work of the Periodic Review Board, the parole-like board set up by the Obama Administration in 2011 to speed the process of transferring detainees out of Cuba, will continue under Biden to clear prisoners for release to foreign governments. The board helped Obama reduce the prisoner population from 245 to 41 detainees. Just one detainee was transferred out under former President Donald Trump, who issued an executive order to keep Guantanamo open indefinitely.

Biden has thus far rebuffed requests by Democratic senators to reestablish Obama-era offices at the State and Defense departments, which were dismantled by the Trump Administration, tasked with the singular mission to close Guantanamo. He’s also chosen not to name a Special Envoy to negotiate the transfer of prisoners to foreign countries. Instead diplomats in U.S. embassies across the globe, under the leadership of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism, are working to repatriate the detainees cleared for release. “The Biden administration will apply all the necessary diplomatic resources to facilitate the transfer of detainees found eligible,” a senior administration told reporters on July 19.

After the detainees cleared for repatriation are transferred elsewhere, the White House will have to persuade Congress to bring the remaining prisoners on the U.S. mainland. That will be far more daunting task. Ten men are currently awaiting legal action through military commissions authorized by the Bush Administration, which is a costly and painfully slow process that—at its current pace—will keep Guantanamo open for years. But bringing the detainees to the U.S. is fraught with challenges on everything from where the detainees can be tried in court to where they can be imprisoned.

The biggest hurdle to moving those remaining detainees is legal. For a decade, Congress has included language in every Defense bill that forbids Guantanamo prisoners from coming stateside, citing the threat they might pose. The White House’s selling-point to the GOP, many of whom backed Trump’s order to keep the prison open, is that it currently costs about $140 million a year to keep the detention facility open along with assigning 1,500 personnel to run it. That breaks down to more than $3 million per prisoner per year—a price tag that will assuredly rise as more aging detainees require geriatric care.

Biden is now the fourth U.S. president that human rights groups have pushed to close Guantanamo. In January, as Biden prepared to take office, Amnesty International released a report documenting human rights violations perpetrated against those detained at the camp, including torture, inadequate medical care and the absence of fair trials. “These are detentions that are inescapably bound up with multiple layers of unlawful government conduct over the years – secret transfers, incommunicado interrogations, forced feeding of hunger strikers, torture, enforced disappearance, and a complete lack of due process,” said Daphne Eviatar, director of the nonprofit’s security with human rights program.

Mark Maher, a lawyer at Reprieve U.S., an international human rights organization that represents five detainees at Guantanamo, said he’s encouraged that the Biden Administration is revitalizing the processes to close the facility. “What is important for the Administration to do is to solve the easy cases—those people who aren’t charged and never will be charged with the crime and never will face trial,” he said.

Before his release, Nasser, 56, was among Guantanamo’s longest serving prisoners. Having been detained as an “enemy combatant” in 2002, he was taken to Guantanamo not long after it was established. And yet, despite two decades of incarceration, the U.S. government failed to demonstrate exactly why it upended Nasser’s life. He was never charged with a crime. He never had a trial.

“It sounds awful, but his case isn’t even that unique. There are many people who have been there for 14 to 19 years,” said Maher, who served as one of Nasser’s lawyers. “Do we as Americans really think that people should be held in prison—on an island thousands of miles away from their families—without any opportunity to stand up in a real trial and challenge the reasons for their detention, possibly for the rest of their life?”



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Four vaccinated adults, two unvaccinated children test positive for COVID on Royal Caribbean ship



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Driver shortage crisis threatens UK milk deliveries in wake of Brexit and Covid - The Guardian

Driver shortage crisis threatens UK milk deliveries in wake of Brexit and Covid  The GuardianView Full coverage on Google News

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Amazon hit with record $886m fine - live updates - Telegraph.co.uk

Amazon hit with record $886m fine - live updates  Telegraph.co.uk

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Amazon hit with $886m fine for alleged data breach

The tech giant rejects claims it has broken European Union data protection laws.

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BMX double helps power Team GB to six more Olympic medals - The Guardian

  1. BMX double helps power Team GB to six more Olympic medals  The Guardian
  2. Tokyo Olympics: Bethany Shriever & Kye Whyte win historic medals in BMX racing  BBC Sport
  3. BMX: GB's Bethany Shriever storms to gold | Tokyo Olympics  BBC Sport
  4. BBC Olympics: Peckham BMX club 'proud' of Olympic hero Kye Whyte after silver medal  My London
  5. Bethany Shriever CROWDFUND her way to Tokyo. Now she's the BMX OLYMPIC CHAMPION! | Tokyo Olympics  BBC
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