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Friday, July 9, 2021

Wake-UP Call: Confirmed Collapsed Condo Death Toll Now At 64

Miami Herald 7/9/21
OFFICIALS SAYS WON'T STOP UNTIL ALL REMAINS RECOVERED: The official death toll from the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, rose to 64 yesterday, with the recovery of more remains on the first day of the effort having switched to being one of rescue to one of recovery. There are still 76 people missing. The rescue teams paused briefly to mark the two-week anniversary of the disaster yesterday. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky has said he expects the recovery effort will take several more weeks, and rescuers are saying they won't stop until all the remains are recovered. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said a news conference yesterday evening that a fire official had told family members earlier that the rescuers, quote, "will not stop working until they’ve gotten to the bottom of the pile and recovered every single of the families’ missing loved ones." He added, "This is exactly the message the families wanted to hear."



➤TWO WITH DUAL U.S. CITIZENSHIP AMONG THOSE HELD IN HAITIAN PRESIDENT'S ASSASSINATION: Two men believed to hold dual U.S. and Haitian citizenship are among the 17 people who've been detained in the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise at his home early Wednesday. They were identified by Haitian officials as James Solages and Joseph Vincent. Solages started a charity in Florida in 2019 to help people in the Haitian town of Jacmel, and previously worked as a bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Haiti, according to charity's website. Canada said he was "briefly employed as a reserve bodyguard" by a private contractor. The chief of the National Police, Leon Charles, also said Thursday night (July 8th) that 15 of the suspects are from Colombia, and at least six of them are former members of Colombia's army. Charles said three other suspects had been killed and eight more are being sought. The head of the Colombian national police said President Ivan Duque had ordered the army and police to cooperate in the investigation.

➤BIDEN..U-S MILITARY OPERATION IN AFGHANISTAN TO END AUGUST 31: President Biden said yesterday that the 20-year U.S. military operation in Afghanistan will end on August 31st, pushing back against those calling for the U.S. to extend the involvement as the Taliban has made advances in significant parts of the country as the U.S. is leaving. Speaking from the White House, Biden said, "How many more, how many more thousands of American daughters and sons are you willing to risk? I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan, with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome." While acknowledging that it's unlikely the Afghan government would control of the country after the U.S. leaves, Biden urged the Afghan government and the Taliban to reach a peace deal, stating, "We did not go to Afghanistan to nation build." Biden emphatically stated, "We went for two reasons: one, to bring Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell, as I said at the time. The second reason was to eliminate al-Qaida’s capacity to deal with more attacks on the United States from that territory. We accomplished both of those objectives. Period. That’s why I believe this is the right decision and quite frankly overdue."


➤PFIZER TO SEEK AUTHORIZATION FOR THIRD DOSE OF COVID VACCINE: Pfizer will seek federal authorization for a third dose of its Covid-19 vaccine, saying yesterday that getting a third shot within 12 months could dramatically increase immunity and potentially help block the Delta variant if immunity wanes. Pfizer's Dr. Mikael Dolsten told AP early data from their booster study suggests people's antibody levels go up five- to 10-fold after a third dose, compared to their second dose. However, hours later, U.S. health officials said that fully vaccinated Americans don't need a booster shot yet. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said any decision on boosters would take place only when, quote, "the science demonstrates that they are needed." Dr. Anthony Fauci said yesterday, "Let me emphasize, if you were vaccinated, you have a very high degree of protection."


➤STUDY..HANDWRITING BEATS TYPING AND WATCHING VIDEOS FOR LEARNING TO READ:   Writing things out by hand is becoming less common as computers take over, but a new study finds handwriting serves an important purpose. Johns Hopkins University researchers found that people who practiced writing out Arabic letters by hand learned them much faster than those who simply saw the characters on a video screen, or those who typed the characters. They also found that writing things out by hand was associated with the ability to write the new letters, use them to spell new words, and use them to read unfamiliar words. Researchers say this is because handwriting marries together the perceptual-motor experience with what is being learned about the letters (their shapes, sounds, and motor plans), which in turn creates richer knowledge and fuller, true learning.

➤AVENATTI SENTENCED TO TWO-AND-A-HALF YEARS IN NIKE EXTORTION CASE: Attorney Michael Avenatti, who represented Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against Donald Trump in 2018 and became a cable news favorite for his brash public attacks on the then-president, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison yesterday for trying to extort Nike, threatening bad publicity against them if they didn't pay him up to $25 million. Avenatti was representing a Los Angeles youth basketball league organizer upset with Nike for ending its league sponsorship. U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe said Avenatti had, quote, "become drunk on the power of his platform," and had "hijacked" his client's claims, quote, "to extort millions of dollars from Nike for himself." An emotional Avenatti spoke before his sentencing, saying, "I and I alone have destroyed my career, my relationships and my life." Avenatti also faces a fraud trial next week, a second criminal trial later this year, and a separate trial next year for allegedly cheating Daniels out of hundreds of thousands of dollars from a book deal.

➤AVANT-GARDE BECOMES FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN NATIONAL SPELLING BEE WINNER: Fourteen-year-old Zaila Avant-garde won the Scripps National Spelling Bee last night becoming the iconic contest's first African-American winner and only the second Black winner, after Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica in 1998. Zaila correctly spelled the word "Murraya" for the victory in the event that was nationally televised by ESPN2, which is a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees. In addition to her spelling smarts, Zaila, of Harvey, Louisiana, is a rising basketball star who holds three Guinness world records for dribbling multiple balls at the same time, and hopes to one day play in the WNBA.


The Spelling Bee was back after being canceled last year because of the pandemic, but most of it was held virtually, and only the 11 finalists got to compete in person at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Florida. The only people in the audience were spellers’ immediate family, Scripps staff, some media, and First Lady Jill Biden, who spoke to the contestants earlier and stayed for the event.

🙏STUDY: DECLINE IN RELIGIOUS AMERICANS HAS STALLED: A new study suggests that the decline in the percentage of Americans affiliated with a religion that has been going on for decades has stalled. The survey from the Public Religion Research Institute found that from 2006 to 2018 the percentage of Americans unaffiliated with a religion grew from 16 percent to to 26 percent, but then fell to 23 percent after dropping in 2019 and 2020. The decline in white Christians has also apparently stopped, in part because of an increase in white mainline Protestants. The percentage of white evangelical Christians, however, has continued to fall. The rise in non-religious Americans has been most pronounced among young people, with some 36 percent of U.S. adults under age 30 not affiliated with a religion, up from 23 percent in 2006 and 10 percent in 1986.

➤IF YOU STALK YOUR EX ON SOCIAL MEDIA, HERE’S HOW TO QUIT FOR GOOD:  Breakups are rough, and social media can arguably make it harder to get over that person. If you’ve ever stalked an ex on social media you’re not alone. Licensed marriage and family therapist Anita Chilpala says figuring out why you want to stalk your ex on social media can help you master the habit. She says people may “want to see if their ex is happier without them, or dating someone (and comparing themselves to this person). […] They may try to get answers to why the breakup happened […] Also the first few weeks after a breakup are particularly difficult because you have a big void. So stalking an ex on social media can help fill that void.” But breakup coach Trina Leckie says this behavior usually means “you are having a really hard time letting go and accepting that the relationship is over.” If you can’t stop stalking your ex you may need to just block them. Leckie explains, “It can become an addiction to keep checking, which then keeps your ex top of mind all day, and that clearly isn’t healthy. You won’t be able to move on fully until you stop looking, so the sooner you stop, the better.” Ultimately, the experts say you should focus on your own healing process—spend time doing things you love, and put your well-being first. It could take weeks or months, but eventually you will heal, and you’ll feel a lot better.

🏀SUNS BEAT BUCKS 118-108 TO TAKE 2-0 NBA FINALS LEAD: The Phoenix Suns beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-108 at home last night to take a 2 games to none lead in the NBA Finals, and are now halfway to winning their first-ever championship. Devin Booker led the Suns with 31 points, Mikal Bridges had 27 points and Chris Paul scored 23. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 42 points in a losing effort for the Bucks. Game 3 is Sunday in Milwaukee.


➤JAPAN ANNOUNCES FANS WON'T BE ALLOWED AT OLYMPICS: Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics announced yesterday that no fans will be allowed at the Games, which are beginning in two weeks with the opening ceremony on July 23rd. The news came hours after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga put Tokyo under a Covid-19 state of emergency due to increasing infections and the spread of the highly-contagious Delta variant. The decision applies to Japanese spectators, as foreign fans were banned months ago. It means the Olympics, which were already delayed a year because of the pandemic, will now mostly be a TV event.

🎾BARTY, PLISKOVA WIN IN WIMBLEDON SEMIFINALS, TO PLAY FOR CHAMPIONSHIP: Top-seeded Ash Barty of Australia and Number 8 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic will play for the Wimbledon championship Saturday after winning their semifinal matches yesterdaY. Neither has played in a Wimbledon final before. Barty defeated 25th-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-3, 7-6 (3) and Pliskova upset Number 2 Aryna Sabalenka 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. The men's semifinals are today, with Novak Djokovic facing Denis Shapovalov and Matteo Berrettini playing Hubert Hurkacz.

⚾MILLER HITS THREE HOME RUNS IN PHILLIES' 8-0 CUBS SHUTOUT: Philadelphia infielder Brad Miller hit three runs as the Phillies shut out the Chicago Cubs 8-0 last night. Five of the Phillies' eight runs came from Miller, who hit a solo home run in the third inning and two-run homers in the fifth and seventh innings.

 
🥊REPORTS..FURY POSITIVE FOR COVID-19, WILDER BOUT POSTPONED: Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has tested positive for Covid-19, and his third fight with Deontay Wilder will be postponed, according to media reports last night. Fury and Wilder were set to face off on July 24th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in the last of their three bouts. According to AP, the rescheduled fight is likely to be in October. Their first fight in December 2018 was a draw, and Fury beat Wilder in their second bout in February 2020.

⚾MLB EXTENDS BAUER'S LEAVE THROUGH JULY 15: Major League Baseball yesterday extended L.A. Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer's administrative leave by seven days through July 15th. Bauer was put on seven days' leave on July 2nd after a woman accused him of sexual assault, allegations MLB investigators and Pasadena police are investigating. The woman, who obtained an order of protection against Bauer last month, claims he assaulted her during two sexual encounters, including choking her to the point of unconsciousness, punching her repeatedly in the face, and punching her in her genitals. Bauer's agents have denied the accusations.


➤HARDEN STOPPED BY POLICE IN PARIS: Brooklyn Nets star James Harden was stopped by police in Paris Thursday, where he is for Fashion Week. Video posted on social media showed him being briefly frisked, but the city prosecutor's office said he wasn't arrested and was never taken into custody. According to French media, as cited by ESPN, Harden, who's been seen around Paris with Kanye West and rapper Lil Baby, was on the street when a car was stopped after police smelled marijuana. Harden was apparently nearby and tried to intervene, and that was when he was briefly stopped. The city prosecutor's office also said that Lil Baby was detained yesterday for allegedly transporting drugs.
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