Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Elsa Threatens Condo Search Efforts


The ongoing rescue effort at the Surfside, Florida, site of the collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building is being threatened by Tropical Storm Elsa, which is approaching the state. Search crews had to temporarily stop their work yesterday due to lightning, and officials said a garage area in the rubble filled with water. Meanwhile, the remains of four more victims were found, raising the confirmed death toll to 28, with 117 people still missing. After the demolition Sunday of the remaining part of the 12-story building, which was unstable, rescuers are now able to go into areas that were previously inaccessible. No one has been rescued alive since the first day of the June 24th collapse.

 
➤PLANE WITH 28 PEOPLE ON BOARD MISSING IN RUSSIA: A plane with 28 people on board, 22 passengers and six crew members, went missing in Russia's Far East region of Kamchatka Tuesday. Among those on board was the head of the local government in the town of Palana, according to officials. The Antonov An-26 plane is owned by a company called Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise and has been in service since 1982, Russian state news agency Tass reported. The plane was on approach for landing when contact was last about six miles from the airport in Palana. A search missing was underway.

➤HACKERS DEMANDING $70 MILLION TO DECRYPT RANSOMWARE: Russian-linked hackers in the ransomware group REvil are demanding $70 million in Bitcoin for a decryption tool for its latest ransomware attack, the single biggest global attack on record. The attack was carried out on software vendor Kaseya, and it infected thousands of victims in at least 17 countries Friday via Kaseya's software, largely through firms that remotely manage IT infrastructure for multiple customers. CNN cited Allan Liska of cybersecurity firm Recorded Future as saying REvil is offering a universal decryption tool because of the, quote, "logistical nightmare" of thousands of potential victims to negotiate with.

➤VATICAN SAYS POPE IN GOOD CONDITION, ALERT DAY AFTER SURGERY: The Vatican said Monday that Pope Francis was "in good, overall condition, alert" and breathing on his own, one day after undergoing surgery for narrowing of a portion of his large intestine. The 84-year-old pontiff is expected to remain hospitalized for about a week, a Vatican spokesman said. According to AP, the procedure generally involves removing half of the colon and then joining up the remaining healthy parts of the large intestine. The Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reported that the operation began laparoscopically, but surgeons switched to using larger incisions after there were unspecified complications.


➤FEWER TRYING TO WIGGLE OUT OF JURY DUTY:   Fewer Americans are trying to get out of jury duty, and legal experts say it may be because of people wanting to fight systemic racism, according to Axios. The outlet cites jury consultant Jason Bloom as saying that as many as one in four people who are called for jury duty have historically sought to be excused from it, but that it's now fallen to only five to 10 percent. Axios notes the projected increase in participation comes in the wake of George Floyd's death and the conviction at trial for it of former police officer Derek Chauvin. Katrina Dewey, founder of the legal publication Lawdragon, told Axios some people have concluded that if they want more racial justice, jury duty nay be an impactful way to achieve that. But former prosecutors warned that it's essential that jurors are fair and don't have an agenda. Wheaton College law professor and former U.S. attorney David Iglesias said, "You want people there who really believe in equal justice under the law. You want people who try to be as race-neutral as possible."

➤DISNEY REMOVES 'BOY AND GIRLS' GREETING PRIO TO FIREWORKS SHOWS:  Disney World and Disneyland have finally brought back their nightly fireworks shows, which hadn't until now been restarted when the theme parks reopened from their pandemic shutdowns. But some people are unhappy with how they've changed the wording of the pre-recorded announcements that are played before the shows begin. The announcements used to begin with: "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dreamers of all ages." But the new announcement just says: "Good evening, dreamers of all ages." Deadline reports the new greeting reflects Disney's recent policy changes promoting inclusiveness, such as the revisions being made to the Jungle Cruise and Splash Mountain rides. Among the critics on Twitter, one referred to Disney founder Walt Disney, saying, "Walt would never do that," while another said, "I HATE IT. BRING IT BACK NOW!!!" But some liked it, including one who tweeted, "I love 'Dreamers of all ages' because it really makes that super snuggly and more magical."

➤BEZOS STEPS DOWN AS AMAZON CEO: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos officially stepped down as CEO on Monday, a move he announced in February. Taking over the position is Andy Jassy, who ran Amazon’s cloud-computing business. Bezos will become executive chair, with plans to focus on new products and initiatives. He's also focusing on his space exploration company Blue Origin, and will travel into space on July 20th, when Blue Origin makes it first flight with a crew.

➤FENCING, BARRIERS THAT KEPT PEOPLE FROM WHITE HOUSE'S NORTH LAWN FENCE REMOVED: The Secret Service announced Sunday that it had removed the fencing and barricades that had prevented people from being able to walk up to the North Lawn fence in front of the White House. The barriers began to go up in June 2020 amid the protests following the death of George Floyd, and police also forcibly removed peaceful protesters from the Lafayette Square area. The White House fencing was recently replaced by a 13-foot-tall fence with wider and stronger posts. It also has anti-climb and intrusion detection technology.

➤AIRBNB'S ANTI-PARTY SYSTEM HAS BLOCKED MORE THAN 100,000 EVENTS: The safety system that Airbnb implemented last July to prevent people from booking properties for large house parties has blocked more than 100,000 suspicious bookings, according to the company. The system doesn't allow guests who are 24 or younger and have fewer than three positive Airbnb reviews to reserve entire houses near where they live. The most bookings were blocked under the system in Los Angeles, at around 15,000, followed by Atlanta, with 12,000, Chicago, with 10,000, Dallas with 7,000 and San Diego with 6,000.
 
➤WEARING A MASK EXPOSES YOUNGER CHILDREN TO CARBON DIOXIDE: Researchers in Poland, Germany and Austria have discovered that children have been exposed to harmful levels of carbon dioxide from wearing masks. In a study that included 45 children, each child was tested twice for three minutes. For each child, one of the three-minute periods were used to measure the carbon dioxide inhaled and the other three minutes were to count the carbon dioxide exhaled. The youngest children in the group, who were 6 years old, had 1.7 percent carbon levels. The oldest teens, from 15 to 18, had levels around 1.4 percent. The average carbon dioxide on a child's breath is 0.04 percent and the maximum healthy level is 0.2 percent.


🏒CANADIENS BEAT LIGHTING 3-2 IN OT, AVOIDING STANLEY CUP FINAL SWEEP: The Montreal Canadiens beat the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in overtime last night (July 5th) in Montreal, avoiding a Stanley Cup Final sweep. Josh Anderson scored the winning goal at 3:57 into overtime, and the series now stands at 3 games to 1 in favor of Tampa Bay. Only four teams in NHL playoff history have won a series after losing the first three games, and only Toronto did so in a Stanley Cup Final, against Detroit in 1942. Game 5 is on Wednesday in Tampa Bay. [Look in "Last Night's TV" audio for sound from the game.]

🏒BLUE JACKETS GOALIE KIVLENIEKS KILLED IN FIREWORKS ACCIDENT: Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks was killed in a fireworks accident Sunday night, with a medical examiner saying Monday that an autopsy determined he'd died of chest trauma and not a fall, as had previously been reported by authorities. He was 24. Kivlenieks was in a hot tub at a gathering in a private home in Novi, Michigan, when police say the mortar-style firework tilted slightly and started to fire toward people nearby. Kivlenieks and several other people tried to get away, but the autopsy determined he died from a percussive injury caused by the blast from the firework, which triggered major damage to his heart and lungs. Police had initially believed he'd slipped and hit his head as he tried to run from the misfiring firework. Kivlenieks started in two games for the Blue Jackets this past season and played in eight total games in his NHL career.

🏀BUCKS' ANTETOKOUNMPO DOUBTFUL FOR GAME 1 OF NBA FINALS TONIGHT: Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is listed as doubtful for Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns tonight. The two-time MVP missed the Bucks' past two games after he hyperextended his left knee during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Atlanta Hawks.

🎾DJOKOVIC, FEDERER, BARTY AMONG DAY'S WIMBLEDON WINNERS, GOFF OUSTED: The top-seeded man and woman, Novak Djokovic and Ash Barty, and sixth-seeded Roger Federer were among the fourth-round winners at Wimbledon on Monday. At 39, Federer is the oldest to make it into the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in the Open era, which began in 1968. But the day didn't go as well for 17-year-old American Coco Gauff, who fell to Angelique Kerber of Germany.



⚾DODGERS MANAGER DOESN'T EXPECT BAUER BACK WHEN LEAVE ENDS: L.A. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday that he doesn't expect pitcher Trevor Bauer to immediately return when his seven-day administrative leave ends Friday. Roberts told reporters, "I don't see it happening." MLB placed Bauer on leave last Friday after a woman accused him of sexual assault. His agents put out a statement denying the allegations. MLB can request an extension of another seven days with consent from the players association, which would keep him out through the All-Star break.

🏀McMILLAN HAS DEAL AS HAWKS' HEAD COACH, NO LONGER INTERIM: The Atlanta Hawks announced Monday that they'd reached a deal with head coach Nate McMillan to stay with the franchise, and he is no longer in the position on a interim basis. ESPN cited sources as saying the deal is for four seasons. McMillan was elevated from assistant coach at the beginning of March to replace Lloyd Pierce, and he lead the Hawks to the Eastern Conference finals, where they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.
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