“Unemployment claims jumped last week, as the delta variant of the coronavirus sparked rising caseloads around the country and renewed fears about the potential for more restrictions and business closures.
The number of new claims grew to 419,000 from 368,000, the third time in six weeks that they had ticked up, according to data from the Department of Labor.
Overall, the numbers have been falling gradually from the peaks of the beginning of the pandemic, but they are still well above the average during pre-pandemic times.
Key federal aid programs run out of time - and cash - as delta variant spreads
Some 12.5 million claims were filed for unemployment insurance overall, according to the most recent numbers — down from 32.9 million filed at the same point last year.
The higher jobless numbers come as the delta variant has helped sparked an alarming increase in covid-19 cases around the country, according to public health officials.” Read more at Washington Post
“Coronavirus cases are rising dramatically all over the U.S. as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads among the unvaccinated, Axios' Sam Baker writes.
Florida is now averaging just under 6,500 new cases per day — by far the most of any state.
New cases more than doubled over the past week in Mississippi — from about 320 per day to about 660. The state has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country — just 34% of adults.
Earlier this summer, the U.S. seemed to have COVID-19 on the ropes. But now the Delta variant is sweeping the country.
97% of people hospitalized for COVID are unvaccinated.” Read more at Axios
“Florida’s attorney general, Ashley Moody, has contracted the coronavirus four days after flying to Texas with Gov. Ron DeSantis for a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border. ‘Thankfully, I am only experiencing mild symptoms and my family is in good health,’ tweeted Moody, who has been vaccinated. ‘I want to encourage Floridians to be vigilant about their health.’ Moody had contact with dozens of people during the border trip earlier this week, including DeSantis, Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The governor’s office did not respond to the Miami Herald’squestions about whether he would get a COVID-19 test or take precautions in light of Moody’s positive result. Florida is in the throes of yet another coronavirus surge, being home to one out of every five new cases in the U.S. DeSantis on Wednesday urged Florida residents to get vaccinated amid the rising cases, after weeks of fundraising off merchandise that ridiculed chief White House COVID adviser Anthony Fauci for his efforts to put down the pandemic.” [Daily Beast] Read it at Miami Herald
“China has angrily turned down a proposal from the World Health Organization to launch a second phase of investigations into how the coronavirus pandemic began. In an ill-tempered announcement of its rejection, Zeng Yixin, vice minister of the National Health Commission, said he was ‘taken aback’ that the WHO’s proposal included a plan to look into the theory that the coronavirus pandemic began with a leak from a laboratory in Wuhan. ‘It is impossible for us to accept such an origin-tracing plan,’ he said, going on to say the lab-leak theory ‘disregards common sense and defies science.’ The theory was dismissed as a conspiracy theory in the early months of the pandemic, but gained renewed credibility after President Joe Biden ordered aides to investigate the possibility that the virus came from a lab accident.” [Daily Beast] Read it at Associated Press
“An Alabama doctor penned a heartbreaking Facebook post about her dying COVID-19 patients begging for the vaccine long past the point of no return. Dr. Brytney Cobia wrote, ‘I’ve made a lot of progress encouraging people to get vaccinated lately!!! Do you want to know how? I’m admitting young healthy people to the hospital with very serious COVID infections. One of the last things they do before they’re intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I’m sorry, but it’s too late. A few days later when I call time of death, I hug their family members and I tell them the best way to honor their loved one is to go get vaccinated and encourage everyone they know to do the same. They cry. And they tell me they didn’t know. They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political… But they were wrong. And they wish they could go back. But they can’t. So they thank me and they go get the vaccine.’ Vaccinations have barely reached 30 percent in Alabama, and the more contagious delta variant has created what CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has called ‘a pandemic of the unvaccinated’ there and in other Southern states. [Daily Beast] Read it at AL.com
“With rising fears of a ‘fourth wave’ — this time of the unvaccinated — more GOP lawmakers and conservative media figures are pushing the shot, Axios' Caitlin Owens writes.
Why it matters: Vaccine resistance is much higher among Republicans than Democrats, and some prominent conservatives have been skeptical or hostile about the jab.
Members of House GOP leadership and the GOP Doctors Caucus will hold a press conference this morning to ‘discuss the need for individuals to get vaccinated, uncover the origins of the pandemic, and keep schools and businesses open,’ a press release says.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday: ‘These shots need to get in everybody’s arm as rapidly as possible.’
Fox News' Sean Hannity said on his prime-time show Monday: ‘It absolutely makes sense for many Americans to get vaccinated. I believe in science. I believe in the science of vaccinations.’
Fox News stars Steve Doocy and Harris Faulkner appear in a PSA directing viewers to a ‘Vaccine Finder’ link on FoxNews.com.” Read more at Axios
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) holds a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on July 1. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg News)
“Plans for a bipartisan committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection fell apart Wednesday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) moved to block two controversial Republicans appointed by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from sitting on the panel — paving the way for two separate and largely partisan investigations of the violent attack on the Capitol.
Pelosi called on McCarthy to name two new Republicans to the committee after refusing to appoint conservative Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.), a privilege she has as speaker. As staunch backers of former president Donald Trump, both members voted against his impeachment and pushed to overturn the election results certifying Joe Biden as president.
‘With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee,’ Pelosi said in a statement. ‘The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision.’
McCarthy instead vowed to go his own way, pulling all five Republicans he had named off the committee and saying the GOP would launch its ‘own investigation of the facts,’ without providing specifics on what such an inquiry would entail. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a sharp Trump critic chosen by Pelosi, is the only Republican remaining on the panel.
‘We will run our own investigation,’ McCarthy said during a news conference Wednesday. ‘[Americans] don’t deserve politics, they don’t deserve destroying the institution. No committee in Congress will work if one person is picking all who can serve.’
The inability of the House to move forward with a bipartisan committee marks the latest failure in repeated attempts by members of Congress to investigate the first storming of the Capitol in more than 200 years. Both parties have attacked the other as insincere and uninterested in conducting a fair-minded examination of the attack by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the 2020 election.” Read more at Washington Post
“When former president Donald Trump sat down for an interview in late March at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., he described the events of Jan. 6 as largely peaceful and his supporters as friendly, saying the audience he addressed at a rally on the Ellipse before the attack on the U.S. Capitol was a ‘loving crowd.’
Five people later died after thousands of his supporters beat back police to storm through barricades and charge inside the Capitol, and hundreds of lawmakers and their staffers were forced to scramble for safety. But Trump, speaking in an exclusive interview for the new book ‘I Alone Can Fix It,’ said the mob was ‘ushered in’ by police.
‘I Alone Can Fix It’ book excerpt: The inside story of Trump’s defiance and inaction on Jan. 6
‘Personally what I wanted is what they wanted,’ he said of the crowd. ‘They showed up just to show support because I happen to believe the election was rigged at a level like nothing has ever been rigged before.’
He also detailed his disappointment in and anger with then-Vice President Mike Pence and would not commit to selecting Pence as his running mate if he runs again in 2024. ‘I’m not locked into anything,’ he said. Listen to the audio clips and read more at Washington Post
“According to three new books about the chaotic final year of the Trump administration, former Vice President Mike Pencerefused to leave the Capitol on Jan. 6 and suggested the Insurrection Act for Black Lives Matter protests.” Read more at USA Today
Biden Town Hall
“President Biden predicted at a CNN event in Ohio that the F.D.A. would fully approve Covid vaccines by the fall, and that young children would become eligible ‘soon.’
Biden said there was ‘no reason to protect’ the Senate filibuster except that a fight over it would ‘throw the entire Congress into chaos.’
When asked about Republicans who call Democrats anti-police, Biden said, ‘They’re lying.’” Read more at New York Times
“Floods in China’s Zhengzhou have killed dozens.
Record rainfall in the central region of the country has killed at least 33 people, turned city streets into rivers and forced authorities to relocate hundreds of thousands. Henan province, of which Zhengzhou is the capital, has been rocked by heavy rains since the weekend. The province, largely dependent on agriculture and industry, is home to more than 99 million people and is one of China’s poorest. Media reports have shown inundated neighborhoods, stranded residents and flooded subways with commuters standing in water up to chest-deep. Local meteorologists have estimated that a year's worth of rain was dumped on the city in just three days, with 18 inches coming down in one 24-hour period. China typically experiences summer flooding, and environmental experts say urbanization and climate change have worsened the impact from extreme weather events. Last year, flooding across central and southern China triggered the worst flooding seen in decades and caused tens of billions of dollars worth of damage.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Two recently passed laws restricting trans teens’ access to healthcare and sports were blocked from taking effect Wednesday by federal judges.
Arkansas’ HB 1570, passed earlier this year, bans transition care for trans minors, prohibits doctors from providing gender-affirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18 years old, and stops doctors referring young people to other providers for the treatment. It was the first such state law passed in the U.S.
HB 1570 will now not take effect on July 28th while the ACLU’s lawsuit challenging it on behalf of a group of trans teenagers proceeds. Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice with the ACLU's LGBTQ & HIV Project, said in a statement: ‘This victory belongs to Dylan, Brooke, Sabrina, and Paxton, as well as other trans youth in Arkansas who spoke up about the harms created by this law. Our work in Arkansas and around the country is far from over—including with this law.’
Another federal court temporarily blocked West Virginia’s HB 3293—which bans all transgender athletes in middle school, high school, and college from women’s sports across the state—from taking effect. Republican Gov. Jim Justice ‘proudly’ signed the bill in April. The temporary block means plaintiff 11-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson will be allowed to try out for the girls’ cross-country and track teams at her school. In a statement, Pepper-Jackson said she was excited to be able to do so, ‘and follow in the running shoes of my family. It hurt that the State of West Virginia would try to block me from pursuing my dreams. I just want to play.’” [Daily Beast] Read it at NPR
“The Justice Department is launching a series of anti-gun trafficking strike forces to combat sources of gun-related crime. The strike forces will be based in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, DC. These cities are known corridors where illegal guns are being trafficked and used in deadly shootings and other crimes. In general, gun violence has been on the rise, with year-to-date increases in homicides in three of the five task force cities. Last month, Biden warned of the potential for more violence in the summer, when crime often surges.” Read more at CNN
“Wildfires are raging in unexpected parts of the globe as hot temperatures and dry conditions turn rarely burned places into tinderboxes. Near the Russian Siberian city known as the coldest in the world, fires have consumed more than 6.5 million acres since the start of the year. Most of Europe, the Western US, southwest Canada and some regions of South America experienced drier-than-average conditions in June, creating prime conditions for new blazes and making ongoing fires harder to battle. In California, Pacific Gas and Electric announced it will bury 10,000 miles of its power lines to reduce the risk of starting any more blazes. Equipment belonging to the nation’s largest utility has played a role in sparking some of the deadliest wildfires in California.” Read more at CNN
“"Their rights will be protected’: A judge said that victims and families in the Florida condo building collapse that killed nearly 100 people would receive $150 million to start.” Read more at USA Today
“Another condo in Surfside, Fla., has been evacuated after the building was deemed unsafe.
Residents of a waterfront condominium blocks away from last month's deadly building collapse have evacuated voluntarily because of structural problems identified by an engineer. The Regent Palace, a set of buildings that is 70 years old, began evacuating on July 9, and by yesterday most residents were gone. The engineer found issues with 15 columns in the complex's parking area, but the building board's president said they since have been shored up. The buildings had been undergoing engineering investigations before the collapse of Champlain Towers South, which killed at least 97 people. It now appears the buildings likely will be demolished after a developer who already owns a majority of the units decided to buy up the rest.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“LOS ANGELES (AP) — Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday to four counts of rape and seven other sexual assault counts.
Sheriff’s deputies brought the 69-year-old convicted rapist into court in a wheelchair. He was wearing a brown jail jumpsuit and face mask. Attorney Mark Werksman entered the plea for the disgraced movie mogul a day after Weinstein was extradited to California from New York, where he was serving a 23-year prison term.” Read more at AP News
“President Joe Biden's administration is beginning to make $3 billion in economic development grants available to communities — a tenfold increase in the program paid for by the massive $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief billpassed earlier this year. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said her agency on Thursday will begin accepting applications for the competitive grants, which officials hope will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and help struggling cities and towns make long-term investments. The grants will be targeted at supporting local infrastructure, job training programs and developing new industries. Recipients will be selected on the basis of the anticipated return on investment to taxpayers.” Read more at USA Today
“Maine will require companies — not local governments — to cover recycling costs for packaging.” Read more at New York Times
“Lives Lived: Before the Metropolitan Opera hired Gil Wechsler in 1977, it had never had a resident lighting designer. While his contributions often went unnoticed, Wechsler was, as one director said, ‘a master of atmosphere.’ He died at 79.” Read more at New York Times
“Texas and Oklahoma are talking to SEC officials about switching conferences, although no formal invitations have been extended, AP college football writer Ralph Russo reports.
Why it matters: Adding two members would give the powerhouse SEC 16 teams, the most in major college football. Losing two schools would be a devastating blow to the 10-member Big 12.
Texas said: ‘Speculation always swirls around collegiate athletics. We will not address rumors or speculation.’
Oklahoma said: ‘The college athletics landscape is shifting constantly. ... We don't address every anonymous rumor.’” Read more at Axios
Olympics
Sweden scoring its second goal against the U.S. yesterday.Doug Mills/The New York Times
“The U.S. women’s soccer team, favored to win gold, lost its first match, to Sweden, 3-0. The Americans play New Zealand on Saturday. The U.S. softball team beat Canada, 1-0.
‘Society was burning with excitement’: Tokyo last hosted the Olympics in 1964 amid postwar optimism. The feeling is different this time.
Organizers are allowing some forms of protest before competitions. The Times spoke to the U.S. track star Tommie Smith, who raised his fist on the medal stand in 1968.” Read more at New York Times
“TOKYO — A cluster of COVID-19 cases has emerged in the Czech delegation at the Tokyo Olympics.
And it appears that a chartered flight to Tokyo – and, according to Czech media, an unvaccinated doctor – might have contributed to the spread.
The Czech Olympic Committee announced Thursday that it is investigating whether lax behavior on a team flight to Tokyo last week might be to blame for the spate of COVID-19 cases within its group. The investigation will examine "whether all precautions against the spread of COVID-19 before, during and after the charter flight have been complied with," according to a news release.
Five members of the Czech delegation – including three athletes – had tested positive and were in isolation as of Thursday.” Read more at USA Today
“(TOKYO) — The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee fired the director of the opening ceremony on Thursday because of a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998.
Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said a day ahead of the opening ceremony that director Kentaro Kobayashi has been dismissed. He was accused of using a joke about the Holocaust in his comedy act, including the phrase ‘Let’s play Holocaust.’” Read more at Time
“LONDON — Liverpool suffered the rare indignity Wednesday of being removed from the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites after being granted the title 17 years ago, because of concerns about developments in the city, most significantly on its famous waterfront.
The decision was made in Fuzhou, China, after a secret ballot by the UNESCO committee, which voted in favor of a recommendation made in June to strip Liverpool of its heritage status — a move that will be a blow to the prestige of a city that has fought to revitalize itself in recent years….
Liverpool gained its World Heritage status in 2004, in recognition of its mercantile and maritime history reflected in grand architecture. As one of the world’s major trading centers in the 18th and 19th centuries, Liverpool built much of its prosperity from the slave trade.
The heritage list is designed to recognize and preserve monuments, buildings, and other sites, with member states obligated, to the greatest extent possible, to preserve them.
Only two other sites have lost their heritage status: the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman, in 2007, after the number of oryx dropped precipitously and the government cut the size of the sanctuary by 90 percent; and the Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany, two years later, because of the construction of a bridge that cut through it.
In Liverpool’s case, concern was focused in part on a $7 billion regeneration plan for its historic waterfront. The project includes luxury apartments and towering buildings, raising fears that they would endanger its skyline and architecture, leading to the city being placed on the list for World Heritage in Danger in 2012.” Read more at Boston Globe
“Thursday marks Prince George of Cambridge's 8th birthday. Tradition has dictated the royals release new photos to commemorate family members' birthdays each year. Kensington Palace delivered the evening before the young royal's birthday, with a new image of a smiling George looking more and more like the spitting image of his father, Prince William. Last week, George stepped out with his parents for England’s Euro 2020 finals and became an instant meme with his animated cheering.” Read more at USA Today
This July 2021 photo issued by Kensington Palace shows Prince George whose eighth birthday is on Thursday July 22, 2021, in Norfolk, England.Duchess of Cambridge, AP
No posts