Good morning!
Tropical Storm Elsa/Miami
Fire engines sounded their alarms and loud hailers warned a controlled explosion was imminent, and then what remained of the broken Champlain Towers apartment complex in Miami was brought down Sunday night. The demolition took place before Tropical storm Elsa comes ashore and to allow rescue crews to eventually resume searching the site safely, officials said.
Elsa is packing winds of 70 mph and threatened to topple the remains of the building as the search for bodies continues. The death toll is now officially 24 and 120 others are still missing 10 days after the catastrophic building collapse.
Meanwhile, on Friday, residents of another Miami-area high-rise were forced to evacuate the building when it was found to be unsafe in a review prompted by the deadly building collapse just a few miles away.
An audit prompted by the collapse of Champlain Towers South found that the 156-unit Crestview Towers in North Miami Beach, about five miles away, had been deemed structurally and electrically unsafe in January, the city said in a news release. Friday afternoon law enforcement authorities cordoned off the area and went door to door in the apartment building, telling residents they had to leave the 49-year-old structure.
The city of North Miami Beach had tried and failed for years to bring Crestview Towers, into compliance with the 40-year recertification requirements. When the building’s condo association finally submitted the required paperwork last week, about nine years late, it documented critical safety concerns, a city spokesman said.
There are many more aging buildings up and down the Florida coast which may find the same structural hazards in the coming months of inspection reviews.
Mask Mandates
The UK will drop mask mandates July 19, under official Government guidance set to be rolled out by none other than Covid flip flopping P.M. Boris Johnson later today. His new Health Secretary argues the economy needs to be completely reopened and masks tossed aside to allow society to “return to normal”. But scientists warn this will create a “variant factories” that can threaten the vaccine program.
What the British Gov won’t say is that masks save you from getting reinfected and social distancing such as eating outdoors, lowers the spread of the new variants, chiefly because this is all about economics over health. Mask mandates have also been dropped in the U.S. for similar justifications.
But all of this as the new Delta variant and Delta plus is spreading like wildfire, and England has announced it will roll out a third Covid booster shot in the fall for over 50’s to hamper the spread of the the virus.
In Russia now, the new variant is generating more than 20 thousand cases a day and some 650 deaths daily because vaccination rates are below 15%. In Britain daily the cases have risen to 24 thousand cases, but only 18 deaths, because the vaccination rate of over 50’s is 95%.
The vaccinations are working for now. But the variants are quickly adapting. Wear your mask. Don’t spend time in public areas indoors without a mask.
Stay smart because the pandemic is not over, and this is not a political debate, it’s only about YOUR HEALTH. Many experts say the decision to not require masks or social distancing is politics over science.
Colossal Hacking
Another criminal ransomware hacking in the U.S. this weekend using a computer IT company called Kaseya, to access thousands of corporate networks and crippling at least a thousand companies.
Huntress Labs said it believed the Russia-linked REvil ransomware gang was responsible. Ransomware criminals are demanding 70 million dollars in this latest attack.
On Back Story Host Dana Lewis interviews Cyber expert Ammar Barghouty, who was a field agent for the FBI on counter terrorism and dealt with computer intrusion threats.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/8756055
China and War
Last week China aggressively marked 100 years of Communism and its leader warned the World against threatening China.
China has threatened Taiwan, and rolled back human rights in Hong Kong and elsewhere.
China is for many other nations becoming a risk, and there are concerns about a showdown with America.
On this Back Story Dana Lewis discusses leadership of China under Xi Jinping and what does the future hold for China and the rest of the World.
We interview Steve Tsang is professor of Chinese Studies and director of the SOAS China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and from Human Rights Watch Maya Wang.
Subscribe to Back Story w/Dana Lewis podcast here;
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/8802391
Philippines Air Crash
A military plane in the Philippines crashed Sunday, with 96 soldiers and crew members onboard, while trying to land on the island of Jolo. At least 50 people died. and the death toll is expected to climb.
The soldiers were in Jolo to bolster military operations against Abu Sayyaf, a small Islamist group that the Philippine government considers a terrorist organization.
Other News
The Vatican announced that Pope Francis, 84, responded well to colon surgery
Scores of people are missing in Japan after heavy rain caused a mudslide in Atami, a coastal town about 60 miles southwest of Tokyo.
The Montreal Canadiens haven’t given up. Down three games in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Hockey Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they say they will find a way to win Game 4 on Monday night.
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Have a good day everyone!
Dana
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/mask-wearing-and-social-distancing-to-end-on-july-19-reports-40611121.html
https://www.miamiherald.com
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jul/04/pm-confirm-19-july-end-covid-restrictions-scientists-warnings-england
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/03/1012849198/ransomware-cyber-attack-revil-attack-huntress-labs?t=1625462998851