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UEFA announces Champions League final hosts for next four seasons

THE next four Champions League finals from 2022-2025 will be hosted by St. Petersburg, Istanbul, London and Munich respectively, European soccer’s governing body European Football Association (UEFA) said on Friday.

The Krestovsky Stadium in St. Petersburg was scheduled to stage the 2021 final. However, due to the postponement and reallocation of the 2020 final to Lisbon because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Europe, the final hosts were pushed back by a year, with St. Petersburg now hosting the 2022 final.

Istanbul, which lost the 2021 final hosting rights to Porto to allow a limited number of fans to attend the match, will instead stage the showpiece game in 2023.

Munich, originally scheduled to be the venue for the 2023 final, will now host the match in 2025 while London’s Wembley Stadium will retain the rights for the 2024 final.

Bilbao and Dublin, who were unable to stage matches at this year’s European Championship, agreed a settlement with the UEFA executive committee and will host the Europa League final in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

Bilbao will also host the women’s Champions League final in 2024.

“We were all disappointed when the COVID-19 pandemic saw the four UEFA EURO 2020 games moved away from Dublin so this really is something to look forward to just three years from now,” Football Association of Ireland chief executive Jonathan Hill said in a statement.

“The 2024 UEFA Europa League final will be a landmark event with huge economic benefits for Dublin and for Ireland along with the boost, it will give our game in the buildup to the final.”

Next year’s Europa league final will be played in Seville, with Budapest set to host the 2023 title decider for the second-tier European club tournament. — Reuters

Oosthuizen keeps his cool to retain Open lead

SANDWICH, England — South African Louis Oosthuizen held his nerve to lead the British Open by one shot after a gripping third round played out in bright sunshine at Royal St. George’s on Saturday.

Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open champion, had moved serenely to 13 under par with a birdie at the ninth hole before two bogeys, his second and third of the tournament, halted his progress.

Americans Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa joined him in a three-way tie for the lead but Oosthuizen then sank a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-three 16th to move back to the top of the leaderboard and carded a 69 to finish at 12 under.

“There’s lots of golf left, but it was so great with all the fans there,” Oosthuizen told reporters. “It felt like it was a Sunday afternoon really when I made the putt and I was taking the lead.

“I had a few loose swings before that on my iron shots and sort of needed that little boost and made a really good swing on 16 and a few good ones coming in.”

Oosthuizen, 38, has finished second in six major championships since his triumph at St. Andrews 11 years ago.

“A lead is not like you can just hang tight and just hit a few shots coming in,” he said. “You need to still play proper golf and place the ball really well to avoid bogeys.”

CLOSEST CHALLENGER
Morikawa emerged as Oosthuizen’s closest challenger, recovering from a poor start to collect four birdies and sign for a 68 that left him on 11 under.

“To be honest, you build a game plan and we see what we need to do all the way in the tournament and I stick to it,” he told reporters.

Morikawa won last year’s PGA Championship at the age of 23.

“Obviously, being in a final round at a major is different, but I’m going to try and keep it as similar as possible to every other tournament I’ve played,” he added.

Spieth, bidding to lift the Claret Jug for the second time, racked up four early birdies and another one at the 10th took him to 12 under.

The 27-year-old’s putter went cold on the back nine, however, a dropped shot at the 11th halting his momentum before he bogeyed the last two holes in a round of 69 to finish at nine under.

Canadian Corey Conners put together a sparkling 66 to get to eight under alongside American Scottie Scheffler, one ahead of Spain’s Jon Rahm, Canadian Mackenzie Hughes and South African Dylan Frittelli.

US Open champion Rahm eked out three birdies on the back nine in a battling 68.

“Really good round. Played good golf. Had some really good highlights,” the Spanish world number two told reporters.

American world number one Dustin Johnson’s challenge faded with a disappointing 73 that left him at four under, while his compatriot Brooks Koepka struggled to a patchy 72 and the four-times major champion ended at three under.

Defending champion Shane Lowry made a gutsy 69 to get to five under but the Irishman conceded he was probably too far behind the leaders to retain the title.

“I’m not sure I can win from here, but I’m proud of myself the way I battled.” Lowry told reporters.” — Reuters

Jrue Holiday’s turn

“The series doesn’t start until the road team wins” is a phrase so well worn in National Basketball Association circles as to be labeled a cliché. It also happens to be wrong; it smacks of disrespect of higher seeds who worked hard to claim home court advantage in the playoffs, as well as of the system itself set up to reward regular season performance. In the 2021 Finals, it was particularly dismissive of the efforts of both the Suns and the Bucks in protecting their turf; that the home squad won every game in the best-of-seven affair through the first four matches is a rarity reflective of their exertions.

To no one’s surprise, both protagonists gave their all in Game Five yesterday. The Suns struck early, buoyed by the 16,562-strong crowd at the newly minted Footprint Center; All-Star Devin Booker led the attack that put the hosts up by 16 after one quarter. The Bucks, however, clawed back promptly, managing to not just erase the deficit, but claim the advantage by three at the half and by double digits after three periods. And while the inevitable comeback kept scores close in the crunch, the visitors preserved the lead at the buzzer. Nope, the series didn’t just start as a result. But, yes, it may well end in the next outing.

As much as the offense seemed to claim the game for the Bucks, though, one stellar defensive stand again ensured the win. Two-time Most Valuable Player awardee Giannis Antetokounmpo made the decisive play in Game Four, and it was teammate Jrue Holiday’s turn yesterday. With 22 ticks left in the payoff period and the Suns down by one, Booker appeared to be the perfect candidate to frame the outcome. Looking to add to his 40 markets, he drove left to the lane against noted leech P.J. Tucker. As he stopped to pull up, the All-Defensive First Team member made a timely swipe from the weak side, and then consummated it in the ensuing possession with an outstanding pass for a clinching oop and and-one.

If there’s any silver lining for the Suns, it’s that they have an extra day to recover from the disappointing loss. The last two contests were close, but, unfortunately, they couldn’t close. Certainly, they have to be a little worried, having suffered three straight setbacks and needing to win in Game Six just to extend the series. Yesterday, all the stars showed up, and they wound up being on the short end of the stick — in the process wasting a second consecutive 40-point tally from Booker. Of course, if anyone can keep spirits high, it’s head coach Monty Williams; not for nothing was he voted by his peers as Coach of the Year. In any case, they have no choice. They need to win if they don’t want to go home. Period.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

‘Long COVID’ fears grow in UK as curbs end and Delta surges

REUTERS/HANNAH MCKAY
People embrace each other by the National COVID Memorial wall beside St Thomas’ hospital in London, United Kingdom, April 8, 2021. — REUTERS/HANNAH MCKAY

FOR ABOUT 1 million people across the UK coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) didn’t just go away. Instead, it lingered, causing exhaustion, shortness of breath, cognitive issues and other health problems.

With England preparing to lift virtually all restrictions even as infections are surging again, scientists are concerned that the numbers impacted by what has become known as “long COVID” will climb much higher.

In a bid to understand more, the UK’s National Institute for Health Research on Sunday announced about 20 million pounds ($27.5 million) in funding for 15 studies analyzing the causes of long COVID and its physical and mental health impacts.

Britain’s rapid immunization campaign has fully vaccinated 53.2% of the UK population, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker, prompting the government to declare that the link between infections and hospitalizations has been “weakened.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson says people must learn to live with coronavirus.

But millions still remain vulnerable, and those who have endured symptoms for weeks, months — or more than a year — say the long COVID threat is being overlooked as policy makers focus on headline figures of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

As the more contagious delta variant spreads, other countries attempting to manage the next phase of their pandemic will likely find themselves facing a similar dilemma.

BEDRIDDEN BY COVID
“When the government talks about opening up, there have been no references to long COVID,” said Christina Barratt, a 51-year-old ex-sales manager in Manchester who first experienced COVID symptoms in late March 2020.

Prioritizing vaccination for vulnerable older age groups means a lower percentage of young Britons have had their shots in time for the ending of curbs. That concerns Ms. Barratt. “Young people feel invincible but this can really happen to anyone,” she said.

Ms. Barratt said she was bedridden for months after contracting COVID, at times so weak she couldn’t roll over or move. Sometimes, she said, it felt like she was comatose even though she was awake. During this time Ms. Barratt lost her job and has since faced new symptoms, including numbness, pins and needles and chronic fatigue.

For Ms. Barratt, one of the biggest difficulties is communicating her plight to others, including doctors and even family and friends. “The illness becomes part of who you are,” she said.

While the government has defended its plan, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said cases could reach as high as 100,000 per day and England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty warned that there could be an increase in long COVID, especially in younger people. The UK on Friday held out the possibility of restoring some restrictions later in the year.

LONG-TERM FEARS
The UK strategy has been sharply criticized. More than 120 scientists co-signed a letter in the Lancet medical journal on July 7, warning that rising infections could leave hundreds of thousands of people with illness and disability “for decades to come.” International experts joined their British counterparts online to sound a further warning on July 16.

An estimated 962,000 people, or 1.5% of the population, have experienced self-reported long COVID symptoms in the UK, according to data from the Office for National Statistics published earlier this month. More than a third of those said they’ve suffered for more than a year.

Separately, an Imperial College London study published in June found that 38% of people who caught the virus reported one or more symptoms lasting at least 12 weeks. Researchers estimated that, overall, more than 2 million adults in England may have had long COVID so far.

The funding announced on Sunday will help explore the broad range of long COVID symptoms, studying everything from the oxygen absorbed by the lungs to brain function to the level of care and support that should be provided.

The prevalence of the condition known as “brain fog” is one of dozens of symptoms that experts say justify calls for a national screening program. Dennis Chan, a principal research fellow at University College London, pointed to the way viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, affect the brain.

“We have never seen anything like this in terms of the sheer scale,” Mr. Chan said in a briefing with reporters.

Meanwhile, new cases of long COVID seems to be on the rise. The ZOE COVID Study estimates there are currently 500 new cases of long COVID a day in the UK among unvaccinated people.

“Vaccines have massively reduced severe infections and post-vaccination COVID is a much milder disease for most people,” Tim Spector, lead scientist on the study and a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London said. “The main concern is now the risk of long COVID.” — Bloomberg

Thailand expands lockdown areas as COVID-19 cases rise

REUTERS

BANGKOK — Thailand on Sunday announced an expansion of coronavirus restrictions that include travel curbs, mall closures and a night-time curfew to three more provinces after the country reported a third consecutive day of record case numbers.

The country reported 11,397 infections and 101 deaths on Sunday, bringing the cumulative total to 403,386 cases and 3,341 fatalities, the vast majority from an outbreak since early April that is being fueled by the highly transmissible Alpha and Delta COVID-19 variants.

Shopping malls will be closed and a 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew will be imposed from Tuesday onwards in Chonburi, Ayutthaya and Chachoengsao provinces, an announcement on the official Royal Gazette on Sunday showed.

Bangkok and nine other provinces have already been under these restrictions, the toughest in more than a year, since last Monday, as the country battles its longest-running and most severe outbreak so far.

The government earlier said it was planning to introduce more restrictions on movement as the surging number of cases, which continue to rise despite the partial lockdowns in high-risk areas, had stretched healthcare capacity and health officials warned that the severe outbreak could continue for months. — Reuters

US accuses Iran of trying to deflect blame for nuclear talks impasse

PIXABAY

WASHINGTON/CAIRO — The United States on Saturday accused Tehran of an “outrageous” effort to deflect blame for the impasse in Iran nuclear talks and denied that any agreement had been reached on a prisoner swap.

Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, said earlier on Twitter that the next round of negotiations in Vienna must wait until the new Iranian administration takes office in August but insisted that a prisoner exchange could take place quickly if the United States and Britain would stop linking it with the nuclear issue.

Indirect US-Iranian talks on reviving the 2015 deal have been on hold since the last round ended on June 20, and Araqchi’s comments confirmed that Tehran will not return to the table before President-elect Ebrahim Raisi takes over.

“We’re in a transition period as a democratic transfer of power is under way in our capital. Vienna talks must thus obviously await our new administration,” he tweeted.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said: “These comments are an outrageous effort to deflect blame for the current impasse.” “We stand ready to return to Vienna to complete work on a mutual return to the JCPOA once Iran has made the necessary decisions,” Mr. Price said, referring to diplomatic efforts to get both countries back to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

That is the nuclear accord that former President Donald Trump abandoned and his successor, President Joseph R. Biden, seeks to revive.

Mr. Araqchi also urged the United States and Britain to stop linking any exchange of prisoners with the nuclear deal. “Ten prisoners on all sides may be released tomorrow if US&UK fulfil their part of a deal,” he said.

In response, Mr. Price said: “With respect to the comments on the Americans whom Iran has unjustly held against their will, we see just another cruel effort to raise the hopes of their families … There is no agreed deal yet.”

“We had been engaged in indirect talks on the detainees in the context of the Vienna process, and the delay in restarting that process is not helping,” Mr. Price added. “While it would be more effective to make progress if we were meeting in Vienna, we are also prepared to continue with talks on detainees during this period.”

Iran, which is holding a handful of Iranian-Americans, has been accused by rights activists of arresting dual nationals to try to extract a concession from other countries. Iran has dismissed the charge.

Iran said earlier this week that it was holding talks on securing the release of Iranian prisoners in American jails and other countries over violations of US sanctions.

In May, Washington denied a report by Iranian state television that the countries had reached a prisoner swap deal in exchange for the release of $7 billion in frozen Iranian oil funds under US sanctions in other countries.

The hiatus in nuclear talks, which US and European officials attribute to hard-line Mr. Raisi’s election, has raised questions about next steps if the talks hit a dead end. — Reuters

How fashion entrepreneurs can stand out in e-commerce 

By Patricia Mirasol 

Future-facing brands put customer experience first. A 2021 Shopify Plus report on the fashion industry noted that “sticky” brands with loyal customers are agile in how they deliver their customer experience — whether that’s aligning themselves to a social cause, meeting customers where they are, or hiring influencers to represent their brand on social media. 

The Canadian enterprise e-commerce platform also noted that the global e-commerce segment of fashion and apparel will grow at a compound annual rate of 10.6% until 2022. 

Fashion entrepreneurs can have a slice of this pie by differentiating their brand, finding reliable partners, and strengthening ties with their customer base, said Sabina L. Vergara, chief commercial officer of Ninja Van Philippines, a logistics and courier company. 

“Despite the uncertainties ahead, now is a good time to do your due diligence and plan how to position your online fashion store for new shopping habits and established retail behaviors,” she told BusinessWorld in an e-mail interview. “Focus on what’s under your control: your product, the shopping experience, and fast shipping with a good delivery partner.” 

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
One social cause that has emerged strong from the coronavirus pandemic is the “buy less, buy better” attitude toward fashion. 

Analytics firm Kantar, which identified shopping trends for 2021, found that 75% of Filipino shoppers seek out brands that offer ways to offset their environmental impact. Red Havas, the public relations arm of communications agency Havas Ortega, also found eco-activism to have gained traction this year, especially among Gen Zs who try to lessen their impact on the environment by buying local and reusing rather than repurchasing. 

The resurgence of thrift shops among local Instagram accounts is a manifestation of this trend. 

Another draw for Filipino online shoppers is free shipping, Ms. Vergara said. A 2020 Twitter report on Filipino online shopping habits found that free parcel delivery was the leading driver of purchase decisions, compelling 67% of Pinoy shoppers to make a purchase. 

Microentrepreneurs who cannot afford free shipping could provide discount vouchers on a customer’s next purchase, said Ms. Vergara. “They may also try using a cashback promotional strategy, or providing an extra 5-10% off offer for mailing list subscribers and repeat customers,” she added. “This provides the opportunity for microentrepreneurs to strengthen their ties with current customers.” 

A third consideration, Ms. Vergara told BusinessWorld, is flexible payment modes. “We observe that nine out of 10 deliveries are still cash-on delivery items. Customers prefer to see their orders before parting with their cash,” she said. “Cash on delivery is still the preferred method at the moment and probably in the foreseeable future.” 

BRAND DIFFERENTIATION
Brands will also do well to invest in social media, as fashion and social media are a match made in e-commerce heaven, as per a March 2021 Shopify Plus article. An effective marketing strategy, the article added, is leveraging product-centric content with mainstream influencer marketing and micro-influencers. 

“With Filipinos spending so much time on their smartphones, memes have become the currency of viral marketing in the country,” Ms. Vergara said. “The more meme-able your marketing strategy is, the better.” 

Entrepreneurs can differentiate and showcase their brands through the e-commerce features social media platforms have created, such as Facebook Shops, Buyable Pins, and Instagram Shops. These allow users to visit a brand’s profile, browse through the products, and buy items from within the platform. 

Examples of Filipino retailers that have taken advantage of Instagram Shops are Sole Academy, Commonwealth, and Beyond the Beach. 

Ms. Vergara also advised leveraging TikTok for organic content marketing. 

“Clothes sellers can make… video-style TikTok videos showing how your items look and fit in real life,” said Ms. Vergara. “If you design accessories, walk viewers through your design and manufacturing process.” 

Those who have no resources for manufacturing, meanwhile, may avail of white label products — or generic, mass-manufactured goods that are sold to resellers — and then customize them with their logo and brand colors. 

RELIABLE PARTNERSHIPS
Setting up shop on social media for free has been made possible by the C2C model (or the business model where customers can trade with each other). Although this model is limited to microentrepreneurs as it deals with smaller and less frequent deliveries, Ms. Vergara advised looking for an e-commerce logistics partner that can handle on-demand and scheduled deliveries. An ideal logistics partner, she added, is one with services that can scale and keep up with a brand’s growth. 

With e-commerce competition getting fierce, and customer expectations continually being reshaped by real-time services, fulfillment speed is a piece of the customer service jigsaw that can help a brand stand out.

Australia, under lockdown, reports slight dip in COVID-19 cases

SYDNEY – Australia’s two largest states on Sunday reported slight declines in new COVID-19 infections, prompting authorities to say it could be days before tough lockdown measures showed progress in containing the spread of the Delta variant.

The country’s most populous city, Sydney, and all of Victoria state – totaling nearly half the 25 million national population – are under stay-home orders after a flare-up of the highly infectious virus strain began last month.

New South Wales (NSW) state, of which Sydney is the capital, reported 105 new cases in the previous day, down from 111 the day before, while Victoria logged 16 new cases, down from 19.

NSW also recorded an additional death from the virus, taking the total to four since the start of the year and the national total to 914 since the pandemic began.

“Working together we will start to see those numbers nudge, and are throwing all of our resources and efforts to making that happen,” said NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian at a televised news conference.

“We want to make sure that we allow families and businesses in particular to bounce back as soon as we can and that is why we are throwing everything at it in the next two weeks.”

A day earlier, Berejiklian tightened restrictions on the city of five million people, including a shutdown of all building and property maintenance works and bans on some 600,000 people in the worst-affected suburbs from leaving their immediate neighbourhood for work.

The construction shutdown would mean up to 500,000 people were unable to work, local media reported, including those involved with major civil works projects, although the government says workers who are stood down will still receive wages via relief payments.

Of particular concern to authorities is the number of infectious people circulating in the community before being diagnosed, which stood at 27 on Sunday, roughly in line with recent days. Berejiklian said it appeared unlikely the number would be near zero by a July 30 target in order to lift restrictions.

She added that the number would likely begin falling in five days “because there is a lag in the data” and that she would not rule out changing restrictions further.

Neighbouring Victoria, with 7 million people under a five-day lockdown scheduled to end on Tuesday, said all 16 new cases were linked to known chains of transmission.

“It is unfolding as we had hoped it would but that is not to say that any extra case is good news,” said Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews.

“It is too early for us to determine whether we will be able to come out of this lockdown at midnight on Tuesday,” he added, noting that one of the new cases was in a country town 540 km (335 miles) from Melbourne, indicating rapid geographic spread.

Australia avoided the high infection and fatality numbers of many other countries in the initial stages of the pandemic due to swift border restrictions, stay-home orders and economic stimulus.

But a year and a half on, the federal government is under pressure due a sluggish vaccine rollout, blamed by some experts on changing regulatory advice for the AstraZeneca vaccine and limited supply of the Pfizer Inc drug.

Just over 10% of Australia’s 25 million people are fully vaccinated, a fraction of the rates in the United States and Britain. – Reuters

Thai youth activists to go ahead with protest despite gatherings ban

BANGKOK – Thai youth activists vowed to stage a protest on Sunday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, despite a nation-wide ban on public gatherings imposed by the government amid surging coronavirus cases.

Youth-led demonstrations last year attracted hundreds of thousands of people across the country, but their momentum has stalled after authorities began cracking down on rallies and detaining protest leaders, and after new waves of COVID-19 infections broke out.

Last year protests also broke traditional taboos by openly criticizing the king, an offence under the country’s strict lese majeste law that makes insulting or defaming the king, queen, heir and regent punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Most of the protest leaders who were detained have been released on bail and some took part in anti-government protests last month.

“We have to drive out Prayuth even if my bail is revoked,” said one protest leader, Arnon Nampa, ahead of the planned Sunday march from Democracy Monument to Government House in Bangkok.

The protest will also mark the one-year anniversary of the first large-scale street protests led by youth groups demanding Prayuth resign, a new constitution and a major reform to the monarchy.

The Thai government has earlier imposed a new nationwide ban on public gatherings of more than five people which carries a maximum penalty of a two-year jail term or a fine of up to 40,000 baht ($1,220), or both.

The country reported a third straight day of record new cases on Sunday.

Police urged people not to join the protest and warned that those who breached the law and cause unrest will face charges.

Street protests against the prime minister have been held in recent weeks by several groups, including Prayuth’s former political allies, as frustrations grow over the mounting wave of infections and prolonged pandemic damage to the economy. – Reuters

S.Korea to airlift troops from COVID-stricken anti-piracy ship

SEOUL – South Korea will airlift all troops from a ship on anti-piracy patrol in the Middle East, the Ministry of Defense said on Sunday, while a replacement team will steer the vessel back home after dozens of soldiers on board tested positive for the coronavirus.

South Korea, once cited as a success story for keeping COVID under control, is battling record infections as the more transmissible Delta variant spreads throughout the country after prompting a semi-lockdown in the Seoul area.

Two aerial tankers will depart for the Middle East later on Sunday, the ministry said, confirming that 61 additional troops on the ship had tested positive for the virus following media reports of seven cases.

The government had said on Thursday it would send a medical team to address the outbreak on the vessel.

But worries mounted that the outbreak could be much worse and require more drastic action. Yonhap News Agency said the Joint Chiefs of Staff had received only 101 results from PCR tests of the more than 300 service members on board, while the rest may be disclosed in coming hours.

South Korea reported 1,454 new coronavirus cases for Saturday, bringing the cumulative cases at home to 177,951 and total deaths to 2,057. Little more than 30% of South Korea’s 52 million people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. – Reuters

U.S. tech companies disappointed with DACA ruling, urge Congress to act

TRUSTPAIR.COM

Some U.S. tech companies expressed disappointment with a ruling by a federal judge that blocked new applications to a program that protects immigrants who were brought to the United States as children from deportation.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen on Friday sided with a group of states suing to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, arguing that it was illegally created by former President Barack Obama in 2012.

“We have long argued in support of this program, filing an amicus brief in this case, and we are very disappointed by the decision (from the judge)”, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said.

“Dreamers and immigrants make the United States — and Twitter — better”, a spokesperson from social media platform Twitter said in an emailed statement.

Twitter, Google, Microsoft and Photoshop maker Adobe urged the U.S. Congress to come together to protect Dreamers, with Google saying they wanted DACA to be “cemented” into law.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said that the “disappointing” ruling created “uncertainty yet again for Dreamers.”

The judge ruled on Friday that the program violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when it was created but said that since there were so many people currently enrolled in the program – nearly 650,000 – his ruling would be temporarily stayed for their cases and their renewal applications.

Mr. Biden, who was vice president when Obama created the program, has said he wants to create a permanent pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients, known as “Dreamers.”

On Saturday, Mr. Biden vowed to preserve the program that protects from deportation hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, promising to appeal the judge’s ruling invalidating it and urging Congress to provide a path to citizenship. – Reuters

Facebook says it should not be blamed for U.S. failing to meet vaccine goals

REUTERS

WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) – Facebook on Saturday defended itself against U.S. President Joe Biden’s assertion that the social media platform is “killing people” by allowing misinformation about coronavirus vaccines to proliferate, saying the facts tell a different story.

“The data shows that 85% of Facebook users in the US have been or want to be vaccinated against COVID-19,” Facebook said in a corporate blog post by Guy Rosen, a company vice president. “President Biden’s goal was for 70% of Americans to be vaccinated by July 4. Facebook is not the reason this goal was missed.”

COVID-19 misinformation has spread during the pandemic on social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc-owned YouTube. Researchers and lawmakers have long accused Facebook of failing to police harmful content on its platforms.

“They’re killing people. … Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they’re killing people,” Mr. Biden told reporters at the White House on Friday when asked about misinformation and what his message was to social media platforms such as Facebook.

The company has introduced rules against making specific false claims about COVID-19 and vaccines for it, and says it provides people with reliable information on these topics.

The Delta variant of the coronavirus is now the dominant strain worldwide, accompanied by a surge of deaths around the United States almost entirely among unvaccinated people, U.S. officials said on Friday.

American cases of COVID-19  are up 70% over the previous week and deaths are up 26%, with outbreaks occurring in parts of the country with low vaccination rates. – Reuters

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