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Trevor Story’s Red Sox Deal Nearly Fell Apart Over Vaccine Concerns

Sports Illustrated reported:

Star shortstop Trevor Story’s six-year, $140 million contract with the Red Sox was a critical move for Boston to keep pace with the defending American League East champion Rays and the retooled Blue Jays. Leading up to the completion of the deal, though, the whole thing reportedly almost fell apart over a key issue: Story’s vaccination status.

Story was hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, which led to a three-day wait between reports of the agreement and Story’s official introduction as a member of the team Wednesday. Story finally agreed to get vaccinated Tuesday, paving the way for the deal to go through.

Story’s decision is part of the team’s larger effort to get its players vaccinated. Several Red Sox players were hesitant to get the vaccine over the past year, including All-Star shortstop and catcher Kevin Plawecki, who noted the risk of being unavailable for games in 2022 — particularly in Toronto, where unvaccinated players will be ineligible.

POLITICO-Harvard poll: 40 Percent of Parents Believe Masks at School Harmed Their Kids

Politico reported:

A significant percentage of parents whose children wore masks in school during the last year believe it harmed their education, social interactions and mental health, according to a POLITICO-Harvard survey.

According to the survey, more than 4 in 10 believe mask-wearing harmed their children’s overall scholastic experience, compared to 11 percent who said it helped. Nearly half of parents said masks made no difference.

Forty-six percent of parents said mask-wearing hurt their child’s social learning and interactions, and 39 percent told pollsters it affected their child’s mental and emotional health.

Yankees, Mets Owners Pressed NYC Mayor to Lift Vaccine Mandate: Report

The Hill reported:

The heads of New York City baseball teams the Mets and Yankees pressed Mayor Eric Adams (D) to lift the city’s vaccine mandate for performers and athletes ahead of his decision this week to do so,  according to The New York Times.

Yankees president Randy Levine spoke with Adams’ administration about baseball being an outdoor sport and thus less dangerous for the spread of the novel coronavirus, The Times reported. And Steven Cohen, the owner of the Mets, has paid $10,000 per month to a lobbying firm to push on several issues, including COVID-19 protocols.

Adams, a Mets fan, told The Times he spoke to sports teams about the issue, but emphasized he had not been lobbied.

International Airlines Are Dropping Mask Mandates. Are U.S. Carriers Next?

The Washington Post reported:

As many countries lift coronavirus restrictions and entry rules for travelers, some international airlines are also easing requirements for the journey.

Dutch airline KLM will no longer enforce a face mask requirement onboard starting this week, despite government rules in the Netherlands, along with other carriers. The Netherlands lifted its mask mandate for public transit Wednesday, but it still requires them for air travel.

Last week, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways also announced plans to drop their mask requirements, after Jet2 became the first British airline to remove the requirement. The British government lifted mandates on transportation in February.

Army Discharges Another 24 Soldiers for Refusing the Coronavirus Vaccine

Stars and Stripes reported:

The Army has now discharged 27 soldiers for refusing the order to receive the mandatory coronavirus vaccination, the service announced Thursday. The Army announced last week that the first three soldiers were separated from the service for refusing the vaccine. In a weekly update about the vaccination status of the force, another 24 soldiers were listed has kicked out for refusing the vaccine.

As of Thursday, 694 soldiers have requested permanent medical exemptions with 664 denied and 20 approved. For permanent religious exemptions, 4,034 soldiers have made requests. Of those, 770 were denied while two were approved.

However, 2,735 soldiers are still refusing the vaccine, and 3,275 official written reprimands have been issued related to those refusals. Army commanders have relieved six Army leaders, including two battalion commanders.

Masks Back up at UCSD Health as COVID Signals Surge in San Diego Wastewater

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported:

Less than a week after operating in the least-restrictive “low prevalence” level of its new normal plan, UC San Diego Health told employees Thursday that some restrictions will return immediately due to a surge in the amount of virus recently detected in local wastewater.

Dr. Christopher Longhurst, the health system’s medical director, said that experts gathered Thursday and deemed the increase statistically significant enough to take action, especially given that the upper bound for operations at the lowest level of precaution is 1 million viruses per liter.

The biggest change is for thousands of non-clinical health system workers who were able to take their masks off for the first time in some time as the new operating plan took effect Monday. But now that operations have shifted up one level of severity, those masks will have to go back up.

China Doesn’t Have a COVID Exit Plan. Two Years in, People Are Fed up and Angry.

CNN World reported:

For two years, people in China have largely tolerated living under some of the world’s most stringent COVID-19 controls.

Restricted borders, constant digital tracking, and the potential for mass testing and snap lockdowns whenever a handful of cases appeared were all trade-offs for a comparatively COVID-free life while the pandemic raged overseas.

But China’s inability to bring its latest outbreak under control so far has prompted online rumblings from frustrated citizens, as questions about Beijing’s zero-COVID strategy break into the mainstream for the first time.

China’s TikTok Is Russia’s New Disinformation Machine

Newsweek reported:

China’s TikTok app is the world’s most powerful social media platform. Is Beijing now using it to spread Russian disinformation on Ukraine? Two media watchdog organizations suggest the Chinese state is in fact doing so. According to Tracking Exposed, the Chinese video-sharing app is censoring content in Russia on an “unprecedented scale for a global social media platform,” blocking 95 percent of content previously available to Russian users.

TikTok said on March 6 it was responding to Russia’s new “fake news” law when it suspended live-streaming and uploads of new content by Russian users. But Tracking Exposed said TikTok’s actions go “above and beyond what is required in response to the Russian ‘fake news’ law.”

The Chinese app is leaving space for Kremlin-controlled information. “With these recent changes, TikTok runs the risk of effectively converting itself into a propaganda channel for the Kremlin,” Tracking Exposed said.

Meta Investing $800 Million in New Kansas City Data Center

Fox Business reported:

Facebook parent Meta Platforms will invest $800 million in a nearly 1-million square foot hyperscale data center in Kansas City, Missouri.

The data center will be located in the city’s 5.5 million-square-foot data center campus, Golden Plains Technology Park, and is expected to support more than 1,300 jobs at peak construction and up to 100 operational jobs when it comes online in 2024.

The move comes as the tech giant ramps up its efforts to build the metaverse, a computer-generated environment where users can interact with each other in virtual reality.

Amazon, Facebook and Google All Keep Track of Your Habits. Here’s How to Keep Your Info Safe Online.

USA TODAY reported:

Your device says a lot about you: Your pastimes, your taste in music, your curiosities and the things you shop for. So how do you maintain your privacy online, even with the people who are closest to you?

Here are a few simple tricks to help you keep your secrets under wraps. (Note: Apps and websites do not always work the same across all devices and operating systems. If something isn’t located in the menus precisely as I say, look around for a similar action.)

Teens Arrested in Hack of Microsoft and Okta but Haven’t Been Charged

Gizmodo reported:

Police in London has arrested seven young people between the ages of 16 and 21 for allegedly hacking Microsoft and Okta under the hacker group name LAPSUS$. All seven people have been released and none have been formally charged with a crime. At least not yet.

The LAPSUS$ hacking group recently took credit for hacking Microsoft, posting source code to Cortana and Bing. And earlier this week the same group boasted on its Telegram channel that it had infiltrated Okta, a claim that was partially true but wildly inflated.

EU Is One Step Closer to Reigning in Apple, Google and Other Tech Giants

TechRadar reported:

The European Union has laid out its plans for the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will mainly target messaging apps to offer a better choice for users, and could have big repercussions for tech giants like Apple and Google.

According to the European Union, its regulators agreed on new rules to the act, such as targeting companies that have over 45 million users, and have a market cap value of $82 billion / £62 billion / AU$ 109 billion.

If these companies were to break a rule in the DMA, they could be fined up to 10% of their total worldwide turnover at that time, alongside an additional 20% if further rules are repeatedly broken.

This could be the start of a slippery slope for Apple, Google, and other vendors.