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At the opening of this weeks New South Wales parliamentary committee hearing into the governments response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Labors Penny Sharpe put a simple question to the states chief health officer.

On what date, she asked Dr Kerry Chant, did the states public health team start preparing advice in relation to locking down parts of Sydney?

Its just one of the many questions that continue to bubble about how NSW, the state so often lauded as the gold standard of Covid management in Australia, mishandled an outbreak so badly.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian may be more focused on the path out of lockdown with promises of eased restrictions in September and October for the vaccinated, but her government continues to be dogged by questions about how they lost control of the outbreak.

Many of those questions spring from what happened in the days between the first recorded case of the Delta strain in Sydneys eastern suburbs, on 16 June, and the decision to lock down seven local government areas 10 days later. In those critical early days of the outbreak, were there missed warning signs and could the government have done more to avoid what has become a daily horror show of growing case numbers, more deaths and new outbreaks across regional areas?

When the committee met on Tuesday, NSW marked its worst day of the pandemic, with 356 new cases. By the end of the week it had beaten that mark: the 390 new cases on Friday meant the state had recorded more than 1,700 cases in a five-day period.

The number of deaths linked to the outbreak also grew to 38, including two men aged in their 20s and 30s. The list of regional cities and towns subject to lockdowns also continued to grow, with particular concern around outbreaks in Dubbo and Walgett, where local health authorities said on Friday the vast majority of cases were Indigenous.

At the same time, premier Gladys Berejiklians suggestion that restrictions could begin to ease once vaccine rates reached just 50% or 60% prompted a furious response from other premiers who have clung to the notion of keeping the virus entirely out of the community.

The Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, who has staked his political reputation on keeping his state entirely free of the virus, accused NSW of risking the lives of their citizens [and] everyone else. The state, he said, did not have the backbone to do what is required.

Whether McGowans insistence on a Covid-zero approach is helpful or even grounded in reality, the questions about whether NSW missed opportunities to quash the outbreak early on remain unanswered.

In the hearing this week, both Chant, the chief medical officer, and health minister Brad Hazzard explained that in the days following the outbreak they had discussed the feasibility of a localised lockdown in the citys eastern suburbs, a tactic which had worked in controlling the Northern Beaches outbreak in December last year.

What they had not factored in, Chant said, was that a party in West Hoxton, in the citys western suburbs, had turned into a seeding event which would mark the beginning of the end for NSWs control of the outbreak: on 29 June, more than a week after cases linked to the party were discovered, NSW Health announced that about 10 more people than initially believed had been at the event.

It was thought that cluster had actually been identified very early but there were issues around containment of that which were not appreciated, Chant told the hearing.

Obviously, with the benefit of hindsight, there are different decisions that can be made, but just be reassured that we were looking very closely at all elements of the response in terms of the recommendations to government about the controls at the time.

And yet, the question of when health authorities first recommended the state enter lockdown remained unanswered. In response to Sharpes question, Chant first rattled off a list of things the government had done in the days after the first case was recorded.

Then this: [the advice] would have been on the ... I would haver to check when they it would have been around the government acted quickly when we recommended those actions to the government on the days described.

When Sharpe asked again, Hazzard, interrupted: You have an expectation that some document appears, he told Sharpe. No, it doesnt. Its a moving feast.

And Dr Chant is expressing the concerns raised by her public health team, its not just her, she has another 12 public health teams so theres a constant discussion going on about what is happening as cases are rolling in.

Quite what the states public health teams, and Chant, were telling the government in those 10 days remains unclear, but multiple sources have told Guardian Australia that the option of an earlier lockdown was at least canvassed among the public health officials who report to Chant.

While the committee eventually learned from Chant that the first formal, written advice to plunge Sydney into lockdown came on the same day the announcement was made 25 June both she and Hazzard were less forthcoming about what those daily discussions might have looked like.

We were talking about all options right through it is not a case of, Well, today is the day we are going to talk about lockdown, Hazzard said on Tuesday.

All Chant would offer was that there would have been a range of discussions with [Hazzard].

In the hearing, Hazzard was asked whether the state budget, released before the lockdown on 22 June, had been a factor in delaying the announcement, a belief that has been the subject of rampant speculation even among some Coalition MPs.

In the middle of that 10-day period the state budget was handed down, it was considered to be a celebration that New South Wales had been exceptional in not locking down. Was the messaging around the budget any part of the thinking in not ordering a lockdown in that period? committee chair David Shoebridge, a Greens MP, asked.

No, never, Hazzard responded. I can give you a 2,000% guarantee on that. We do not think about those things.

In any case, the pressure on NSW will continue to mount both internally and from outside the closed-up borders. Ahead of a national cabinet meeting on Friday the ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, was asked about Berejiklians ambitions to begin easing elements of the restrictions once vaccination markers were hit at around 50% or 60%.

As the ACT grapples with its first cases of Covid-19 since July last year, Barr said that while he was comforted by Berejiklians reassurances that those relaxations would only be minor, he was troubled by media reports suggesting the state would take a more aggressive stance on living with the virus before widespread vaccination.

It worries me that there is this speculation and suggestion in the media that thats whats going on, thats got to come from somewhere theres someone backgrounding and its really, really concerning and alarming, he said.

With the benefit of hindsight I would hope it would have been a different approach but it is what it is now and its really what happens now that is the most important thing.

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The missing 10 days: did NSW squander the chance to head off its Delta nightmare? - The Guardian Australia

O, Canada: Penn will acquire one of Canadas biggest sports betting platforms theScore in a $2 ... [+] billion deal.

Penn National Gaming will acquire Toronto-based Score Media and Gaming, which runs sports betting platform theScore, for $2 billion.

Penn National, which announced the deal on Thursday, will pay Score Media shareholders $34 per share in a mix of stock and cash. Score Media shareholders will receive $17 in cash per share and 0.2398 shares of Penn National common stock for each Score share. Once the transaction is complete, Penn National will own approximately 93% of Score Media and Gamings outstanding shares while Score shareholders will keep 7%.

Jay Snowden, president and chief executive of Penn National, says theScore will complement the companys investments in sports betting. In January 2020, Penn bought a 36% stake in sports media publisher Barstool Sports for $163 million and it has since spun out a Barstool Sportsbook betting app in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Illinois. Through the acquisition of theScore, Penn will get the companys 4 million daily active users, one third of which are in Canada, where sports betting is limited to parlay bets, and two thirds of theScores users are in the U.S. across Colorado, Indiana, Iowa and New Jersey.

Score Media, unlike Penn, has developed all of its gaming platform technology in-house. Snowden said that in-house technology is the missing piece for Penn to be operating at what he describes as industry-leading margins because it will be able to terminate its contracts with third party technology platforms.

Importantly, the transaction provides us with a path to full control of our own tech stack, says Snowden. TheScore has developed a state-of-the-art player account management system and is finalizing the development of an in-house managed risk and trading service platform.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is currently expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.

Penns stock is up over 9% today and Score Media and Gamings stock price is up a whopping 80%.

Penn National said it will fund half of the transaction$1 billionthrough cash on its balance sheet.

Score Media was started by its chief executive, John Levy, in 2012 after he sold his cable TV channel for $131 million to Rogers Communications. Levys son, Benjie, is the companys COO. The older Levy, according to public filings, owns approximately 18% of the companys shares, which are worth more than $300 million, according to terms of the transaction with Penn. The Levy family will continue to operate theScore.

Chad Beynon, an analyst at Macquarie Capital, says its a good deal for Penn.

I think what Penn is buying is a pretty solid front-row ticket to be a major player in Canada, says Beynon.

Beynon adds that Penn is also getting a sizable user base in the U.S., although theScore only has about 1% of the market in each of the four states in which it is currently operating.

But in mobile gambling, customer acquisition is key. It costs roughly $500 to acquire one customer and if a platform can retain them for six months, itll start turning a profit on each user.

You do that mathPenn essentially paid market rates for these customers, and on top of that, they got the technology synergies and a Canadian beachhead, Beynon says.

Excerpt from:
Penn National To Acquire Score Media And Gaming For $2 Billion - Forbes

Ebrahim Raisi was sworn into office as Irans new president on Thursday, consolidating the power of conservatives who now control all branches of the Islamic Republics government and are set to pursue a harder line in foreign and domestic policies.

Mr. Raisi, 60, a protg of Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, won a low-turnout election in June that had been orchestrated to prevent any credible opponent particularly any moderate from running. He is seen as Mr. Khameneis choice to succeed him as supreme leader in a system where a small group of Shiite clerics, not elected officials, hold the ultimate power.

The inauguration ceremony, at the Parliament in Tehran, took place amid very heavy security and ample pomp, with more than 100 foreign dignitaries arriving in luxury cars, a military band playing the national anthem and the capital city shut down.

Irans backing of militant groups around the Middle East and its support of the Syrian government have been a point of contention with neighbors and Western powers. Yet Mr. Raisi struck a defiant tone, praising Irans regional policies as a stabilizing force in the region and condemning foreign intervention in Iranian affairs.

The policy of pressure and sanctions will not make the Iranian people give up on their rights, including the right to development, Mr. Raisi said. The sanctions must be lifted. We will support any diplomatic plan that supports this goal.

He pledged to get international sanctions lifted, improve ties with neighboring countries and unite his countrys political factions. But Mr. Raisi has not offered a concrete plan to resolve such problems.

After six rounds of talks in Vienna with world powers that were aimed at reviving the 2015 accord that restricted Irans nuclear program, the negotiations are now at a standstill and it is not clear when they might resume.

Saudi Arabia, Irans regional nemesis, shunned an invitation to attend the inauguration, and prominent figures from rival reformist and centrist political parties were absent from the ceremony as well.

As Mr. Raisi, a former chief of the Iranian judiciary, sets out to engage with the world, accusations of human rights violations will shadow him.

International rights groups say that he was part of a four-person committee that ordered the execution of 5,000 political dissidents in 1988. Critics of Irans government, including opposition figures and human rights activists, have called for the international community to shun him.

But diplomacy with Iran is not off the table, both the United States and the European Union have said, because the Biden administration and European leaders say that reviving the 2015 nuclear deal remains the best option for curbing Irans nuclear ambitions.

After President Donald J. Trump exited the agreement in 2018, Iran has ramped up its uranium enrichment, fueling fears that it could develop a nuclear weapon. The 2015 deal had been reached under Mr. Raisis predecessor, Hassan Rouhani, a more moderate politician who defeated Mr. Raisi in the 2017 election, and it is not yet clear if the change in government will mean a shift in Tehrans negotiating stance.

The European Union sent a senior delegation to the inauguration that included Enrique Mora, one of the coordinators of the nuclear talks. Senior officials from Russia, South Korea, Turkey, Oman, Armenia and the Vatican were also in attendance, as were leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanons Hezbollah. Some used the opportunity to hold talks with Iranian officials on the sidelines of the ceremony.

Mr. Raisi has not officially announced the names of cabinet ministers, but a list leaked to local media indicates that key posts like the foreign, defense, intelligence and interior ministries will be offered to men with deep ties to the intelligence and security apparatus and affiliations with the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps. Mr. Raisi said he would submit his proposed list to Parliament after the inauguration; the Parliament speaker said it would be approved by early next week.

Raisis presidency is very much the rise and dominance of the military and security branch of the Islamic Republic and the retreat of the technocrats and moderate voices, said Nader Hashemi, the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver.

Mr. Raisis most immediate crisis involves tensions with Israel. An Israeli-managed oil tanker was attacked by drones last Friday, killing two crew members, and an attempt was made on Monday to hijack another tanker in the Sea of Oman. Israel, the United States and Britain have accused Iran of being behind the incidents, which Iran has denied.

Mr. Raisi also must contend with the deep discontent of many Iranians who sat out the election and did not vote out of frustration with the status quo and lack of hope for reform. Mr. Raisis rise to the presidency was largely viewed as engineered by the conservative religious establishment, particularly Mr. Khamenei.

In the weeks leading to the inauguration, anger over a water shortage in the southern province of Khuzestan led to anti-government protests in multiple cities. Crowds of men and women chanted for the fall of the Islamic Republic and the removal of its top leaders from power. Security forces dispersed crowds with gunfire and tear gas, killing several people, according to rights groups, and made hundreds of arrests.

Iranian activists have warned that given Mr. Raisis track record in the judiciary, which has jailed and executed dissidents, journalists and lawyers, they expect more state oppression under his administration. That includes passage of a bill that would severely restrict access to the internet and block popular social media apps like Instagram and WhatsApp.

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A New President Takes Office in Iran, Solidifying Hard-Line Control - The New York Times

Ben Domenech criticized Democrats' policies through the pandemic, saying, "the left is using the pandemic to make permanent the lives they want you to lead" on "Fox News Primetime."

BEN DOMENECH: The Left is using the pandemic to make permanent the lives they want you to lead. Weve seen churches closed under the guise of preserving life. Neighbors reporting on each other under the guise of unity. "We're all in this together," so long as we all stay in our homes and don't socialize. Teachers Unions are the most powerful political entities in American life, to the point of wrecking the lives of their students if the teachers dont want to work. Local small businesses have to close, but Walmart can stay open. And dont forget, Fauci knows best, parents. If you disagree with any unelected bureaucrat, even if it conflicts with what they said mere days earlier, you must hate science and youre putting your kids and everyone else at risk. What connects all of these things? What draws them together, besides that they draw us apart? Why is worshipping God, burying our loved ones, celebrating our birthdays, graduations, and marriages banned but protests and riots allowed, if not to break the tenuous hold we have on family, faith and community.

The three things that make us less dependent and in fact, more independent, from government power and coercion? They tell you the reason for this is your own good, keeping you safe and sound. But the truth you need to wake up to is that despite over a year and a half of bitter failure, our public authorities are bringing back the same policies they did before - so you are about to experience renewed lockdowns, mask mandates, and ridiculous restrictions on kids in school. Theyll tell you they are doing this because they have to. But theyre doing it because they want to, and because they can.

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE:

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Domenech: The left wants to control your life, and they're using the pandemic to do it - Fox News

Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images

By GARY FINEOUT

08/03/2021 12:18 PM EDT

Updated 08/03/2021 06:03 PM EDT

TALLAHASSEE President Joe Biden criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday amid the states surge in coronavirus cases, saying he should get out of the way of people who are trying to do the right thing.

The presidents comments come as Florida has become one of the worst states in the nation for infections, with more than 11,500 hospitalizations reported Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Over the past three days, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the state has had more than 50,000 new infections and 100 deaths.

Biden blamed both DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for barring Covid restrictions like mask mandates or vaccine passports policies that DeSantis has pushed even as the states Covid rates skyrocket.

Some state officials are passing laws that forbid people from doing the right thing, Biden said. "I say to the governors, please help. If you're not going to help, get out of the way of the people that are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives."

DeSantis has consistently criticized the media while also downplaying the severity of the recent coronavirus spike. Florida now leads the nation in new infections, making up roughly one in five cases in America. Despite the increase, DeSantis has prevented cities and school districts from implementing mask mandates or other Covid restrictions.

DeSantis on Tuesday again attacked the media, saying it created hysteria while also claiming that the situation in Florida was not as bad as last year because the state had prioritized getting older residents vaccinated and the mortality rate in the state, primarily among senior citizens, has dropped.

At the end of the day would I rather have 5,000 cases among 20 years or 500 cases among seniors? I would rather have the younger, DeSantis said during a Miami press conference on the states Everglades restoration efforts.

While multiple media outlets across the state have reported that hospitals are limiting visits and canceling elective procedures due to the surge, DeSantis declared our hospitals are open. He said while some hospitals have seen higher admissions, there were others including the main public hospital in Miami that had not reached the highs of last year.

Instead DeSantis directed his ire at the media, saying they were too focused on case counts and that their reporting could lead to Floridians deciding to forego needed medical procedures.

Obviously the media does hysteria, you try to fear monger, he said.

Democratic elected officials as well as White House press secretary Jen Psaki have contended that DeSantis reaction is based more on politics. The Republican governor has seen his status as a 2024 presidential contender rise as he touted his Freedom over Faucism approach to the pandemic that has been critical of federal health authorities while resisting mask mandates and lockdowns.

Psaki on Tuesday, after she was asked about Florida for a second day in a row, was more critical in her assessment of DeSantis.

If you arent going to help, if you arent going to abide by public health guidance, then get out of the way, she said.

Christina Pushaw, a spokesperson for DeSantis, said earlier this week that Psaki had mischaracterized the governors record, noting he had actively promoted vaccinations earlier this year. She also pointed out that the students can wear masks in schools, but that its up their parents. In an email Pushaw retorted that by dismissively ignoring Governor DeSantis efforts to protect vulnerable Floridians, Psaki is the one playing politics with the pandemic.

Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist, who is challenging DeSantis for governor, on Tuesday called on DeSantis to take stronger steps to make sure that Florida's more than 100,000 state workers are vaccinated. He said that state employees should either get shots or be required to be tested weekly.

"Im calling on the Governor to immediately require that our state employees be vaccinated or if they choose not to, be regularly tested and wear a mask indoors," said Crist in a statement. "If Disney, Walmart, and our military can do it, our state government can as well. The fact of the matter is that there is no reason for Florida to once again be in this position. Its time to stop playing games and get serious about ending this pandemic once and for all.

Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who is also running for governor, urged DeSantis to declare a new state of emergency in the state and increase a push by state government to get people vaccinated. Florida has seen its vaccination rate tick upward in the past week as cases have surged.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 49.1 percent of Floridas total population or 10.5 million has been fully vaccinated. That puts Florida 24th among all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

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Biden tells DeSantis to 'get out of the way' amid Covid surge - POLITICO