Covid Hits Olympics, Wine Country Burns, Germany Floods … and More

After a yearlong delay and months of hand-wringing that rippled across a pandemic-inflected world, a Summer Games unlike any other is at hand. It’s an Olympics, sure, but also, in a very real way, something quite different. No foreign fans. No local attendance in Tokyo-area venues. A reluctant populace navigating a surge of virus cases amid a still-limited vaccination campaign. Athletes and their entourages confined to a quasi-bubble, under threat of deportation. Alcohol curtailed or banned. Cultural exchanges, the kind that power the on-the-ground energy of most Games, completely absent.

In Napa Valley, the lush heartland of America’s high-end wine industry, climate change is spelling calamity. Not outwardly: On the main road running through the small town of St. Helena, tourists still stream into wineries with exquisitely appointed tasting rooms. At the Goose & Gander, where the lamb chops are $63, the line for a table still tumbles out onto the sidewalk. But drive off the main road, and the vineyards that made this valley famous — where the mix of soil, temperature patterns and rainfall used to be just right — are now surrounded by burned-out landscapes, dwindling water supplies and increasingly nervous winemakers, bracing for things to get worse.

Western Germany has suffered the most brutal impact of the deluge that also pummelled Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, leaving streets and homes submerged in muddy water and isolating entire communities. With the death toll in Germany at 133 three days into the disaster, rescuers said far more bodies were likely to be found in sodden cellars and collapsed homes as the clean-up gets under way in earnest. A burst dam in the Heinsberg district 65 kilometres southwest of Duesseldorf overnight prompted the emergency evacuation of hundreds of residents.

The British government on Monday lifted pandemic restrictions on daily life in England, scrapping all social distancing in a step slammed by scientists and opposition parties as a dangerous leap into the unknown. No limits on gatherings and removal of 1m-plus social distancing. Face coverings no longer required by law and nightclubs can reopen. No limits on guests at weddings, funerals, concerts, theatres, sporting events and religious events. Pubs and restaurants no longer offer only take-out service. Removal of limitations on care home visitation. Removal of self-isolation for fully vaccinated adults who come into contact with a positive case.

Human rights activists, journalists and lawyers across the world have been targeted by authoritarian governments using hacking software sold by the Israeli surveillance company NSO Group, according to an investigation into a massive data leak. The investigation by the Guardian and 16 other media organisations suggests widespread and continuing abuse of NSO’s hacking spyware, Pegasus, which the company insists is only intended for use against criminals and terrorists. Pegasus is a malware that infects iPhones and Android devices to enable operators of the tool to extract messages, photos and emails, record calls and secretly activate microphones.

Because in Miri District, that’s how they roll. Local outlets report that the electricity theft was so substantial it caused blackouts. Raids on half a dozen locations around Miri yielded six arrests, with all jailed for up to eight months and fined 8000 Malaysian Ringgit apiece (US$1900). Police also destroyed three houses that were used by the miners.