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SINGAPORE - People's Action Party MPs must expect sharper questioning and more robust debates in Parliament with more opposition MPs and a Leader of the Opposition in the House, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Saturday (Aug 1).

In a letter on how the ruling party MPs should conduct themselves, he told them to be prepared to engage the opposition, to clarify their interventions and scrutinise their ideas.

"PAP MPs should express their views frankly, whether for or against government policies. During debates, speak freely and with conviction. Press your points vigorously, and do not shy away from robust exchange," he said in the eight-page "rules of prudence" traditionally issued to PAP MPs after each general election.

The ruling party won 83 out of 93 seats and 61.2 per cent of the votes in the July 10 polls in which all seats were contested.

Noting this, PM Lee, who is the head of the PAP, said: "The people have endorsed what we have done in our previous term, and given us a clear mandate to take Singapore forward, through the crisis and beyond.

"Now we must work with Singaporeans to keep Covid-19 in check, protect jobs and livelihoods, and make sure everyone comes through safely together."

In a new section in the letter, PM Lee also specifically addressed the use of social media by MPs.

Social media has become a part of daily life and MPs are free to use it to let the public know about their work or their views, he said, urging MPs to "have some fun" and to "try out different platforms".

But he also asked them to be mindful as elected officials and public figures.

"So observe decorum, ensure factual accuracy, as this is an absolute requirement for us, and remember every social media post will be permanently associated with you and the Party," he said.

"Be honest, empathetic, positive and affirming in all your messages. Know your audience and be sensitive to how they feel. Do not use social media to attack another person."

PM Lee also reminded MPs that social media is but one way to connect with people, and they have to attend to residents' needs and interact with them in person.

In the rest of the letter, he reiterated points he has been making over the years on the need for PAP MPs to uphold the party's reputation for clean and incorruptible government.

Tothis end, they should separate their public political status from their private business or professional interests, PM Lee said.

This means that MPs should, among other things, be careful of the invitations and gifts they accept, and ensure they do not lobby public officers on behalf of friends, clients or the like.

MPs also should not solicit directorships or accept those where the company wants to "dress up the board with a PAP MP or two, in order to make the company look respectable".

As MPs, they must also always listen closely to Singaporeans and help them to tackle pressing needs, and express their worries and aspirations to the Government.

"Never break faith with the people," he said.

Sharing the letter on Facebook, PM Lee said: "Whether or not we are in a pandemic, our responsibility as MPs is clear. We are servants of the people, and will carry out our duties with integrity, honesty and incorruptibility. We will always be sensitive to the views and attitudes of the people we represent, and conduct ourselves with humility, modesty, decorum and dignity."

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PM Lee tells PAP MPs to be prepared for sharper questioning with more opposition MPs in Parliament - The Straits Times

This is not about you, me or the millions who watch sports in America. At its core, the resumption of games is about powerful and wealthy men, accustomed to winning in life, knowing their legacies depend on how they manage the coronavirus. Nothing much is at stake, only the future survival of leagues and the scrutiny of history: which commissioners and owners pivoted successfully in a health crisis, and which lost the swab war.

In this athletic Game of Thrones, Adam Silver is best positioned to win the pandemic. And it should be said, here and now, that hed better win, as a shutdown of the NBAs celebrated bio-Bubble would throw the league into financial chaos and bring more attention to its troubles in China. An ESPN investigation shocker, I know, the broadcast partner reporting dirt on its business bedfellow revealed human rights concerns at the NBAs China-based youth academies, raising questions about a league that rushed too quickly to tap the vast sports economy of a Communist country.

All of which adds even more urgency to the most audacious undertaking in league history, a controlled basketball environment at Walt Disney World. No sports organization has embraced the technical explosion and social complexity of the 21st century like the NBA, and if any commissioner has a chance of conquering a fraught mission completing a season while keeping 1,500 human beings safe from COVID-19 it is Silver.

The world `anxious would describe how I feel, he said.

Frightened would work, too.

As sure as Charles Barkley is round, the NBA restarts its season with only minimal talk about the virus. Thats because Silver, in collaboration with Disney Company chief executive Bob Iger, hatched a grand design that made medical sense from its infancy: Protect 22 teams and more than 350 players from the worlds infectious ravages by placing them in isolation, in a community of hotels and glammed-up gyms, and having them test for the virus daily with rapid results from a private laboratory. In basketball, an 0-for-344 percentage sounds like another bad week for the Knicks, but inside the Silverdome, its the most recent sign that the experiment is working so far: zero positives among players for the second consecutive testing period.

Juxtaposed against the life-threatening chaos of Major League Baseball, which already is losing a Whack-a-mole game of outbreaks and frantic re-scheduling, the NBA again presents itself as a forward-thinking trailblazer. While MLB irresponsibly paints the Miami Marlins as a rogue, protocol-breaking team and refuses to stop its season amid virus hell, Silver was typically practical when asked on ABCs Good Morning America how hed respond if 17 members of an NBA franchise were infected like the Marlins.

If we had any significant spread at all, wed immediately stop and what wed try to do is track and determine where theyre coming from, Silver said. I would say, ultimately, we would cease completely if we saw this was spreading around the campus and something more than an isolated case was happening.

As so-called MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is now painfully aware, a season is not sustainable in 2020 without an NBA-like Bubble. The almighty NFL and college football soon will reach that conclusion, with likely dire consequences, while the NHL, WNBA and Major League Soccer remain optimistic all after adopting the NBAs isolationist lead. If Manfred is the predictable early misfit in the swab war, Silver looks like the visionary.

From my standpoint, its going very well, and Im cautiously optimistic that were on the right track, Silver told the New York Times this week. But I also recognize what were doing has not been done before, and the competition is just beginning. The real test will come when players are commingling, playing basketball without masks and without physical distancing.

Never lose sight of that: So much still could go wrong, even when so much has gone right especially when COVID-19 remains out of control beyond the Bubble in Florida. We should avoid calling it a Bubble, Silver warns, because it isnt hermetically sealed. Its his way of saying the controlled environment is neither fool-proof nor Lou-proof, as shown by the protocol violations of three players, including Lou Williams of the title-contending Clippers, who was excused by the league for a family funeral but also strayed to an Atlanta strip club for dinner. I dont care if Magic City is known for its chicken wings; did Williams ever think about the Magic Kingdom, the potential virus exposure throughout a league? He has been confined to quarantine the new NBA term for jail for 10 days, missing two games that could cost his team in the playoff seeding race. But in the bigger scope, Williams pit stop is what keeps Silver up at night. Its the blueprint for disaster: players tiring of being confined to life with each other, in a season that wont end until October, and sneaking off to who-knows-where at the risk of contracting the virus and sabotaging the plan.

No doubt the attention to detail in this vast undertaking is staggering. But one fluky quest for chicken wings is exactly the foolishness that could burst the Bubble. The league does such a good job of being hypercautious when they bring them back to the bubble, that I dont really feel like thats where our jeopardy is. I dont think we have any kind of real opportunity to sort of pop the bubble, said David Griffin, basketball operations boss of the Pelicans, on a Zoom call with reporters. I think the real issue is going to be, as this goes along further and further: Is there more and more pull to sort of break rank and just walk off campus? Thats when youre really going to see how well this is insulated.

A collapse of the Silverdome would be devastating to a league that has its own existential issues. The NBA is investing more than $180 million in Orlando with hopes of finishing a postseason and recouping lost broadcast revenues. If not? With no vaccine or cure in immediate sight, chances are slim of inviting fans into arenas during a 2020-21 season scheduled to tip off ready? on Dec. 1. With ticket sales and corporate sponsorships amounting to 40 percent of total revenues, the league is facing a financial crisis. Even the most well-heeled team owners, such as Golden States Joe Lacob, are raising capital with a murky future in mind. Houstons Tilman Fertitta (restaurants), Miamis Micky Arison (cruise lines) and Indianas Herb Simon (malls) have taken massive hits in accompanying businesses. Put it this way: The Timberwolves wont be the only franchise up for sale if fans cant return next season. Meaning, as National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts said, the NBA might be back in the Bubble mere weeks after a champion is crowned.

Unless, of course, the players dont want to return, which is possible.

Then, you have no NBA.

But for now, Silver can consider it a small victory that the virus is not front and center on Opening Night. Well be watching to see how many, if not all players, decide to kneel during the national anthem, a gesture Silver will support despite a longstanding NBA rule requiring players to stand for The Star-Spangled Banner. Said the commissioner: I respect peaceful protest. I understand these are unusual times. And unlike MLB, where an immature meathead such as Joe Kelly prioritized purpose-pitch revenge on the trash-can-beating Astros during a pandemic, the NBA is talking story lines!

Will LeBron James win his fourth championship, the most daunting ever attempted by a superstar, while advancing his social justice platform like never before? Is it Giannis Antetokounmpos turn to rule the sport and sign long-term in Milwaukee? Are the smallball Rockets a sleeper pick with a rested James Harden and Russell Westbrook? Are the Clippers deep enough to deal with a revolving door of players coming in and out of the Bubble?

Yes, the NBA has its own loons, such as Denvers Michael Porter Jr., who thinks COVID-19 is a conspiracy to control the global population. I think the coronavirus is being used obviously for a bigger agenda, he said. I mean, because of the virus, the whole world is being controlled. Youre required to wear masks. And who knows what will happen when this vaccine comes out? You might have to have the vaccine in order to travel. Like, that would be crazy.

Like, shut up, dude. And wear a damned mask.

Adam Silver cant do anything about free speech, even the weird stuff, when he heartily endorses such liberties. What he can do is try to steer his basketball league through a raging, unprecedented storm without risking lives. None of this should be happening, of course, and sports should not have resumed in America until next year. But if youre going to try, at least be smart about it.

Rob Manfred is letting the coronavirus control him. Adam Silver, a wiser man, will try to control the coronavirus.

Until he cant.

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Jay Mariotti, called the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century, is the host of Unmuted, a frequent podcast about sports and life (Apple, Podbean, etc.). He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and radio host. As a Los Angeles resident, he gravitated by osmosis to movie projects. He appears Wednesday nights on The Dino Costa Show, a segment billed as The Rawest Hour in Sports Broadcasting. Compensation for this column is donated to the Scripps College of Communication General Fund at Ohio University. He can be reached on Twitter @MariottiSports.

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NBA Positioned To Win The Pandemic....And It Better - Barrett Sports Media

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Lisa Ann Donaldson founded Animal Lovers of Laveen, an animal rescue volunteer group, in 2014 to help care for and reduce the number of stray animals in her southwest Phoenix community.

But the group says a new Maricopa County policy threatens that mission.

Animal Lovers of Laveen is a Facebook group with 8,953 members thatserves as a place for residents to post about lost, found and stray dogs and otheranimals in the area.

Members can post about animals they've found and some of the group's more active members will pick them up. They have humane traps and holding facilities to keep the animals safe until Maricopa County Animal Care and Control (MCACC)officers can pick them up and take them to the shelter.

Donaldson said Animal Lovers of Laveen had a strong, positive relationship with MCACC for many years and the county workers seemed to be grateful for the group's help.

That changed in March whenMCACC said they would no longer pick up animals from the groupbecause they are considered a "third party," and not the first person who found the animal.

They've since been trying to find a compromise.

Donaldson said she felt "bewildered and confused" by the sudden change, especially because the contract between Phoenix and Maricopa County for animal control services mentions nothing about a third party restriction, or a third party at all.

"We absolutely, as a community, support MCACC. Thats where people go to find their lost pets and thats where reputable rescues can help the animals if theyre not available for adoption, Donaldson said.

A stray mother dog and her babies rescued by Laveen Animal Lovers sit inside the group's holding facility for animals when they can't go to the shelter.(Photo: Courtesy of Steve Groff)

She said animals benefit from a positive relationship between the county and the rescue group.

We dont want to be in a situation where the animals are having problems, or are at risk, because were not on the same page as (MCACC)," Donaldson said.

Maricopa County spokesmanFields Moseley said the county had to change its policy with Animal Lovers of Laveen because the group was bringing in too many animals and had "questionable business practices."

The group isn't paid for their efforts, but Moseleywas referring to the fact that theanimals go through thegroup and sometimes stay at group member's holding facilitiesbefore coming to the shelter.

And they turn over a lot of animals.

This group has been a good partner for a number of years but their practices and the volume of animals they were requiring or asking the shelter to come get had reached a level that just wasnt tenable, it wasnt going to be successful and it led to a lot of other questions, Moseley said.

In 2014, the group brought six animals into the shelter system, Moseley said, but that number has grown, with the group bringing in 607 animals in 2018.

"It was obviously a serious jump," Moseley said "We're talking about a small part of the community funneling hundreds of animals into our system each year."

In 2019, MCACC's yearly animal intake was roughly 26,000. Of those, 543 animals were associated with Animal Lovers of Laveen, Moseley said, meaning about 2% of the animals in 2019 came from the group.

Since opening in 2014 through May, MCACC has received1,317 calls for services from Animal Lovers of Laveen, picked up 1,753 animals from them, and had 202 animals turned in at the shelter from them, Moseleysaid.

Moseley said no other MCACC partners havemodels similar to the Laveen group.

"Most (groups) rescue at-risk animals by removing them from the shelters, not adding to the shelter population," Moseley said.

Steve Groff, one of Animal Lovers of Laveen's most passionate members, said he trapped 235 strays in 2019 and he doesn't understand how that's a bad thing.

"We're acting as law-abiding citizens who see a need for an animal to get picked up and we go out and we get it," Groff said. "The number of animals we have in this area is ridiculous. To me, if I were in charge of MCACC and I had a group of people who were ready, willing and able to go out and safely contain an animal and bring it to me or have me pick it up, I would welcome that."

Moseley said the county's biggest issue with Animal Lovers of Laveen's practices is the animals they take in can't be connected to a "citizen's request for service."

That means the MCACC officers don't know where the animals came from, if they were truly at largeor if they were taken off private property, Mosely said. He said that could prevent animals from being returned to their owners.

We have a return-to-owner program that whenever one of our officers encounter a dog thats been reported in a neighborhood, they go out, 22% of the time they find the owner without ever taking that dog back to the shelter," Moseley said."So that saves on shelter space and that benefits the owner.

Donaldson said returning lost animals to their owners is the group's top priority.

She and some other group members have microchip scanners which allow them to scan the animals and return them to their owners when possible, without involving MCACC.

While the group doesn't track how many of the animals they rescue get returned home, Donaldson said halfof the 18 stray dogs they picked up in Laveen over the Fourth of July weekend were returned to their owners within hours of being picked up.

When animals don't have a microchip, Donaldson said the group takes proactive steps to get them home, such as creating flyers to hang around the area and posting on local social media pages.

Donaldson's family has lost a dog before, she said, and she wants to help families who might be in that situation.

Its a terrible experience and I dont want anyone to go through that. People love their pets. Theyre family to many of us and we want to preserve the relationship between owners and their pets, Donaldson said. By having them go to a centralized location where we can help look for the owners and make sure that the welfare of the dog or the cat is taken care of its just better for everyone.

Donaldson and another member of the group have facilities on their properties where they can keep animals safe if they can't be held at the shelter overnight. She said both holding facilities have microchip scanners, air-conditioning, heat, food, water and indoor and outdoor animal space.

Multiple Animal Lovers of Laveen members have animal holding facilities on their properties, such as the one pictured.(Photo: Courtesy of Steve Groff)

Donaldson said she can safely hold up to 10 animals on her property until they can bereunited with their owners or taken to the shelter.

Donaldson and Groff said local law enforcement officers who know about the facilities have dropped off animals there before when it's too late to take them to the shelter. They've even been called to pick up animals themselves, Groff said.

"We get calls from Phoenix PD, Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and believe it or not even from some of the MCACC field officers when they are out on a call for a stray and have to leave because of an emergency," Groff said.

The county offered a compromise in late June, saying they would pick up no more than three dogs a day, but Groff said that wouldn't always work. There oftenaremore than that, especially when there are bonded pairs of dogs, he said.

The Animal Lovers of Laveen created an email campaign that members or supporters of the group can fill out to voice their concerns about the situation to the county's Board of Supervisors.

So far, more than 350people have sent emails. The group has not yet heard from the Board of Supervisors.

Donaldson said Animal Lovers of Laveen's primary goal is to get back to a"proactive, collaborative relationship" with MCACC.

Were trying to make sure the animals are safe and then preserve the relationship between owners and their animals, Donaldson said. And we see (MCACC) having a role in that because theyre the centralized location that people know to go look for their animals at.

Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2020/08/01/maricopa-county-says-animal-lovers-laveen-must-limit-work/5521294002/

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Laveen volunteers who pick up stray dogs and other animals are at odds with Maricopa County shelter. Here's why. - AZCentral

(REUTERS) - A handful of prominent late withdrawals may have taken some of the sheen off the Palermo Ladies Open but the importance of the clay-court event is not lost on the sport as it marks the return of professional tennis on Monday (Aug 3) after the Covid-19 shutdown.

Plenty of exhibition events have taken place across the world since the sport was abruptly halted in early March but the women's tournament in the Sicilian capital will be the first across both the elite WTA and ATP tours in five months.

Later on Saturday (Aug 1), the WTA said the eventwill continue as planned even though aplayer set to participate has tested positive for Covid-19.

The WTA did not name the player but said she had pulled out and all those who may have been in close contact with her were being tested.

A player has tested positive for Covid-19 at the 31st Palermo Ladies Open and has subsequently withdrawn from the tournament. The player is asymptomatic, the WTA said in a statement.

Following this information, the WTA, in coordination with the Tournament Infection Control Officer and along with its medical advisers and infectious disease specialist from the Mayo Clinic, immediately put its Covid-19 response plan into action.

Any individual who tests positive will remain in isolation until cleared by a physician per the established protocols, and will receive proper medical treatment.

The organisers had earlier said that two players tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies, adding they returned negative results when they underwent a polymerase chain reaction test currently being used to detect the virus.

WTA chief Steve Simon recently told Reuters that he hoped Palermo would provide a blueprint for tournament operations for the rest of 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The WTA International-level event would usually attract only a modest field but its initial entry list boasted a host of players in the top 20, including twice Grand Slam champion Simona Halep of Romania.

World No. 2 Halep has since withdrawn from the tournament owing to concerns over international travel amid the coronavirus pandemic as has Britain's Johanna Konta, who will be focusing on hard-court events in the United States.

Croatia's Petra Martic will be the highest-ranked player at 15th with Czech Marketa Vondrousova and Maria Sakkari of Greece being the other top 20 players in the field.

The event has put in place strict health protocols with everyone having to undergo Covid-19 tests before they come to the tournament as well as on arrival and then every four days.

During the event players have to handle their own towels and there will be a smaller team of ball kids and line officials but a limited number of spectators are allowed in the stands.

"We are happy to play in front of the public, even though in a drastically reduced number due to Covid-19 prevention measures," tournament director Oliviero Palma said, adding that only a few tickets remained unsold.

"Now more than ever, we could have filled a 5,000-spectator stadium."

Palma has said that the event, which will have a reduced prize pot of US$202,250 (about S$278,000) due to financial constraints, will run losses but his responsibility was to prove that professional tennis can resume safely.

Read the rest here:
Tennis: All eyes on Palermo Open which marks return of professional tours and will point the way ahead - The Straits Times

PARIS (AFP) - Swathes of Western Europe wilted under intense heat Friday (July 31), with socially-distanced crowds seeking relief in fountains and pools as authorities warned of health and wildfire risks.

From Britain to Italy, temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius made face masks almost unbearable for many, as more cities begin requiring them outdoors to prevent surges in Covid-19 cases.

"Even in this stifling heat, it's better to put up with 38 degrees than catch the coronavirus," said Daniela Iannelli, a 55-year-old municipal employee in Rome.

Fourteen Italian cities were placed on high alert, while France issued warnings for about one-third of the country's 101 departments.

Paris officials imposed driving restrictions to limit ozone pollution as tens of thousands of vacationers prepared to flee to cooler climes, according to the nation's traffic surveillance agency.

Earlier Friday, a dramatic wildfire fanned by high winds on France's southwestern Atlantic coast was brought under control after it destroyed nearly a dozen homes and forced about 100 people to evacuate.

The blaze broke out late Thursday in the Chiberta forest park at Anglet, whose beaches just north of Biarritz draw surfers from around the world.

It was the latest of several in southern and central France this week, kicking off the annual fire season which officials warn could be worsened by drought and dry heat.

"The heatwave requires the state to be vigilant, and everyone to be cautious," French Prime Minister Jean Castex said while visiting firefighters in Bourg-en-Bresse, southeastern France.

Officials also urged families and neighbours to check in on the elderly, and retirement homes were on high alert since air-conditioners are being discouraged over fears they could foster coronavirus contagion.

An increase in Covid-19 cases prompted French officials to tighten face mask requirements in several cities this week, with many making them mandatory outdoors as well as in enclosed public spaces.

In the Netherlands, beachgoers were told to avoid the coastal resort of Zandvoort near Amsterdam, with public safety authorities saying it was too crowded to maintain social distancing.

"There are much quieter beaches on our coast and on other waters, I advise you to look for them," the regional safety authority chairperson Marianne Schuurmans was quoted as saying by Dutch media.

Long queues of cyclists formed to take the ferry to Schiermonnikoog, one of the West Frisian islands near the German border, as temperatures in the southern Netherlands jumped to 35 Celsius.

Britain's national weather service said it was "the hottest day of the year by some way", with the mercury climbing to 37.8 degrees at London's Heathrow Airport.

Many in the capital packed onto trains heading for Brighton on the southern coast.

Austria and Bulgaria also reported their hottest day yet this year, with Vienna topping 37 degrees before a summer storm brought some relief.

The Spanish weather service said most of the country was scorching under an air mass moving north from Africa, with Madrid reporting 38 degrees while several cities in the interior saw 40 degrees or more.

As the traditional August holidays approach, swimming pools were in high demand despite face mask requirements.

In Germany, which also recorded its hottest day for 2020 with temperatures exceeding 35 degrees in parts of the south, public pools imposed limits on swimmer numbers in a bid to reduce the infection risk, with online-only ticket sales, no access to the showers or changing rooms and a 1.5-metre distance to be observed in the pools and out.

Authorities also urged people to observe a safe distance between one another at rivers and lakes.

Western Europe can expect relief from the high temperatures from Saturday, forecasts show.

Read the rest here:
Health warnings issued as Europe swelters under heatwave - The Straits Times