Wednesday, March 25, 2020

A man has been arrested for stealing 66 rolls of toilet paper from a Marriott hotel in Orlando, Florida

Local police say that a security guard saw 31-year-old man, who was not a guest nor an employee of the hotel, load the toilet paper into his van. The guard peeked through the window and saw the bag was full of unused toilet paper rolls that belonged to the hotel. When the thief came back out, deputies said he admitted to taking the 66 rolls of toilet paper, which were valued at $0.99. The crook told the guard that he knew a lady who was poor and had no job and he was taking the toilet paper to help her and her family. The arrest report showed that he then apologized. The report also stated that he is a cleaner at the hotel and had access to toilet paper because he cleans. Deputies said that he has charged with theft from public lodging establishment. (Fox 35)

Here For You, a Snapchat feature that will direct in-need users to mental health resources, is now available

Snapchat announced the feature back in February and had scheduled an April release, but the company pushed out “Here For You” earlier in response to the nation’s ever-increasing anxiety surrounding the spread of the coronavirus. “Here For You” will show safety resources from local experts when Snapchatters search for certain topics, including those related to anxiety, depression, stress, grief, suicidal thoughts, and bullying, the company wrote in a previous blog post. It also has an expanded feature: It will surface mental health resources when users search Snapchat for terms such as “coronavirus” and “COVID-19.” “In addition, we are building out a customized search section of Here For You related to coronavirus that will provide Snapchatters from the Ad Council, World Health Organization, the CDC, Crisis Text Line, NHS and other partners who are creating content on anxiety specifically related to coronavirus,” a Snap spokesperson said in a statement. (Snap)

Chess is virtually the last competition left standing, but it too has officials nervous

Despite precautions taken at the three-week Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg, Russia, the players can’t stop touching their faces, a dangerous method of virus transmission. Tournament organizers have assured the players that Sverdlovsk region of Russia, which has not yet had any confirmed cases of coronavirus, is safe, and they have banned handshakes and are conducting twice-daily medical checks. But they can’t save the players, some of the most brilliant thinkers on the planet, from themselves. The tournament is scheduled to run until April 5th. (The Wall Street Journal)

The rise of 3D-printed ventilators

In a matter of seven days, an impromptu Facebook group of some 300 engineers and medical researchers banded together to design and produce an open-source ventilator using 3D-printed materials and other easy-to-access items. In several nations across the globe, ventilators are in short supply, as demand for the equipment grows in the wake of the spread of COVID-19. The ventilator design will enter the validation process in Ireland, potentially paving the way for adoption elsewhere. Meanwhile, the group, called the Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies community, is turning its attention to designs for other badly needed medical equipment like masks and sanitizers. (TechCrunch)

It’s looking more and more likely that the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo will be postponed

Japanese officials and the International Olympic Committee have both seemed reticent to alter the event despite growing pressure to do so. The tipping point came this weekend when both Canada and Australia announced they would not send athletes to the Olympics due to coronavirus concerns. Both countries’ Olympic committees called for the Games to be postponed until 2021. Earlier this week, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said postponing the Games was a possibility, softening his staunch stance that the games must start on time. The IOC says a final decision will be made in the next four weeks. (CBS News)

A Texas couple that was forced to cancel their wedding due to the coronavirus outbreak donated their flower arrangements to three assisted living homes in the San Antonio area

The couple were due to marry recently but had to cancel their wedding at the last minute due to the pandemic. By the time they decided to postpone their nuptials, the flowers for the ceremony were already on their way, so they decided to donate them. “I just wanted somebody to be able to enjoy our flowers since we wouldn’t be able to,” said the Bride-to-be. One of the assisted-living homes posted pictures of its residents posing with the bouquets. (Legacy At Forrest Ridge Facebook)

A locust outbreak threatens the food security and livelihoods of 25 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, among other East African countries, and has required emergency funding from international organizations

The U.N. estimates that the locusts could multiply by 400 times this year, which would devastate agricultural land in a region that relies on farming for roughly one-third of its GDP and more than 65 percent of jobs. Efforts to curtail the spread of coronavirus in the region are compounding the problem. These measures are causing “disruptions within the manufacturing, tourism, and construction sectors,” according to analysts with NKC African Economics. (Reuters)

Major studios are releasing new films on streaming instead of in theaters, as box office numbers dwindle due to the coronavirus outbreak

Amazon just rolled out Prime Video Cinema, which allows Prime members to rent or buy recently released movies – such as Pixar’s “Onward,” “The Hunt,” “The Invisible Man,” and “Emma” – for $18.49. Disney and NBCUniversal have also given subscribers access to recently released films, and arthouse and indie film distributor Kino Lorber has launched an on-demand video platform to create virtual screening rooms in collaboration with participating theaters. In recent weeks, Hollywood has postponed the release of new movies such as “No Time to Die,” “Mulan,” “F9” and “A Quiet Place Part 2.” (Gizmodo)

Arizona man steals dozens of coronavirus testing kits from health clinic

A man stole dozens of coronavirus testing kits from an Arizona health clinic while posing as a delivery driver, authorities said. The man entered the El Rio Health Center in Tucson as employees were getting ready to close, Tucson police said. He took 29 of the highly sought-after COVID-19 test kits and drove off in a reddish Dodge Charger or similar-style car. Health center employees noticed the unused kits were missing the following morning, police said. Surveillance images show the suspect, who police say is described as a Hispanic male in his 30s with a large build. He appears to have a full, dark-colored beard with some graying. The kits are “essentially useless” to the suspect because they require a lab with the proper equipment to test and produce the results, police said. While the clinic was able to replace the stolen items, police said the suspect’s actions contributed to the health crisis by taking test kits out of the hands of nurses and doctors. Police warned that those who claim to have coronavirus test kits for sale are scammers, noting that there are no at-home kits currently available. (Tuscon, Arizona Police Facebook)

Losing one’s sense of smell and taste may be a symptom of COVID-19, according to British doctors

The president of the British Rhinological Society recommends that anyone who suffers a loss in their ability to smell self-isolate for seven days, even if they have no other symptoms. Though there’s a current dearth of public data on the symptom, doctors across Europe and Asia have reported anosmia (also known as “smell blindness”) as a symptom in those who’ve tested positive, particularly among those who displayed no other symptoms. (New York Times)

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The Trump administration is slashing $1 billion in assistance to Afghanistan

The decision to cut the aid was made on earlier this week by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after he made an unannounced, urgent visit to Kabul to meet with Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the rival Afghan politicians who have each declared themselves president of the country after disputed elections last year. The Secretary of State had hoped to break the deadlock but was unable to. He said the two men were unable to work together and it resulted in threatening a potential peace deal that could end America’s longest-running conflict. Their inability to work together posed a “direct threat” to U.S. national interests and that the administration would begin an immediate review of all its support programs for Afghanistan, starting with a reduction of $1 billion in aid this year. He said it could be reduced by another billion dollars in 2021. The U.S. has been the prime backer of the Afghan government since it invaded the country in 2001 and overthrew the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks. (Huffington Post)

UPDATE: Tokyo Olympics Postponed For A Year

The Tokyo Summer Olympics will not begin in late July and instead will be held by the summer of 2021, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced yesterday (3/25). The delay comes after an increasing number of athletes and sporting federations called for the games to be delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first time an Olympics has been postponed, though the games were canceled three times, because of World War I and World War II. (Olympic)

Wednesday Has The Business With These:

• International Day of Remembrance of The Victims of Slavery and The Transatlantic
• International Day of The Unborn Child
• International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members
• Little Red Wagon Day (Last Wednesday)
• Manatee Appreciation Day (Last Wednesday)
• National Day of Celebration of Greek & American Democracy
• National Medal of Honor Day
• Old New Year’s Day
• Pecan Day
• Tolkien Reading Day
• Vaffeldagen (Waffle Day)
• Whole Grain Sampling Day (Last Wednesday)