Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has rebuked Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis for scolding a group of teenagers for wearing masks.

“Those students should have been comfortable wearing a mask,” Dr Walensky told MSNBC. “It is absolutely their choice.”

The high school students were standing behind a podium at the University of South Florida where Mr DeSantis was set to speak.

“You do not have to wear those masks, I mean please take them off,” Mr DeSantis told the students.

“Honestly, it’s not doing anything, we’ve gotta stop with this Covid theatre. So, if you want to wear it, fine. But this is ridiculous,” he said on Wednesday, prompting some students to remove their masks while others kept theirs on.

Source: CDC director Rochelle Walensky rebukes DeSantis for telling teens to remove masks | The Independent

Fast food giant McDonald’s is under fire for still trading in Russia as the war in Ukraine continues to claim innocent lives.

Dozens of big name brands including Apple, Nike and PayPal have confirmed they are temporarily cutting ties with Russia, in solidarity with Ukraine.

Several UK supermarkets have taken a stand as well, including Morrisons and the Co-Op, both of which have confirmed they will stop selling Russian Standard vodka.

Energy giants have also issued statements this week, such as British Gas, BP and Shell, which have all ended supply agreements with Russia.

But several huge companies have so far remained silent on whether they will sever links with Russia as well, with McDonald’s and PepsiCo being called out for continuing to trade in the country.

Source: McDonald’s under pressure for failing to boycott Russia as Ukraine war escalates – Mirror Online

The entire staff of a Russian television channel resigned live on-air after declaring “no to war” in the final telecast. The decision was taken by the staff of TV Rain (Dozhd) after Russian authorities suspended its operations over its coverage of Ukraine war.

Natalia Sindeyeva, one of the channel’s founders, said “No to war” in its last telecast as the employees staged a walkout from the studio. The channel later said in a statement that it has suspended the operation “indefinitely”.

The video of mass resignation was shared by writer Daniel Abrahams on LinkedIn.

Source: “No To War”: Entire Staff Of Russian TV Channel Resigns Live On-Air

Source: Tankers Divert As British Dockers Refuse to Handle Russian Natural Gas

Source: The long, strange history of anti-vaxxers  – Vox

Source: French designer giants suspend sales in Russia – BBC News

Currently making its way through the California Legislature is Assembly Bill 2426, which, if passed, would increase funding for Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital. Introduced by Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson), AB 2426 would make it easier for Batchlor and her staff to spend money on prevention and disease management.

“Our vision is to create an integrated healthcare system that provides affordable, accessible, high quality healthcare to people who live in South L.A.,” she told me. “You have doctors in the community, you have programs that address people who have chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure and heart disease. They’re getting the medication and the education they need to manage those conditions and to prevent those conditions from getting worse.”

That sounds like what every neighborhood should have but is sorely lacking on the streets around Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital.

By Batchlor’s count, the surrounding neighborhoods — home to hundreds of thousands mostly Black and Latino residents — need an additional 1,300 doctors.

That means that when people get sick, they don’t go see a physician. Instead, they wait, and then they have to go to the emergency room as their primary source of care. All of which explains why so many diabetics in South L.A. have to get their limbs amputated — a procedure of last resort, as my colleagues Joe Mozingo and Francine Orr have reported.

Source: A bill, not a mask mandate, might save South L.A. from COVID – Los Angeles Times

Source: Empty Ukrainian airspace | FlowingData

A leading American Internet service provider, Cogent Communications, said it was severing relations with Russian customers on Friday, a move that gives Ukrainian officials another victory in their campaign to isolate Russia online. The Washington Post reports:Cogent chief executive Dave Schaeffer said the company did not want to keep ordinary Russians off the Internet but did want to prevent the Russian government from using Cogent’s networks to launch cyberattacks or deliver propaganda targeting Ukraine at a time of war. “Our goal is not to hurt anyone. It’s just to not empower the Russian government to have another tool in their war chest,” Schaeffer said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Cogent, based in Washington, D.C., is one of the world’s largest providers of what’s known as Internet backbone — roughly comparable to the interstate highway system, providing the primary conduit for data flows that local companies then route to individual domains. Schaeffer said Cogent’s networks carry about one-quarter of the world’s Internet traffic. Cogent has several dozen customers in Russia, with many of them, such as state-owned telecommunications giant Rostelecom, being close to the government.
 Source: Key US Provider of Internet To Russia Cuts Service There, Citing ‘Unprovoked Invasion of Ukraine’ – Slashdot