'Children are not supposed to die'
| 'Children are not supposed to die'  Families protest any potential mask mandates in Tampa, Florida, on July 27, 2021.  It was supposed to be the first day of the rest of their lives.
But America's kids, who are starting to head back to in-person classes, are heading into a storm of uncertainty as Covid-19 threatens to ruin another academic year.
In Florida and Texas, concerns over the Delta variant are being exacerbated by a political meltdown over masks. Two Republican governors, with an eye on their party's future White House nomination, are trying to ban local officials from imposing mask mandates for children in class. It sure looks like Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas are callously putting kids at risk to further their own political careers -- but they argue that parents and not bureaucrats should decide.
In Florida, Texas and several other states there are signs that young children – who not yet eligible to be vaccinated against the virus -- are more vulnerable to the Delta variant. Pediatric units in hospitals are filling up. More and more kids are needing oxygen. The American Academy of Pediatrics reported last week that the US saw an 84% increase in Covid-19 cases among children between July 22 and 29. And that is before schools start to throng with kids.
"It's like we already have a fire raging, and we're just adding. It's not good. It's not good to go back into school without mitigation that we know works," said Dr. Donna Tyungu, who works at Oklahoma Children's Hospital.
One saving grace of this pandemic has been that kids were at lower risk for complications from Covid-19. But 400 children have died in America from the disease, a number that US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky poignantly put into context last month: "Children are not supposed to die. And so 400 is a huge number for respiratory season."
Surging pediatric cases are sparking questions about America's handling of the pandemic now. Are more kids getting sick here than elsewhere? And could the refusal by many American adults to be vaccinated prolong the danger to children in their communities? The world and America The rare, Ebola-like Marburg virus has appeared in West Africa.
And Thai police arrested a local man over the death of a Swiss tourist.
US officials are thinking about shrinking their embassy in Kabul as the Taliban gain territory.
Back to school in London and Jerusalem While there is increasing alarm about the return to school in the US, hope is rising in the United Kingdom and Israel, which led the way in mass vaccination programs.
"When the UK's first lockdown started last March, my son's nursery closed, so we spent several months juggling child care and working from home. My 3-year-old learned to type his name on our laptops, joined the odd conference call, and 'played work' in my spinning office chair," writes CNN's Bryony Jones from London.
"Preschool reopened in June 2020, and has mostly stayed that way ever since, which is a big relief. We've been encouraged to take regular tests and keep little ones home at the slightest sign of illness -- vigilance that has largely paid off, though Covid-19 cases did burst the class 'bubble' a couple of times and forced us to self-isolate.
From Jerusalem, CNN's Hadas Gold writes: "Like many parents around the world, those in Israel are both eager for as normal a school year as possible, while also nervous about the spread of the Delta variant amid a worsening wave of infections.
"Ahead of the first day of classes on September 1, 1.9 million students will be provided with testing kits to help detect any Covid-19 cases. Serological tests will also be performed on students to detect Covid-19 antibodies. If a student at some point does test positive, they will enter quarantine while the rest of their class will be tested every day for a full week.
"The precautions will tick up a notch for communities deemed 'orange' and 'red' (medium and high levels of infection), where regular preemptive tests will be performed at schools to improve the likelihood of early detection. Students and staff will also be required to wear masks and maintain distance and hygiene, and will be encouraged to conduct classes in open spaces. All this in hopes that next month will not see the same surge in outbreaks that accompanied previous school reopenings in the country." Goodbye to all that  (New York State) Fans of politics are also often connoisseurs of the moments when big-shot leaders fall from grace. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo produced a classic of the genre on Tuesday, after becoming apparently the last person in America to conclude that he could not survive a sexual harassment scandal.
Cuomo, who was facing the prospect of impeachment, announced his decision to resign in the middle of a long-winded, self-pitying and defiant speech apparently designed to discredit his accusers and save his ruined reputation and legacy.
It was a bitter pill for a man clearly addicted to politics, who had planned to run for a fourth term in the state capital, Albany. Cuomo is the son of the Empire State's revered former Governor Mario Cuomo — who came up with the definitional political line, "You campaign in poetry; you govern in prose."
Cuomo faces accusations of sexual harassment or unwanted touching from 11 current and former state employees, as well as women outside state government, detailed in a shocking report from New York's attorney general. He has denied ever touching anyone inappropriately. His staff is deserting him. His power base has splintered. Even President Joe Biden said he should go.
But he doesn't have to like it. Cuomo claimed during his speech that he was the real victim of the drama. "This is about politics," he said. "And our political system today is too often driven by the extremes." The governor, who had previously defended himself with a show reel of photos showing him kissing and hugging various well-known political figures, also argued that he had simply been betrayed by a generational change of societal mores.
"In my mind, I have never crossed the line with anyone," Cuomo said. "But I didn't realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn."
It's hardly repentance to suggest that what happened would have been just fine in the recent dark ages, when women often had to put up with such alleged behavior as a condition of the workplace. Thanks for reading. On Wednesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Dr. Fuad Hussein visits Pakistan. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid visits Morocco in the first high-level trip since the two countries normalized relations. And Chile will begin offering booster shots of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine. View in browser | All CNN Newsletters
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