Steve Cohen’s Point72 and Ken Griffin’s Citadel are investing $2.75 billion in Melvin Capital.
Melvin is down about 30% this year as its short positions are getting hammered.
Day traders have bid up the stock prices of GameStop, Bed Bath & Beyond, and other popular shorts.
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A pair of billionaire investors are swooping in to support a short-selling hedge fund in its battle against an army of irreverent day traders.
Steve Cohen’s Point 72, Ken Griffin’s Citadel, and other partners are plowing a total of $2.75 billion into Melvin Capital, the hedge funds said on Monday. They will receive non-controlling revenue shares in Melvin in return for their money.
Melvin will welcome the cash injection as painful short bets have left it down 30% year-to-date as of Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Scores of retail investors, including some members of Reddit forum r/wallstreetbets, have targeted heavily shorted stocks in recent weeks. They drove GameStop’s stock price up as much as 145% on Monday, Bed Bath & Beyond up 58%, BlackBerry up 48%, and AMC up 39%.
Melvin takes more negative positions than most of its Wall Street rivals, exposing it to potentially heavy losses. It owned “puts” – bets that a stock price will fall – on 17 US-listed companies including GameStop and Bed Bath & Beyond at the end of September.
The firm’s strategy has paid off in the past. Melvin has returned an average of 30% annually since its founding in 2014, and had grown its assets under management to $12.5 billion at the start of this year, The Journal said.
Gabe Plotkin, a former star portfolio manager at Cohen’s SAC Capital, quit to start Melvin in 2014. He counted Cohen as a day-one backer.
Read more: GOLDMAN SACHS: These 22 stocks still haven’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels – and are set to explode amid higher earnings in 2021 as the economy recovers
Scientists are settling on a road map that can help critical sectors of the economy safely conduct business, from meatpacking plants to financial services, despite the pandemic’s continued spread.
After nearly a year of study, the lessons include: Mask-wearing, worker pods and good air flow are much more important than surface cleaning, temperature checks and plexiglass barriers in places like offices and restaurants. And more public-health experts now advocate wide use of cheap, rapid tests to detect cases quickly, in part because many scientists now think more than 50% of infections are transmitted by people without symptoms.
The playbook comes after months of investigations on how the coronavirus spreads and affects the body. Scientists combined that with knowledge gained from years of experience managing occupational-health hazards in high-risk workplaces, such as factories and chemical plants, where tiny airborne pollutants can build up and cause harm. They say different types of workplaces—taking into account the types of interactions workers have—need slightly different protocols.
The safety measures have taken on new urgency in recent weeks as new infections, hospitalizations and deaths rise across the U.S. and Europe, and potentially more-transmissible variants of the virus spread around the globe. This phase of the pandemic is prompting a new wave of stay-at-home orders, closures and travel restrictions, important first steps to curbing contagion. Infection-prevention specialists say known strategies for stemming spread should continue to work against the new variants, but that increased adherence is even more important.
Vaccines are rolling out, but slowly, and access will be limited mostly to high-priority groups for some time.
“We have to still deal with ‘the right now.’ We’ve zeroed in on this set of controls that we know work,” said
Joseph Allen,
director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Over the past year, the lack of consistent and cohesive messaging among scientists and lawmakers has seeded confusion over what makes up risky behavior, what activities should be avoided and why. That is beginning to change as consensus builds and scientists better understand the virus.
In the U.S., scientists at first advised people against wearing masks, in part because of shortages, while the idea of stay-at-home orders received severe pushback from some lawmakers. Early in the pandemic, testing was limited to people with symptoms, also partly due to shortages. That advice has shifted, but a year later, sufficient testing remains a critical issue.
London’s Regent Street was nearly empty last week.
Photo:
May James/SOPA Images /Zuma Press
Countries such as New Zealand and others in Asia adhered to a combination of basic mitigation strategies from the start—particularly masking, large-scale testing and lockdowns that broke transmission chains. They have tended to fare better than those that didn’t.
In one of his first moves, President
Biden
signed executive orders to require masks be worn on federal property and at airports and other transportation hubs. The administration said it is focusing on increasing the availability of vaccines, and also stressed the importance of widely available testing, which still lags in low-income and minority communities.
The current scientific playbook follows from two of the biggest research insights since the start of the pandemic. First, individuals who aren’t showing symptoms can transmit the virus. Infectious-disease experts worry most about this silent spread and say it is the reason the pandemic has been so hard to contain. While visibly sick people can pass on the virus, data cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 40% to 45% of those infected never develop symptoms at all. With the new viral variants that can transmit more readily, the potential for silent spread is even higher, infectious-disease experts said.
Secondly, researchers now know that tiny airborne particles known as aerosols play a role in the spread of Covid-19. These can linger in the air and travel beyond 6 feet.
An early hallmark of the pandemic response focused on the risk of transmission through large respiratory droplets that typically travel a few feet and then fall to the ground. Businesses rushed to buy plexiglass barriers, creating shortages.
The barriers can be good at preventing larger virus-containing droplets from landing on and infecting healthy individuals. They may offer some protection in shielding workers who have brief face-to-face interactions with many people throughout the workday, such as cashiers and receptionists, some occupational-health experts said.
Yet in settings like offices, restaurants or gyms, the role of the barriers is murkier, because activities like talking loudly and breathing deeply create aerosols that can waft on air currents and get around shields.
A Los Angeles Apparel employee added plexiglass to sewing stations in July.
Photo:
Sarah Reingewirtz/Orange County Register/Zuma Press
Outdoor diners at Eat At Joe’s restaurant in Redondo Beach, Calif., in December.
Photo:
patrick t. fallon/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
A gym in Milan in October.
Photo:
DANIEL DAL ZENNARO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Also, installing such barriers could affect airflow throughout the space, environmental-health experts said. It is possible they could limit proper ventilation, making things worse, they said.
“There seems to be an assumption that particles are going to get stopped by the barriers, which is simply not true,” said
Lisa Brosseau,
an industrial hygienist and research consultant for the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. Airborne particles ferrying the virus “really distribute all over the place.”
The emphasis on intense surface cleaning has diminished as scientists have come to understand that indirect transmission through contaminated surfaces doesn’t play as critical a role in the spread of Covid-19 as they thought in the early days of the pandemic. In September, the CDC published sanitation guidelines for offices, workplaces, homes and schools that said that, for most surfaces, normal, routine cleaning should suffice, and that frequently touched objects, such as light switches and doorknobs, should be cleaned and disinfected.
“Sanitation is important in general always,” said
Deborah Roy,
president of the American Society of Safety Professionals. “The idea is we went overboard at the beginning because of the amount of unknowns. Now, we’re in a situation where we have more information.”
Temperature checks have become less popular among some employers because scientists now know that not all Covid-19 patients get fevers. One large study published online in November in the New England Journal of Medicine showed only 13% of Covid-19 patients reported a fever during the course of their illness.
Scientists now understand that brief encounters with an infected person can lead to spread, according to an October case study—an advance from earlier, when the rule of thumb was to avoid close contact for 15 consecutive minutes or longer. The report urged people to consider not just time and proximity in defining close contact with a Covid case, but also ventilation, crowding and a person’s likelihood of generating aerosols. Following the report, the CDC changed its definition of close contact to a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.
A flight attendant showed an air filter on LATAM airlines in Bogota in August.
Photo:
juan barreto/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Fresh air and effective filters indoors are important because they can remove virus particles before they have time to infect.
Masks offer a similar benefit, by lowering the amount of particles that infected individuals emit. Some scientists say there could be a benefit to doubling up on masks, as a second layer may improve both filtration and fit, so long as the masks are worn correctly.
A study published in October found that in countries where mask wearing was the norm or where governments put in place mask mandates, coronavirus mortality rates grew much more slowly than in countries without such measures. This fall, the CDC said that masks also offer some personal protection by reducing a wearer’s exposure to infected particles.
As the weather gets colder and people head indoors, the risk of catching Covid-19 is rising. WSJ explains why air ventilation and filtration are one of our biggest defenses against the coronavirus this winter. Illustration: Nick Collingwood/WSJ
The combination of airborne particles and personal interactions, even among people who don’t feel ill, can turn wedding receptions, plane rides and choir practices into superspreading, potentially deadly events.
“For Covid, those two factors—asymptomatic spread and aerosolization—is what made mask-wearing so essential,” said
Megan Ranney,
emergency physician and assistant dean at Brown University.
Lessons can be gleaned from an outbreak at a Canadian spin studio last fall. The operators of the SPINCO studio in Hamilton, Ontario, had many public-health measures in place, including limiting the number of bikes in each class and screening staff and attendees with a questionnaire about topics including symptoms and travel. Rooms were sanitized within 30 minutes of a completed class, and towels were laundered, according to a statement provided last fall by
Elizabeth Richardson,
medical officer of health for the city of Hamilton.
Masks were also required before and after workout classes, Dr. Richardson said.
In total, 54 people who attended workouts over a span of several classes became infected. Another 31 cases were tied to the outbreak after spin-class attendees who contracted the virus then passed it on. The spin studio temporarily shut down following the outbreak and later reopened. It is currently not offering classes due to local regulations that mandated the closure of all gyms and fitness centers amid rising Covid-19 cases in the area.
In a November statement following the outbreak,
Michelle August,
founder of SPINCO, said that the company has “always put safety first and [has] exceeded all recommended guidelines from public health throughout” the pandemic. She said SPINCO has also strengthened and heightened its Covid-19 mitigation measures. SPINCO’s website currently says face masks are mandated throughout workouts in the company’s Hamilton location.
It also says that SPINCO is installing air purifiers in all of its studios that filter air in the rooms every 17 to 21 minutes. Airborne transmission experts recommend that building managers pump in clean, fresh air between three to six times an hour and that they install filters that are proven to effectively trap and remove a substantial number of virus-carrying particles.
To film a stage play of “A Christmas Carol” in November, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis upgraded its air filters and increased the rate at which the ventilation system pumps in outside air, said
Brooke Hajinian,
the Guthrie’s general manager. Management staggered arrival times, and a compliance officer made sure everyone socially distanced, wore their masks properly and washed their hands.
The theater divided staff into pods depending on how close they must get to the lone actor on stage, who portrayed Charles Dickens and didn’t wear a mask while performing, according to Ms. Hajinian. Those working nearest the stage underwent testing three times a week and wore N95 masks at all times, she said, while cleaning and security crews, who didn’t interact with the stage crews, wore cloth masks and didn’t undergo testing.
Actor Nathaniel Fuller performed in ‘A Christmas Carol’ at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
Photo:
Kaitlin Schlick
Ms. Hajinian said she monitored the staff’s testing results and symptoms. “Any symptom is not a failure of this plan,” she said. Catching a case “and isolating it—that’s what success looks like for us,” she said. There were no cases, she said.
Scientists say multilayered safety efforts are needed because no single prevention method is 100% effective.
One of the largest studies of asymptomatic transmission to date showed that frequent testing was essential in identifying infections among a group of nearly 2,000 Marine recruits required to socially distance and wear masks except while eating and sleeping.
The study looked at cases identified with lab-based tests that search out and amplify the genetic material of the virus, but those tests aren’t as easily scaled as so-called rapid antigen tests, which search for viral proteins.
Results from lab-based tests can sometimes take days, while results from rapid tests are usually available in less than an hour. As a result, some epidemiologists have been advocating for widespread use of antigen tests to prevent outbreaks, because they are cheaper and don’t require high-tech laboratory equipment to run, meaning they can be deployed in a broader range of settings.
The shift toward using frequent, inexpensive and rapid tests on the same people multiple times a week to screen entire populations—instead of one-time tests on individuals who have symptoms—will be important to efficiently break transmission chains, epidemiologists said.
“Unless we’re doing really broad, frequent screening of the people at large, we’re completely missing the vast majority” of infections, said
Michael Mina,
an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “We have to change how we’re doing this.”
A Covid-19 testing site at the Alemany Farmers Market in San Francisco in November.
Photo:
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News
While rapid tests tend to be less sensitive than lab-based tests, Dr. Mina said the data suggest they have high sensitivity when people are most likely to be infectious.
Other infectious-disease experts have touted contact tracing to identify and bust clusters of infection. But they say the strategy works best when cases aren’t surging, as they are now. When transmission rates are too high, limiting gatherings, travel and crowding are more effective at denting spread, said
Abraar Karan,
a global-health physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
In places without big surges, a high-tech approach is becoming increasingly useful: genetic epidemiology, or tracking tiny changes in viral genomes to map out transmission chains. As the coronavirus replicates and moves from person to person, its genes change slightly. Sometimes, those tiny changes are unusual, and they can be particularly useful in mapping transmission events, according to
Justin O’Grady,
an infectious disease expert at the Quadram Institute in the U.K.
By sifting through the differences among more than 1,000 viral genomes, Dr. O’Grady and his collaborators found that a particular viral variant was moving through multiple nursing homes in the U.K., among patients and staff, but not among the wider community. The unpublished data suggested that transmission was facilitated by the movement of staff from one facility to another, Dr. O’Grady said. The team relayed the findings to government authorities and advised them to restrict staff moving among facilities during the pandemic.
“Sometimes genomic epidemiology is able to find hidden transmission links that traditional epidemiology would struggle to find,” Dr. O’Grady said. “We can’t stop transmission, but when we find a superspreader event…we can bring in the right prevention methods to stop it from spreading further.”
A London ad urged safety measures last week.
Photo:
Dinendra Haria/London News Pictures /Zuma Press
—Betsy McKay contributed to this article.
Write to Daniela Hernandez at daniela.hernandez@wsj.com, Sarah Toy at sarah.toy@wsj.com and Caitlin McCabe at caitlin.mccabe@wsj.com
Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman and Pro Football Hall of Famer Will Shields, who also won the Outland Trophy while at Nebraska, and Virginia Union athletic director Joe Taylor, one of the winningest coaches in HBCU history, headline five new College Football Playoff selection committee members announced Tuesday.
Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart, NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte, along with Shields and Taylor, will begin their three-year terms this spring on the 13-member committee.
They will replace Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, former coach Ken Hatfield, former USC All-American Ronnie Lott, Georgia Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury, and Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin, whose terms have expired.
“Mitch, Boo, Chris, Will and Joe will continue the integrity that has been the committee’s hallmark through our seven seasons,” CFP executive director Bill Hancock said in a prepared statement. “Their knowledge, experience and character, along with their love of the sport of college football, will make the transition seamless.”
The CFP management committee, which comprises the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, also extended the term of Iowa athletic director Gary Barta as selection committee chair for a second season. Barta, who has been Iowa AD since 2006, joined the committee in January 2019 and was appointed its chair a year later.
“We are pleased that Gary will return as chair,” Hancock said. “He was a valuable leader as the committee navigated a unique and challenging year. We look forward to him working with the other 12 members in what we hope will be a more traditional season in 2021.”
Shields, a former consensus All-America guard at Nebraska, played for the Cornhuskers from 1989 to ’92 and is one of only 16 players in school history to have had his jersey retired. In 2011, Shields was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
He was a third-round pick of the Chiefs in the 1993 NFL draft, and he never missed a game in 14 seasons, starting 231 consecutive games at right guard and earning a team-record 12 Pro Bowl appearances from 1995 to 2000. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Taylor, who has worked at Virginia Union since 2013, had a 41-year career in coaching, including 30 as a head coach. During his administrative tenure in Richmond, the school has won 15 divisional, conference and regional championships.
As a head coach, Taylor’s teams won five Black college national championships, 10 conference titles and made 10 playoff appearances. Taylor posted a lifetime win-loss record of 233-96-4, and ranks third in career victories in HBCU history. Taylor was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2020. He also has served as president of the American Football Coaches Association.
Barnhart, who has been Kentucky’s athletic director since 2002, is the longest-tenured athletic director in the SEC and was named chair of the SEC athletic directors in 2017. He was also a member of the NCAA Division I basketball and baseball committees.
Corrigan, who spent eight years as athletic director at Army, has held the same position at NC State since April 2019. He was named a 2017 Athletic Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. While at West Point, Army won 20 Patriot League regular-season or tournament championships and sent 14 teams to the NCAA postseason.
Del Conte was hired as Texas athletic director in December 2017 after making a name for himself during his eight-year tenure as AD at TCU, where he oversaw the school’s entrance into the Big 12 Conference. He was also athletic director at Rice from 2006 to 2009.
Travis Barker was seen with his 17-year-old son Landon in Malibu on Monday. This is the first time the 45-year-old rocker has been spotted out in public since it was claimed he has been dating longtime friend Kourtney Kardashian for the past few months.
Meanwhile, that same day the 41-year-old Kourtney shared several flashback images with her kids from the five star Amangiri resort in Canyon Point, Utah where sisters Kim and Kylie have vacationed before.
Also on Monday it was claimed Kourtney’s ex Scott Disick is ‘happy’ for his former partner with whom he has three young children – Mason, Penelope and Reign.
On the town: Travis Barker was seen with his 17-year-old son Landon in Malibu on Monday
Barker was seen in a black T-shirt that read Local Authority with his tattoos showing as he walked around Malibu.
Landon had on a hoodie that said Beverly Hills Gun Range as he was one step behind his dad.
The musician shares stepdaughter Atiana, 21, daughter Alabama, 15, and son Landon with his ex-wife, Playboy model Shanna Moakler, whom he was married to from 2004 to 2008.
Rock on: This is the first time the 45-year-old rocker has been spotted out in public since it was claimed he has been dating longtime friend Kourtney Kardashian for the past few months
In Kourtney’s photos, which are likely flashback images, she has on a black tank top and bicycle shorts as well as a blue hat and a purse on her shoulder as she walks through the desert landscape.
Her black hair is pulled back into a ponytail to get sun on her bare shoulders.
The cover girl was joined by son Reign who is photographed by the Coyote trail, and her daughter Penelope.
Trippin’! Kourtney posted images to her Instagram account on Monday with her kids that were likely taken in early 2020
She loves the heat: The 41-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians standout was at the five star Amangiri resort in Canyon Point, Utah where sisters Kim and Kylie have vacationed before; seen with daughter Penelope and son Reign
New or old? In Kourtney’s photos, which could be flashback images, she has on a black tank top and bicycle shorts as well as a blue hat and a purse as she walks through the desert landscape
A walk on the wild side: Her black hair is pulled back as she is joined by son Reign who is photographed by the Coyote trail
There he is by the sign: Reign seemed to be enjoying his hiking experience in Utah; in these snaps Reign has long hair which dates the photos back to early 2020 as in August 2020 he cut his hair off
Last week it was claimed Kardashian is romancing Barker.
The POOSH star has sparked romance rumours with the Blink-182 drummer after they were spotted hanging out together at Kris Jenner’s Palm Springs home over the weekend.
Both Kourtney and Travis posted pictures to their respective Instagram Stories which feature the same pool, suggesting they were together even though neither of them posted photos together.
According to E! News, Travis has also been spotted checking out Kourtney’s recent social media posts, including leaving a comment with a single rose emoji on the reality TV star’s recent flirty mirror selfie.
Earlier in January, he also added a tulip emoji to a photo of Kourtney walking into the ocean, and wrote ‘you’re so cool’ in response to some still she’d shared from the movie True Romance.
Rocking out: The two were also photographed on this massive rock
It will set you back: The Amangiri resort in Canyon Point, Utah costs at least $2K a night
She loves to travel: The star is known for showing bikini flashback images from Utah
This isn’t the first time that Travis and Kourtney – who are neighbors in Calabasas, California – have sparked speculation together, as in 2018, fans suspected the two were an item when they were seen grabbing dinner together in Los Angeles.
They were then spotted together again in early 2019, but sources at the time insisted it was totally platonic.
An insider said: ‘They’ve been friends for years. They’ve lived in the same neighborhood for a long time and they see each other at church and with their kids. They’ve hung out together many times and often get together with the kids to see movies or to get ice cream.’
If the pair are romancing now, it will be the first major relationship for Kourtney since she split from Younes Bendjima in 2018.
Love in Palm Springs? Both Kourtney and Travis posted pictures to their respective Instagram Stories which feature the same pool, suggesting they were together even though neither of them posted photos together
Her pool moment: Here the diva is seen in the exact same pool in Palm Springs
Prior to that, the Poosh founder dated Disick on and off between 2006 and 2015, with whom she has Mason, 11, Penelope, eight, and Reign, six.
Travis, 45, is father to Landon, 17, and Alabama, 15, whom he has with his ex-wife Shanna Moakler.
Later a source told Us Weekly: ‘Kourtney and Travis are officially a couple.
‘They have been close friends for years and have been dating for a couple of months. Travis is very smitten with Kourtney and has been for a while.’
On Monday it was claimed Disick is ‘really happy’ for Kourtney amid her new romance. Seen in 2019
On Monday it was claimed Disick is ‘really happy’ for Kourtney amid her new romance.
A source said: ‘Scott has been around Travis on several occasions and thinks he’s a great guy. He’s really happy for Kourtney and is not surprised they are dating. Kourtney has spent a lot of time with Travis and it’s not shocking to him that they developed a romantic relationship.
‘She hasn’t dated someone in a while and Scott wants her to be happy. Kourtney and Scott are in a great place and they have come to terms that they are strictly friends and co-parents.
‘There’s no romance there and he couldn’t be happier that she’s moved on. As long as the kids are in a healthy situation and Kourtney’s in a good place, then Scott is happy for them.’
As well as Scott, Kourtney’s family – her siblings, Kim Kardashian West, Khloe Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner and Rob Kardashian, and her mother Kris Jenner – all approve.
The insider added to E! News: ‘The family likes Travis. They are comfortable with him and trust him. They have all spent a lot of time together over the years. They think he is a good guy …
‘They’ve known each other forever and always hung out. It recently turned into more. Kourtney is very laid back about it and just having fun. They are neighbors and know a lot of the same people. It’s easy and she’s just going with it. It’s not serious, it’s just what naturally happened in front of her. Travis pursued her and seems excited about Kourtney giving this a chance.’
He has a new lady in his life: The Lord Disick TV star has been romancing model Amelia Hamlin
The 2021 NBA trade deadline is now less than two months away, although a blockbuster four-team James Harden trade has already caused ripples throughout the league.
Harden joining the Brooklyn Nets means other title contenders may now be pressured to upgrade their rosters while the Nets themselves look to build back some depth.
Bradley Beal has become the name to watch as the league’s leading scorer is being wasted on the 3-9 Washington Wizards. He’s far from the only big name who could be moved, however.
With activity already underway, here are some more transactions to look out for as the deadline draws closer.
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Tony Dejak/Associated Press
Pairing James Harden with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving seems like a cheat code on offense, although stripping the team of Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince and Caris LeVert has severely hurt Brooklyn’s defense and depth.
Since trading for Harden, the Nets have a defensive rating of 119.2, which ranks next-to-last in the NBA over that span.
While one of those meetings was against a strong Milwaukee Bucks team, the Nets dropped two games to the Cleveland Cavaliers (who were missing Kevin Love), gave up 124 points to a Miami Heat squad without Jimmy Butler or Tyler Herro and allowed Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic to light them up for 34 points on 63.6 percent shooting.
Starting center DeAndre Jordan (5.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game) hasn’t been this ineffective in nearly a decade and will get destroyed if he’s asked to defend Joel Embiid, Bam Adebayo or Giannis Antetokounmpo in a playoff series.
The Nets can’t trade a first-round pick for the next eight drafts, which means they’re limited on upgrade opportunities.
But JaVale McGee is one option. The 33-year-old is averaging 8.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in just 16.8 minutes per game for the Cavaliers but has fallen out of the rotation behind Andre Drummond and Allen.
The Nets were granted a $5.7 million disabled player exception from Spencer Dinwiddie’s season-ending ACL tear, and they could use it to absorb McGee’s $4.2 million salary. Sam Amico of FortyEightMinutes reported that the Nets and Cavs have already met twice to discuss a trade for the big man.
Brooklyn could also use its exception to trade for fellow veteran centers like Ed Davis, Nerlens Noel or Bismack Biyombo.
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Eric Gay/Associated Press
With the Houston Rockets in the middle of a complete makeover, P.J. Tucker is likely the next veteran out the door.
Houston hasn’t been in any hurry to trade the 35-year-old, however, even offering him a contract extension, per The Athletic’s Kelly Iko and Sam Amick. They also noted that “teams have already made a number of phone calls to Houston about potentially acquiring Tucker.”
The three-and-D power forward with an expiring $8 million contract should be one of the league’s easiest veterans to move. He’s played a key role on playoff teams in Houston and Toronto the past five years, able to start as a floor-stretching big or serve as a primary reserve.
Since Tucker has refused to sign any extension Houston has offered, a trade seems inevitable.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have “maintained contact” with the Rockets about Tucker, per The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski. While they have a need at power forward, they’re also dead last in the West with a 4-11 record. Giving up anything of value for Tucker with the season slipping away seems questionable.
Expect a contender to end up winning the Tucker sweepstakes instead.
The Boston Celtics have needed a true power forward for years. The Brooklyn Nets, Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets all need defensive help, as well.
With Russell Westbrook and James Harden both out of Houston, expect Tucker to be next.
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Rick Scuteri/Associated Press
The Dallas Mavericks are good enough to make a deep playoff run now but should also be closely monitoring the 2021 free-agent class.
With Kristaps Porzingis on a max deal and Luka Doncic eligible to sign his own extension this offseason, the Mavs’ last chance to make a big splash in free agency may be this summer.
While some of the top potential free agents have already inked extensions that have taken them off the table, plenty of talent will still be available. Victor Oladipo, DeMar DeRozan, John Collins, Lauri Markkanen, Kyle Lowry and Andre Drummond will all be free agents, and each could help create a Big Three in Dallas.
The Mavericks aren’t guaranteed to have space for a max salary yet, however.
Josh Richardson carries an $11.6 million player option, and the Mavericks can choose whether they want to pay Willie Cauley-Stein $4.1 million next season.
Dallas should be looking for roster upgrades now while getting some extra salary off the books for 2021-22.
Drummond is on an expiring $28.8 million deal and should be available after the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for Jarrett Allen. The Mavs could build a deal around James Johnson and Dwight Powell, thereby removing the latter’s remaining two years and $22.8 million. Dallas is just 24th in rebounding this season (48.4 rebound percentage), while Drummond is nearly leading the NBA in glass-cleaning for the fourth consecutive season.
Otto Porter Jr. ($28.5 million) and LaMarcus Aldridge ($24.0 million) could also work as pieces on expiring deals who are capable of helping now.
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Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press
While a handful of young players (Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, Bam Adebayo, De’Aaron Fox, OG Anunoby, etc.) avoided free agency by signing extensions before the season, other young stars failed to come to an agreement with their current clubs.
John Collins, Lauri Markkanen and Lonzo Ball will now become restricted free agents over the summer, leaving their futures with their current teams in doubt.
Jarrett Allen was another player from the 2017 class who wasn’t extended. By not signing any additional contract with the Brooklyn Nets, he was eligible to be traded as part of the James Harden deal and will almost certainly re-up with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Nets are already deep into the luxury tax, so a new deal for Allen would have put even more financial pressure on the franchise.
A difference in money is likely the reason Collins, Markkanen and Ball aren’t under long-term deals, as well. It could also be the reason at least one of them gets traded before the deadline.
John Collins wanted max money from the Atlanta Hawks but only got an offer in excess of $90 million, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. The Chicago Bulls and Markkanen were about $4 million apart in starting salary numbers, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Ball probably should have taken whatever reasonable offer the New Orleans Pelicans presented to him given his huge dip in play from last season.
While Ball and Markkanen could still be moved, Collins seems like the most likely candidate.
As a combo big, Collins is facing a crowded Hawks frontcourt with Clint Capela, Danilo Gallinari, Onyeka Okongwu and De’Andre Hunter, who’s passed Collins as the team’s second-leading scorer behind Trae Young.
Since the Hawks might need to give the 23-year-old a max deal or lose him for nothing this offseason, expect him to be traded—and possibly Markkanen or Ball, as well.
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Andy Clayton-King/Associated Press
A 6-9 record to start the season has the Miami Heat near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, in large part because of injuries and players missing games due to health and safety protocols related to COVID-19.
While it’s still relatively early, the East is becoming far tougher than the version Miami finished on top of last campaign.
The Philadelphia 76ers are off to a 12-5 start to lead the conference, the Brooklyn Nets could now have the NBA’s top offense with James Harden, and the Milwaukee Bucks should be better suited for the postseason with Jrue Holiday aboard.
Miami should certainly feel pressure to do something, and a trade for Bradley Beal would be the ultimate response.
The Miami Herald‘s Barry Jackson noted the Heat have a “high” interest level in trading for Beal should the 3-9 Washington Wizards make him available.
While Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo would be off the table, a deal centered around Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and first-round picks in 2025 and 2027 should be enough to get Washington’s interest. Miami should be going all-in to win a title, especially since the 31-year-old Butler racked up a lot of early-career mileage while playing under Tom Thibodeau on the Chicago Bulls.
The Wizards won’t want to trade Beal, but the 27-year-old could certainly ask his way out. With a 21-year-old star in the making likely on the table in Herro, they could get a nice return for their established star.
One person was killed and at least 30 people were injured when a tornado tore through Fultondale late Monday night.(Video above: Multiple agencies assist City of Fultondale in search and rescue efforts after fatal tornado)Jefferson County Coroner Bill Yates confirms there was one death related to the Fultondale tornado. No further details were released by Yates. Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight said a “young man” was killed after a large tree fell on his family’s home. Knight said the victim was huddling with his father in the basement when the tree fell. The father was injured and taken to the hospital.Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Dr. Walter Gonsoulin said a 14-year-old high school student was killed in the storm.Governor Kay Ivey issued the following statement Tuesday morning:”The people of Fultondale took a hard hit last night — I’m grieved over the loss of life, injuries, homes and damaged businesses. I offer my prayers and deepest sympathies and pledge the full support and resources our state has to offer. I am with you, Fultondale!”Fultondale Fire Chief Justin McKenzie says while he cannot confirm fatalities as of Tuesday morning, 17 people were transported to the hospital with storm-related injuries and 11 people were treated on scene.First responders from surrounding areas have been assisting Fultondale with search and rescue efforts throughout the night. As of 4:15 a.m., crews were on heavily damaged Lykes Blvd. working to free a man who had been trapped inside of his home by a tree. McKenzie says they have since accounted for everyone else in the area. State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey released this statement:”Our hearts go out to those impacted by last night’s storms. We are in contact with local school systems as they continue to assess the damage and commit to provide our support to these schools. Updates will be posted as more information becomes available.”
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. —
One person was killed and at least 30 people were injured when a tornado tore through Fultondale late Monday night.
(Video above: Multiple agencies assist City of Fultondale in search and rescue efforts after fatal tornado)
Jefferson County Coroner Bill Yates confirms there was one death related to the Fultondale tornado. No further details were released by Yates.
Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight said a “young man” was killed after a large tree fell on his family’s home. Knight said the victim was huddling with his father in the basement when the tree fell. The father was injured and taken to the hospital.
Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Dr. Walter Gonsoulin said a 14-year-old high school student was killed in the storm.
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Governor Kay Ivey issued the following statement Tuesday morning:
“The people of Fultondale took a hard hit last night — I’m grieved over the loss of life, injuries, homes and damaged businesses. I offer my prayers and deepest sympathies and pledge the full support and resources our state has to offer. I am with you, Fultondale!”
Fultondale Fire Chief Justin McKenzie says while he cannot confirm fatalities as of Tuesday morning, 17 people were transported to the hospital with storm-related injuries and 11 people were treated on scene.
First responders from surrounding areas have been assisting Fultondale with search and rescue efforts throughout the night. As of 4:15 a.m., crews were on heavily damaged Lykes Blvd. working to free a man who had been trapped inside of his home by a tree.
McKenzie says they have since accounted for everyone else in the area.
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You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey released this statement:
“Our hearts go out to those impacted by last night’s storms. We are in contact with local school systems as they continue to assess the damage and commit to provide our support to these schools. Updates will be posted as more information becomes available.”
The number of Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 increased overnight, but the state’s positivity rates continue to decline.The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 802 new positive COVID-19 cases and four additional deaths Tuesday.As of 10 a.m., the health department reported 314,065 total cases, 276,451 total recoveries and 4,492 total deaths. The health department reported 313,263 total cases and 4,488 total deaths 24 hours earlier. Five TestIowa sites closed early Monday due to the winter storm. State-operated TestIowa drive-thru sites in Council Bluffs and Des Moines will remain closed Tuesday. Those closures may have an impact on reported test data.Iowa reports the 14-day positivity rate has dropped from 11% to 10.3% overnight. The 7-day rate dropped from 8.5% to 8%. State data shows 1,451,975 Iowans have been tested for COVID-19, while 3,525,271 tests have been administered.The number of Iowa’s 99 counties reporting a positivity rate greater than 15% has dropped to seven from nine a day earlier. Kossuth County leads the state at 20.4%. No other county tops 20%. Fifty-one Iowa counties report a rate lower than 10%. Marshall County reports the lowest rate in the state at 4.8%.The number of Iowans hospitalized with the virus increased from 383 to 415 overnight. There were 49 patients admitted in the last 24 hours, up from 40 the previous day. There are 78 patients in ICU and 37 patients on ventilators.There are now 60 long-term care facilities reporting outbreaks in the state, down from 68 a day earlier. The health department reports 1,941 positive cases and 1,102 recoveries among residents and staff within those facilities. There have been 1,866 deaths reported in Iowa’s long-term care facilities.The Iowa Department of Public Health offers virus data in real time on this website. KCCI publishes a daily summary at 10 a.m.Gov. Kim Reynolds will host a news conference on the state’s virus response Wednesday at 11 a.m. You can watch the news conference live on KCCI-TV, the KCCI Breaking News and Weather App, KCCI.com or the KCCI Facebook page.
DES MOINES, Iowa —
The number of Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 increased overnight, but the state’s positivity rates continue to decline.
The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 802 new positive COVID-19 cases and four additional deaths Tuesday.
As of 10 a.m., the health department reported 314,065 total cases, 276,451 total recoveries and 4,492 total deaths. The health department reported 313,263 total cases and 4,488 total deaths 24 hours earlier. Five TestIowa sites closed early Monday due to the winter storm. State-operated TestIowa drive-thru sites in Council Bluffs and Des Moines will remain closed Tuesday. Those closures may have an impact on reported test data.
Iowa reports the 14-day positivity rate has dropped from 11% to 10.3% overnight. The 7-day rate dropped from 8.5% to 8%. State data shows 1,451,975 Iowans have been tested for COVID-19, while 3,525,271 tests have been administered.
The number of Iowa’s 99 counties reporting a positivity rate greater than 15% has dropped to seven from nine a day earlier. Kossuth County leads the state at 20.4%. No other county tops 20%. Fifty-one Iowa counties report a rate lower than 10%. Marshall County reports the lowest rate in the state at 4.8%.
The number of Iowans hospitalized with the virus increased from 383 to 415 overnight. There were 49 patients admitted in the last 24 hours, up from 40 the previous day. There are 78 patients in ICU and 37 patients on ventilators.
There are now 60 long-term care facilities reporting outbreaks in the state, down from 68 a day earlier. The health department reports 1,941 positive cases and 1,102 recoveries among residents and staff within those facilities. There have been 1,866 deaths reported in Iowa’s long-term care facilities.
The Iowa Department of Public Health offers virus data in real time on this website. KCCI publishes a daily summary at 10 a.m.
Gov. Kim Reynolds will host a news conference on the state’s virus response Wednesday at 11 a.m. You can watch the news conference live on KCCI-TV, the KCCI Breaking News and Weather App, KCCI.com or the KCCI Facebook page.
At the same time, the A1 has a standard ISO 100-32,000 ISO sensitivity range, expandable to ISO 50-102,400, so it should work well in low-light. That’s possible because of the “back-illuminated [sensor] structure with gapless on-chip lenses and an AR coated seal glass,” according to Sony’s latest sensor jargon. It also has improved color reproduction and up to 15 stops of dynamic range. If 50-megapixels isn’t enough resolution, you can use Sony’s pixel shift multi shooting feature to combine up to 16 shots into one 199-megapixel image.
If video is more your thing, you can shoot 8K 10-bit 4:2:0 video at 30 fps internally (to either SD or CFexpress cards), using the full width of the sensor. That 8K video should be sharp, as it’s super-sampled from an 8.6K image size. 4K recording at up to 60 fps also uses the full width of the sensor, or adds a small 1.1x crop if you turn on active image stabilization. If you want to shoot 4K at 120 fps with a full sensor readout, it will crop down to Super 35 mm with 5.8K oversampling. Autofocus works in all video modes.
The S1 can record with 10-bit 4:2:2 color detail and S-Log or hybrid log-gamma (HLG) modes, using Sony’s latest HEVC/H.265 code with intra-frame coding. If that’s not good enough, it will output 16-bit RAW video to an external recorder. The A1 also features Sony’s S-Cinetone color matrix found on its Venice, FX6 and other Cinema Line cameras. One downside for video shooters and vloggers is that the rear display only flips up and not around like on the A7S III.
Rolling shutter has been a problem on previous Alpha cameras, particularly for video. However, Sony has promised that a new anti-distortion shutter reduces that effect by up to 2.8 times. Sony has also introduced an anti-flicker mode to reduce flicker caused by artificial lights when shooting using the electronic shutter.
Sony promises “unrivaled autofocus” on the A1 with real-time eye-tracking for both photos and video, covering humans, animals and birds. The tracking algorithms work faster than ever and with 30 percent greater precision than the A9 II, according to Sony. The A1 also offers 5-axis in-body stabilization, including an active video mode that Sony says is “highly effective for handheld shooting.”
All of these features are contained in a normal-sized, 737 grams (1.63 pound) Alpha body, but Sony promises that you’ll be able to record 8K/30p or 4K/60p video continuously for up to 30 minutes without overheating. That’s clearly a shot over Canon’s bow, as EOS R5 continuous shooting times are more constrained by overheating.
Much like the A7S III, it also includes dual SD UHS II and dual CFexpress card slots, so you’ll be able to backup your work on the fly and choose between cheaper SD UHS II or faster CFexpress formats. Other features include a full HDMI port, mic and headphone ports, 10 Gbps USB 3.2, an optional multi interface shoe with digital audio and, yes, a gigabit ethernet port. As for battery life, you’ll get up to 530 shots on a charge.
It also offers the “industry’s fastest” 802.11ac WiFi speeds, according to Sony. Professional photographers or video shooters will be able to use that feature in conjunction with the new $2,500 Xperia Pro smartphone, which will double as an HDR monitor and 5G transmitter.
You’ll pay for all this power. Pre-orders start tomorrow at $6,498 for the body only, which is $3,000 more than the Canon EOS R5. However, the A1 is now Sony’s flagship aimed at professional photographers and videographers, who won’t balk at that price for a second. Shipping is expected to start around February 25th, with consumer availability sometime in March.
Iran has executed another decorated wrestler this week despite international outcry and condemnation from the U.S. State Department, according to reports.
Mehdi Ali Hosseini was put to death at a prison in the city of Dezful on Monday, Al Arabiya reported, citing a local news outlet. A judiciary official there also confirmed the execution to the state-run ISNA News Agency.
A top U.S. State Department official came out swinging earlier this month against Iran’s plan to execute Hosseini after Tehran’s rulers publicly hanged the champion wrestler Navid Afkari in September on widely criticized, trumped-up charges.
IRANIAN EXECUTIONS SPARK OUTRAGE FROM THE US
“The Iranian regime must be held to account for their vile human rights abuses and their attempt to cling to power through execution,” Ellie Cohanim, the State Department’s deputy special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, had told Fox News.
Hosseini, who is from Andimeshk in the province of Khuzestan, was arrested in 2015 and charged with premeditated murder, supposedly committed during a group brawl. It is unclear, though, whether Iran’s regime forced Hosseini to confess to a crime he did not commit.
Iran’s opaque judiciary and penal system repeatedly tortured Afkari into admitting a killing he did not carry out, according to human rights organizations and Western governments. The clerical rulers hanged Afkari for protesting in 2018 against the economic and political corruption of the regime controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Reports of Hosseini’s execution this week were met with further criticism from activist groups.
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“The clerical regime cannot survive even one day without execution, torture and repression in a bid to create a reign of terror to prevent escalation of popular uprising as it is engulfed with incurable internal and external crises,” the National Council of Resistance of Iran said.
“The Iranian Resistance reiterates its call on the United Nations Secretary-General, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council and all human rights defenders, as well as the European Union and its member states, to condemn the heinous execution of Mehdi Ali Hosseini and take immediate action to save the lives of prisoners on the death row,” it added.
Fox News’ Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.
Enlarge / This quasar is over two billion light years away, yet is bright enough to outshine far closer galaxies.
Active galaxies are some of the brightest objects in the Universe. These galaxies send out enormous jets of matter at near light speed, all powered by matter falling into the supermassive black hole at the center. While all galaxies seem to have supermassive black holes, not all of them are active—our own galaxy, the Milky Way, has a quiet black hole at its core. So what makes the difference? Why are some galaxies and their black holes active, while others sit quietly?
Obviously, taking a regular galaxy and turning it into an active one isn’t as simple as flicking a light switch. Modeling has suggested that activating a galaxy’s central black hole (and thus the galaxy as a whole) can be part of the galaxy-building process, which takes place through the merger of smaller galaxies through collisions. These collisions can send gas sloshing around inside the galaxy, creating high enough densities at the core to activate the black hole. Now, another study is suggesting that these collisions can shut the black hole down again as well—it all depends on the details of the geometry.
A donut near the hole
To understand how this works, you have to understand the environment near a black hole. While a great deal of attention is paid to the reality-bending gravity at the black hole’s event horizon, everything that actually affects the surrounding Universe takes place a bit of a distance from that location. There, the black hole’s gravity organizes any infalling matter into a flattened disk that feed matter into the black hole called an accretion disk, with the black hole at its center. Beyond that, a more diffuse, donut-shaped cloud of gas feeds into this disk.
This organization is needed to feed matter efficiently into the black hole. Collisions within the infalling material produces radiation that would otherwise drive all the material off. And it’s this efficient feeding that is thought to be necessary to power the jets that create active galaxies.
To a certain extent, all of this is self-organizing. Shove enough gas towards the center of the galaxy, and it will eventually form the donut (more technically a toroid) and start feeding the black hole gas. And earlier models had shown that galaxy collisions are capable of doing this. All galaxies have clouds of gas of various densities scattered around their disks. The disruptions caused by a collision have the potential to rearrange these clouds, and send some closer to the galactic core, where the material can be captured by the black hole’s gravity.
This doesn’t happen in every case, however, and a group of Japanese researchers—Yohei Miki, Masao Mori, and Toshihiro Kawaguchi—were intrigued by a number of instances where signs of recent collisions were present in galaxies that weren’t active. In fact, some of these had indications that the black hole had quieted down relatively recently, suggesting that the collision and the shut down might be related.
Our nearest large neighbor, the M31 Andromeda galaxy, is inactive, and it also has a feature called the giant southern stream that appears to be the remains of a small galaxy that collided with it. Since we understand the details of Andromeda better due to its proximity and modeled that collision in some detail, the researchers decided to look into the effect it might have had on the central black hole.
Head on collision
The modeling showed that, if the dwarf galaxy runs into the center of Andromeda, it has the potential to disrupt the donut of gas that feeds the black hole. Whether it does or not depends on the relative densities of the gas in the galaxy and the gas in the donut. As long as the density is higher in the incoming galaxy, the torus should be disrupted. In essence, the disorganized incoming gas will transfer some of its momentum to the gas orbiting the black hole, driving it off. The result is a chaotic mess that isn’t capable of feeding the black hole efficiently.
The researchers note that, while the density of the gas alone is sufficient to choke off the black hole, geometry could matter as well. If the incoming galaxy strikes edge-on, then its entire width would pass through the area of Andromeda’s central black hole, providing a more disruptive force. In contrast, if the density of gas at the galactic core is high enough, then the incoming galaxy won’t be able to disrupt it.
All of this happens rather quickly, at least on galactic terms, taking only about a million years to silence the active black hole.
Going beyond the specific circumstances in Andromeda, the authors used averages of the number of small galaxies near large ones and the apparent frequency of collisions to calculate how often one of these collisions might occur. They estimate that one should happen to a typical galaxy roughly every hundred million years on average. That’s just an average, though; some active galaxies could go far longer before a collision with the right configuration took place.
The models may also have relevance for events closer to home. Like Andromeda, the Milky Way’s central black hole is quiet at the moment. And the authors note that a space-based telescope called Gaia recently found evidence of a collision between a small galaxy and the central core of the Milky Way (a collision that produced the improbably named structure the “Gaia–Enceladus–Sausage”). So, it’s possible that this event shut down the Milky Way’s central black hole.
