Texas Democrats walk out - France vaccine passport - Republican 2024 hopefuls

The much-speculated move was announced Monday afternoon, a day before the Texas House was slated to be back in session to continue working through the items set by Gov. Greg Abbott for the ongoing, 30-day special session agenda. According to House rules, at least two-thirds of the chamber's 150 members must be present to conduct business.
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The group of lawmakers also announced plans to head to D.C. as they break quorum [to push Congress to pass election reform]. It is unclear what the state's executive branch would do next. One of the issues that remains on the agenda is reinstating government funding, which Abbott vetoed in response to House Democrats' last quorum break in May.
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"When you look at the bill -- as filed this Saturday and passed out of the committee -- it is a very good, strong election ethics integrity bill. I'm proud of the work we've done," Republican Texas state Rep. Travis Clardy said. "And I think if they had stayed there and taken the time to read the bill they would have known that and we could have passed this bill."

Trump led the straw poll of potential 2024 contenders, with 70% of respondents saying they would vote for him in the Republican primary if it were held today. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) came in second with 21%, while no other candidate polled above 1%. The showing marked a jump from the 55% support he enjoyed in the same type of straw poll at CPAC Orlando in February.
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The result was particularly promising for Trump after a straw poll at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver last month showed DeSantis with a slight edge. Last weekend’s survey was in line with several other public polls showing Trump with substantial sway among GOP voters.
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South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), another potential 2024 contender, took aim at other Republican governors for putting in place what she suggested were overly harsh measures aimed at combating the spread of the virus. She has repeatedly highlighted in recent months her refusal to impose a mask mandate.

[Jacob Zuma, the former president of South Africa], was ordered imprisoned for 15 months by the nation’s highest judicial body for refusing to appear before a commission investigating sweeping corruption allegations during his time as president from 2009 to 2018. [He and his supporters said] that he was treated unfairly and that sentencing him to prison without a trial was unconstitutional.
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His supporters, who had vowed never to allow his arrest, then called for a shutdown of KwaZulu-Natal, his home province. Images on local news stations showed malls burning, and hundreds of people leaving stores with items like clothes and appliances. Parts of major highways were shut down after vandals burned trucks in the middle of them.
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Much of the destruction now seems to have little to do with Mr. Zuma’s imprisonment, government officials said, and appears to be opportunistic lawlessness. Some analysts and activists said it was an uprising born of the deeper issues of poverty and lack of opportunity.

Anyone entering a restaurant, café, shopping center, hospital or taking a long-distance train will have to show a special Covid-19 health pass – which shows that a person has been vaccinated or had a recent negative Covid test – from August, President Emmanuel Macron has announced, as France tightens restrictions to contain the surging Delta variant.
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The pass will be similarly required for anyone over the age of 12 to enter a cinema, theatre, museum, theme park or cultural center. Macron also announced mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for workers in healthcare and in retirement homes. The number of new cases in France has jumped to about 4,200 a day, although the number of deaths in hospital – four in the past 24 hours – is low.
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After Macron’s speech, the French medical booking site, Doctolib, reported a rush of people seeking to make appointments for vaccines. In Denmark, restaurants and public events require a [similar] digital pass. Some German states require the same for restaurants.

The CDC said some 100 preliminary reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome had been reported to its Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System following a shot of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, many in men aged 50 and older. "Of these reports, 95 of them required hospitalization. There was one reported death," an FDA official said. 12.9 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered.
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While most people who develop Guillain-Barré Syndrome fully recover, the syndrome can lead to paralysis or death in a very small number of cases. It most commonly occurs after a respiratory or gastrointestinal infection, though rare cases have also been seen following other vaccines, like those developed for the seasonal flu or shingles.
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Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Stanford University, said the vast majority of medications carry very small risks of harmful side effects. Federal health officials said they believe the benefits of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine still "clearly outweigh" the risks.