40% of American Covid deaths were avoidable - and Trump administration is to blame, study finds

Systemic racism, poor healthcare access and entrenched neoliberal policy have contributed to decades of avoidable excess deaths.
Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-policies-deaths-study-lancet-covid-b1800483.html?source=Snapzu

Man who made fun of vaccination efforts on social media dies of Covid

A man who mocked Covid-19 vaccinations died this week at a Los Angeles-area hospital after contracting the virus. Stephen Harmon was 34. Harmon died on Wednesday at Corona Regional Medical Center, about an hour's drive east of Los Angeles.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-who-made-fun-vaccination-efforts-social-media-dies-covid-n1274922?source=Snapzu

316 people are shot every day in America. Here are 5 stories

They panic if a balloon pops. They hold dying family members. They push their wounded bodies to heal and scroll longingly through photos and videos of their lost loved ones. Behind the statistics and the political blame game over rising gun violence are the victims.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/gun-violence-victims-56aadf8dc1824243b8b18974fc3fd689?source=Snapzu

Large study finds COVID-19 is linked to a substantial drop in intelligence

People who have recovered from COVID-19 tend to score significantly lower on an intelligence test compared to those who have not contracted the virus, ...
Read more: https://www.psypost.org/2021/07/large-study-finds-covid-19-is-linked-to-a-substantial-drop-in-intelligence-61577?source=Snapzu

James Franco to pay $2.2m in sexual misconduct case

James Franco has agreed to pay $2.2m (£1.6m) to settle a legal case which accused the star of sexual misconduct. Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, who attended Franco's now-defunct Studio 4 acting school, sued him in Los Angeles in October 2019.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-57677874?source=Snapzu

Wildfire smoke blowing across the U.S. is more toxic than we thought

Wildfires are threatening homes on the West Coast and in Canada, but their smoke is polluting air as far away as New York. From his uptown Manhattan home in Morningside Heights, Samir Kumar can usually see skyscrapers downtown. But this week, as smoke from wildfires raging in the western United States and Canada rode the jet stream to the East Coast, the city skyline was blurred out.
Read more: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/wildfire-smoke-blowing-across-country-more-toxic-than-we-thought?source=Snapzu

Op-Ed: Don't exempt religious objectors from vaccine mandates

Policies requiring vaccination against COVID-19 need not include, and should not include, exceptions for those who have religious objections to vaccinations.
Read more: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-07-23/religious-exemption-mandatory-vaccination-policies-constitution?source=Snapzu