Global News Today

In Georgia, about 3,105,500 adults — or 38.3% of the 20 and older population — do not get enough sleep, compared to 35.2% of adults nationwide. The share of adults reporting insufficient sleep in Georgia is the 12th highest among the 50 states.

Research has shown that sleep duration is linked to both regulation of blood sugar as well as metabolic changes, and that adults who regularly sleep less than seven hours a night are at increased risk of diabetes and obesity. Though it is not always the case, states with higher than average levels of sleep deprivation also often have higher rates of either diabetes, obesity, or both. In Georgia, 12.0% of adults have diabetes and 32.3% are clinically obese, compared to the national shares of 10.5% and 29.7%, respectively.

All data in this story is from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint report, 2021 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. States were ranked based on the share of adults reporting insufficient sleep, which is less than seven hours per night on average

-Gwinnettdailypost / 247wallst.com–

Microsoft says the same Russia-backed hackers responsible for the 2020 SolarWinds breach continue to attack the global technology supply chain and have been relentlessly targeting cloud service companies and others since summer.

The group, which Microsoft calls Nobelium, has employed a new strategy to piggyback on the direct access that cloud service resellers have to their customers’ IT systems, hoping to “more easily impersonate an organization’s trusted technology partner to gain access to their downstream customers.” Resellers act as intermediaries between software and hardware makers and product users.

“Fortunately, we have discovered this campaign during its early stages, and we are sharing these developments to help cloud service resellers, technology providers, and their customers take timely steps to help ensure Nobelium is not more successful,” the company said in a blog post.

Earlier this month, Microsoft reported that Russia accounted for the majority of state-sponsored hacking detected by the Seattle-based software and internet giant during the past year. Most of the attacks targeted government agencies and think tanks in the United States, followed by Ukraine, Britain and European NATO members.

Microsoft has been observing Nobelium’s latest campaign since May and has notified more than 140 companies targeted by the group, with as many as 14 believed to have been compromised. The attacks have been increasingly relentless since July, with Microsoft noting that it had informed 609 customers that they had been attacked 22,868 times by Nobelium, with a success rate in the low single digits. That’s more attacks than Microsoft had flagged rom all nation-state actors in the previous three years.

-AP-

 Children as young as 3 will start receiving COVID-19 vaccines in China, where 76% of the population has been fully vaccinated and authorities are maintaining a zero-tolerance policy toward outbreaks.

Local city and provincial level governments in at least five provinces issued notices in recent days announcing that children ages 3-11 will be required to get their vaccinations.

The expansion of the vaccination campaign comes as parts of China take new clampdown measures to try to stamp out small outbreaks. Gansu, a northwestern province heavily dependent on tourism, closed all tourist sites Monday after finding new COVID-19 cases. Residents in parts of Inner Mongolia have been ordered to stay indoors due to an outbreak there.

In particular, the government is concerned about the spread of the more contagious delta variant by travelers and about having a largely vaccinated public ahead of the Beijing Olympics in February. Overseas spectators already have been banned from the Games, and participants will have to stay in a bubble separating them from people outside.

China in June had approved two vaccines — Sinopharm’s from the Beijing Institute of Biological Products and Sinovac — for children age 3-17, but it has only been vaccinating those 12 and older. In August, regulators approved another, Sinopharm’s from the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products.

After the vaccines received domestic approval for children in China, foreign governments began giving the shots to children in their own countries. Cambodia uses both Sinovac and Sinopharm’s shots in children 6-11. Regulators in Chile approved Sinovac for children as young as 6. In Argentina, regulators approved the Sinopharm vaccine for children as young as age 3.

-AP-

The Braves continued to ride Eddie Rosario’s heroics, finishing off the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 4-2 victory at home Saturday in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.

Rosario’s three-run home run in the fourth inning was the difference as the Braves advanced to the World Series for the first time since 1999. Atlanta will travel to Houston for Game 1 of the Fall Classic on Tuesday.

“I’ve been asked how I feel and I really can’t put it into words yet, but I think this is what pure joy is,” said Braves veteran Freddie Freeman, the longest tenured player on the club.

The Braves jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on back-to-back two-out doubles by Ozzie Albies and Riley.

Anderson held the Dodgers in check until the fourth, when Los Angeles had runners on second and first with one out. Bellinger rolled a two-out RBI single to left-center field to tie the game.

The Braves used another two-out rally to regain the lead in the fourth. Travis d’Arnaud walked, Ehire Adrianza doubled and Rosario sent the seventh pitch of his at-bat against Buehler over the wall and just inside the right-field foul pole for a 4-1 lead.

The Dodgers pulled within 4-2 in the seventh on an RBI double from Pollock. With runners on second and third with nobody out, Matzek came on to strike out Albert Pujols, Steven Souza Jr. and Mookie Betts to end the threat. Matzek added a perfect eighth inning.

“Honestly the job becomes simple at that point: Just get three guys out before they score,” Matzek said on MLB Network afterward, referring to his tall order in the seventh. “I just focused and went ahead and made my next pitch when I could. I stepped off, took a deep breath and said, ‘Alright, let’s go. Best stuff, let’s go.’ “

Closer Will Smith finished off the victory with a perfect ninth inning for his fourth save of the postseason, getting Pollock to ground out to shortstop to end it.

–Field Level Media

Gwinnettdailypost

Actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on the set of a Western and killed the cinematographer, officials said. The director of the movie was wounded, and authorities are investigating what happened.

Halyna Hutchins, cinematographer on “Rust,” and director Joel Souza were shot Thursday in the desert on the southern outskirts of Santa Fe.

A spokesperson for Baldwin said there was an accident involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks. Santa Fe County Sheriff’s spokesman Juan Rios said detectives were investigating what type of projectile was discharged and how. No immediate charges were filed.

“The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event,” International Cinematographers Guild president John Lindley and executive director Rebecca Rhine said in a statement.

Hutchins, a 2015 graduate of the American Film Institute, worked as director of photography on the 2020 action film “Archenemy,” starring Joe Manganiello. She was named a “rising star” by American Cinematographer in 2019.

-AP-

Kid-size doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine appear safe and nearly 91% effective at preventing symptomatic infections in 5- to 11-year-olds, according to study details released Friday as the U.S. considers opening vaccinations to that age group.

The Biden administration has purchased enough kid-size doses — in special orange-capped vials to distinguish them from adult vaccine — for the nation’s roughly 28 million 5- to 11-year-olds. If the vaccine is cleared, millions of doses will be promptly shipped around the country, along with kid-size needles.

A Pfizer study tracked 2,268 kids in that age group who got two shots three weeks apart of either a placebo or the low-dose vaccine. Each dose was one-third the amount given to teens and adults.

Researchers calculated the low-dose vaccine was nearly 91% effective, based on 16 COVID-19 cases in youngsters given dummy shots versus three cases among vaccinated children. There were no severe illnesses reported among any of the youngsters, but the vaccinated ones had much milder symptoms than their unvaccinated counterparts.

Pfizer’s study of younger kids found the low-dose shots proved safe, with similar or fewer temporary side effects such as sore arms, fever or achiness that teens experience.

While children run a lower risk of severe illness or death than older people, COVID-19 has killed more than 630 Americans 18 and under, according to the CDC. Nearly 6.2 million children have been infected with the coronavirus, more than 1.1 million in the last six weeks as the delta mutant surged, the American Academy of Pediatrics says.

The shots could begin in early November — with the first children in line fully protected by Christmas — if regulators give the go-ahead.

-AP-

Taylor hit three homers and drove in six runs, joining the likes of Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth in October baseball lore, as the Los Angeles Dodgers broke loose at the plate to beat Atlanta 11-2 on Thursday, cutting the Braves’ lead to 3-2 in the best-of-seven NL Championship Series.

“We needed to make a statement,” the mild-mannered Taylor said. “They put it on us yesterday. We had to respond.”

After mustering only four hits during a 9-2 loss in Game 4 that pushed them to the brink of elimination, the desperate Dodgers rapped out eight hits by the third inning off Max Fried. They finished with 17, a club record for a postseason game, and also equaled a postseason franchise mark with five home runs.

“I never look cool doing anything,” Taylor said.

The versatile veteran had an opportunity to match the major league mark of four home runs in a game, but struck out swinging to end the eighth.

“I was trying not to think about it,” Taylor said. “Usually I’m just trying to hit line drives.”

Taylor also hit a game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth inning against St. Louis in the NL wild-card game for the 106-win Dodgers.

Game 6 is Saturday in Atlanta, where the Braves get two more chances to clinch their first trip to the World Series since 1999.

-AP-