The Olympic Games officially begin today and they certainly are going to be different this year as compared to any other game. This is due to the games being postponed because of the pandemic, which has estimated to cost a staggering $20 billion due to the loss in spectators for the Tokyo Games. Although the games are a great cause for joy for many people there has been some anger among the Japanese people themselves with the decision to go ahead.
It is estimated that the Olympics will bring more than 11,300 athletes from all over the world, where they will compete for several weeks, to get their hands on the medals that they deserve. These games were initially scheduled to go ahead for March 2020, however due to the pandemic it has taken more than a year for them to go ahead. International Committee president Thomas Bach shared his thoughts on the situation by saying, “I think it will be a moment of joy and relief when entering the stadium…”
Furthermore, it is important to note that viewers will be seeing a lot of masks and quarantining and testing will remain. The city of Tokyo itself is in a state of emergency and the recent news has not been pleasant with a surge in Covid-19 infections. This is exactly why the current Games have come under such criticism, especially with the Japanese public who argue that in light of the recent spike, they really should be cancelled or postponed again.
Nevertheless, the Games are going ahead but there are strict safety measures put in place, along with huge precautions being taken. The biggest difference with these games is that there will be no spectators who can enter the venues. Furthermore the athletes themselves have to wear a face mask when they can, however they can take it off when competing. They also need to be tested daily, and the recent news is unpleasant with 11 positive cases among athletes so far.
So with the 20 year old war seemingly coming to an end, it can be seen that there is a growing conflict from the Taliban as the U.S. Forces leave the country. Afghan interpreters who worked alongside the military are now having to ask their former colleagues and friends to help get them out of the country. American President Joe Biden has vowed to evacuate all of the interpreters as a reward for them risking their lives to help American troops.
Many of the interpreters have been contacting soldiers through social media sites, asking to help them speed up the U.S. Visas that have been promised. It is estimated that thousands of Afghan interpreters are currently at risk of persecution by the Taliban, as the group gains control of more territory by the day. It was only in June that the Taliban said, that they would not harm those who worked alongside foreign forces, however many believe this is far from the truth.
It is estimated that around 18,000 Afghans who worked for the US military have applied for a Special Immigrant Visa program in order to come to the United States. John Kirby, who is Pentagon’s spokesperson said in a statement, “We’re still examining possibilities for overseas locations to include some departmental installations…” Many translators are beginning to feel abandoned and the vetting process for visas is very complex and takes a long time.
The 20 years of war has left thousands dead on both sides of the war and even across the border in Pakistan. It is also unfortunate that many innocent civilians have been trapped or left dead in the conflict, with people dying in coalition air strikes and attacks carried out by the Taliban. There is also the fact that many millions have had to take refuge in countries all over the world, most going to neighbouring countries while facing extreme hunger and hardship. Another important achievement perhaps was that the fall of the Taliban regime did allow for significant progress of women’s rights and education.
Sources: CNN, BBC
The Billboard’s list of highest paid music artists has Taylor Swift as number one, as she made a comfortable $23 million last year in the United States. This is perhaps due to her re-release of and old album as well as releasing two brand new albums, which was good with the fan base. The singer has faced a lot of obstacles in her career, and has worked hard to be at the current top position.
A factor in the amazing success that Taylor has gained is through always keeping her fans happy. Furthermore, she has had 23 Billboard Music Awards, 12 Country Music Awards, 10 Grammy Awards, and an Emmy Award. It is important to note that with little touring, many artists had to give up their spots as the highest paid artists. Many artists around the world had to face less revenue due to the decline in live music sales, collectively this was around $387 million as compared to the $969 million they took in 2019.
Needless to say, the pandemic has had a horrendous effect on the touring revenue but it did allow for a greater consumption of recorded music. The royalties received from recorded music, this includes streaming and publishing, grew an astounding 56%, so for the first time the revenue earned from concerts did not determine the success of an artist. Taylor Swift’s success lies in the revenue she earned from the recorded masters of her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore.
As she owns the licences for distribution, Taylor takes around 46% of her sales in comparison to other artists who only take 33% when they don’t own their masters. The second spot on the list is taken by Post Malone, who was touring very frequently prior to lockdown. One of the last concerts to take place before the industry went down was at the Pepsi Centre in Denver, which included Post Malone’s sold-out show.
Last year there was a tragic increase in the deaths from drug overdoses in the Unites States, this has unfortunately only got worse. The drug overdoses rose by almost 30% in 2020 as compared to 2019 in the USA, this amounts to 93,000 people dying just in the U.S.. An important thing to note here is that 75% of these deaths were related to overdoses on opioids which are used to relieve pain.
Pain killers were excessively marketed and often over-prescribed as they became more and more common from the 1980s. This has led to major problems with addictions and overdoses, and this is such a huge problem that many pharmaceutical companies have been heavily prosecuted for their role in the opioid crisis. The pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson reached a hefty settlement of $230 million, and Purdue Pharma, which makes OxyContin painkillers agreed to pay $8.3 billion for its role.
Reports suggest that, in the current opioid crisis, that the rates of addition to opioids are much higher than Purdue’s marketing is claiming. With Purdue claiming that less than 1% of patients become addicted, other credible studies showed that the actual rates of addiction ranged from 8% to 12%. One of the drugs at the centre of all this is Oxycontin and it has many thousands of patient testimonials of the harmful addictive affects that it has.
Sources: Cdc, alcoholstudies