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Few gay athletes have captured our attention longer than has Tom Daley. With the Tokyo Olympics set to get underway this week, this look back on on his career reminds us that there's much more to his very public life than diving. From BBC Sport Daley with his son Robbie and husband Dustin Lance Black - they were married in 2017 By Nick Hope, BBC Olympic sports reporter in Tokyo The young boy facing the camera spoke with a smile, but everyone could see the steeliness in his eyes. "I want to get to the Olympics and win a gold medal," Tom Daley told the BBC in 2005. He was holding a picture he'd made - a drawing of himself doing a handstand on the 10m diving platform at the London Games, then still seven years away. "If I wasn't to win, it would drive me on to be at the next Olympics and get that medal then." Daley was just 11 when he stated that mission. What he's achieved since - including becoming world champion at 15 and twice winning Olympic bronze - owes much to a remarkable resolve that's also helped overcome struggles away from the pool. Growing up, he was bullied at school. In 2011, his father died at the age of 40. He feared the consequences of revealing his sexuality before coming out in 2013. Daley is Britain's most decorated diver, but he possesses a level of fame that far transcends his discipline. He has become one of sport's highest-profile gay athletes, a role model for others in the LGBTQ+ community. He has suffered several media run-ins during the course of a life lived under the spotlight. Now aged 27 and a father himself, he says he finds it "crazy" to see how "focused and obsessed" he was as a child. "If my son was talking like that at the same age, I'd be like 'wow, calm down, take your time, enjoy it,'" he tells BBC Sport. "But clearly there was just something in me that wanted it so much." Daley still wants that medal. And Tokyo - his fourth Olympics - arguably represents his last realistic chance to claim it. That same dream is still driving him today, but parenthood has given him a new perspective, on both triumph and trauma. Daley lived and breathed for the Olympics. He vividly recalls the efforts he went to, as an 11-year-old, to watch the men's synchronised 10m platform final during Athens 2004, when Leon Taylor and Pete Waterfield won silver for Britain. "We were on holiday in our caravan and everyone was going to the kids' clubs but I was determined to stay in and watch the diving so I was leaning out of the window with the aerial to try to get a better signal," he recalls while laughing. Four years later, Daley was already gaining more attention than his "idols" ever had. He had qualified for Beijing 2008, aged 13, and cameras were trained on his every move. He didn't challenge for medals in China, but the crowd loved watching the young teenager - cheering on 'baby Daley' throughout the event. A star was born. But back home, it wasn't all easy. "Some people at my school were so happy for me, but others started being really horrible and I was bullied," he says. "For a long time, I just kept quiet about it, but I bottled up so much that eventually I just couldn't train and it drained me so much mentally until I had nothing left. "It got to a point where I was always embarrassed to talk about diving and I couldn't take a compliment, because whenever someone said something nice, I had this fear I was going to be mocked." It left Daley wanting to be home schooled. Instead he was offered the chance to join Plymouth College towards the end of his first year of GCSEs, a month before the 2009 World Championships. In Rome, the revitalised 15-year-old graduated from medal contender to fully grown champion. While his landmark performance in the 10m platform was striking, what happened in the hour after was perhaps even more memorable. Daley rolls his eyes, but also smiles, when recalling the now infamous press conference. "I remember seeing my dad sneak in with a BBC journalist and he had this beaming smile," he recalls. "He put his hand up and said: 'I'm Rob, Tom's dad, and I want a cuddle.' I remember thinking: 'Oh my god...'" In the footage, Daley can be heard muttering "dad, this is so embarrassing" as he gingerly makes his way around the media scrum to his father - and another hoard of cameras. "I remember him saying: 'Tom I took you to all of your training sessions, taught you to ride a bike, I changed your nappies when you were a kid.' He said it was the proudest moment of his life to see his son become world champion. "When I look back, it was a very special moment as we'd achieved it together, and now as a father myself, I completely understand why he was so emotional." Continues with video https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/57817424

From BBC Travel For years, the Moravia neighbourhood of Medellín was the city's rubbish dump. But in recent years, this former landfill has blossomed into a thriving arts and cultural centre. Stroll through Medellín's working-class Moravia neighbourhood on any given morning and you'll see a hawker belting out "aguacates!" through a small loudspeaker while dragging a wooden wagon of gigantic avocados behind him. Scents of deep-fried cheese-and-dough fritters swirl from heated buñuelo displays. Glancing up amid the winding sea of humble brick-and-cement abodes, a grandma hangs her clothes out to dry on a thin wire on her balcony. Amid it all, motorcycles, delivery trucks and stray dogs do a delicate dance while navigating the narrow roads. This multisensory experience may not seem entirely out of place elsewhere in Colombia, but it was unfathomable here just years ago. That's because, not only was Medellín dogged by its reputation as the world's unofficial "murder capital" for years, but Moravia once had a particularly undesirable reputation within the city: it was its rubbish dump. Medellín is just three decades removed from its designation as "The Most Dangerous City" in the world by Timemagazine. In 1991, the homicide rate peaked at a world-high of 380 per 100,000 people as the country's drug war oozed into the streets and facets of everyday life. Today, those years appear to be long gone. The homicide rate is roughly one-fifteenth of what it once was, there's a genuine sense of revitalisation in the air and public projects are breathing new life into the city. The Morro de Moravia (Moravia Hill) enlivens the urban landscape of Medellin (Credit: Alcadía de Medellín) A squeaky-clean Metro system now whizzes above ground, cable cars string into hillside barrios, and public escalators wind through the once-unnavigable Comuna 13 neighbourhood. Each of these is not only a picturesque way for visitors to take in the city's skyline and sky-high Andes Mountains vistas, but they also connect those in some of Medellín's poorest and hardest-to-navigate neighbourhoods with the centre city and job opportunities. Medellín's central 'mountain' When viewed from above, beige-and-brick structures dot Medellín's landscape. The northern half of the city is enclosed by mountains, but there is one noticeable green heap in the centre of town just north of the Parque Norte amusement park: the Morro de Moravia (Moravia Hill), which is blanketed in grass, walking paths and gardens and is punctuated with a large greenhouse on top. Yet, walking up the mountain, you're greeted with large signs and historical photos showing what life was once like on this now-serene hill: black-and-white images reveal a vast landscape of dirt, hand-made shanties built from rubbish and locals picking through the city's dumped debris. When the Ferrocarril de Antioquia regional railroad connected Moravia with the surrounding countryside in the 1960s, it brought displaced families forced to relocate to the safer confines of the city. Their once-quiet lives outside Medellín had been made dangerous by right- and left-wing militarists engaging in a partisan war over land and goods. Settling in Moravia – which formed in the early 1900s as a linear settlement bordering the railroad and slowly expanded out from it – was a safer bet. In the 1970s, the city authorised the area to be used as a municipal landfill, which led this slowly new barrio to explode into a mountain of garbage. As a result, a number of the previously displaced families were relocated to the western hills of Medellín. Other families resisted further relocation as the trash began piling up all around them. Of the families that resisted and remained, many operated recycling operations out of their homes to make a living. Continues with photos https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210713-moravia-colombias-unexpected-green-oasis

Received no Emmy nominations (and Bridgerton got 12????). For me The Good Lord Bird was MUST SEE television. Showtime just ran it again. $%&@ the Emmy's. Vulture ran a great opinion piece on this.

Lots of internet troll out there, trying to say things that obviously wrong just to get some attention.

I start watching this, not much going on but very cute, both boys and series itself. Two episodes already available.

Why stoop to their level haha. Ignorance is bliss

I always thought that TotallyOz had it in one of his trunks he travels with

Is supposed to be a great vaccine and longer lasting than the others. Something about having used all the spikes on the corona virus instead of only 1, like Moderna and Pfizer used...

Just watched The Good Lord Bird epi 1 on Showtime. Ethan Hawke is amazing. Perhaps an emmy or two.

I just noticed that Oz is a "root Admin." Now I will think of root canals when seeing his posts!

The "beginning" of the negotiation?? This third wave started in early April and was becoming serious in May. Why has the government sat on its collective ass and done nothing for more than two months? Oh, I forgot. "We have tried our hardest." When this government finally gets is comeuppance, I suspect that will be written on its gravestone.

You encouraged me to watch it and I loved it. I thought the acting was incredible! It deserved some nominations. IMHO

Thanks again Mr. Lucky...I enjoyed the book thoroughly except for the ending...now on to the Bangkok series. Burdett is one of those authors you'd like to meet.

An update to this, we are now 4.6mil second doses completed (14.3%) and are doing 400k doses daily now. The gov shift the vaccine doses to two most affected states, and aim to vaccinate all adult at least 1 dose by august 1st, after which walk in is allowed for people in these two states. 63% of adult have received their first dose in these two states.

don't waste your time, for most of those people only way to bring them to their senses will be to get somebody very close to them infected and landing under ventilator if not in the morgue. Since we don't wish that to anybody it's better to leave them alone

Its complacency. Thailand has been lucky to enjoy low infection rate for the most part of 2020, and able to bring down second waves pretty efficiently. I think we observe similar trend with taiwan and australia as well, where the goverment are able to contain the spread but fail to order their vaccine supplies. Now that delta variant wrecking havoc, turns out that their strategy or lack of strategy backfire. Ive said this before, that some countries will be ill-equiped to fight the spread simply because they have chosen to ward it off out of the countries from the get go, so their whole system to combat the virus have not been tested. Add incompetant and corrupt gov in that mix, you get what u see now in thailand.h Though my guess was a bit off since i thought that phuket sandbox might be the reason. Instead, its their lack of border control or possible some high so refusing to quarantine is the reason. Of course, any competant gov would see this mistake and start to impose strict lockdown, but instead, we saw songkran holiday was allowed. Its not the first we heard this though, it has been repeated over and over in many countries prior to this, when everyone is scrambling to learn about the virus and how to control it. It just that thai couldve learned from other countries mistake and avoid the current disaster. My country malaysia isnt doing any better in containing the virus though. And i dare to say due to similar reasons. We were doing well early on, get complacent, and thought we could control it even if we see some increases in the daily cases. Politicians kept saying they cant impose strict lockdown to save economy (mainly factories and construction) until its too late and our hospitals are hammered. The only thing that we did ok is vaccine acquisition. We are not the best and ordered enough supply early on, but we picked up early and start negotiating contracts and even join covax albeit a bit late. And it is due to our second waves, that started in october due to a state election resulted from power grabbing move by politicians there. And the current third wave right now, our minister managed to expedite some vaccines orders through further negotiation and of course some donations as well. Another move recently is to expedite vaccination in the two states that see high daily cases, (KL and Selangor). By August 1st, all adult is these two states will at least get their first dose, and any resident who have not receive their appointment yet or those without identification (illegal) can simply walk-in to get their vaccine. Hopefully cases will go down soon, as today daily cases are 12.9k with 6-7k are in these 2 states alone. We are vaccinating around 400k+ doses daily now, for a 32mil population country. Back to the topic, Malaysia is one of the country that is waiting for astrazeneca deliveries from thai factory. However, the delay will not affect us much for now as we have ordered i believe 30% more doses than required to vaccinate the whole population.

Still valuable. But, to build a website is a lot of work for that value to pay off.

Although it's been at least 60 years since I saw the film version of "On The Beach," I can vividly recall the final scenes. What the two novels have in common is that nuclear war is far less likely to arise out of miscalculations than all too correct calculations that run their course in a doomsday, tit-for-tat scenario. Once a set of conditions are put into play--accidentally or intentionally--what follows can be nearly impossible to avoid. And the South China Sea tops the list of most dangerous places on the globe today. Filmed in black and white, here's the opening scene from On The Beach. "Dancing Matilda" is the movie's theme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMzEWpKKOZs

From Thai Enquirer By Pear Maneechote Two years ago, no one could have anticipated the world in which we live today, struck by one of the deadliest pandemics in history. With cases still soaring and more and more bodies lined up in Thailand, the battle here is far from over. There is no shortage of devastation or despair in our country, felt in hospital corridors, on the front page of the newspaper and on the dinner tables in our homes. But Thailand is not alone in this fight. The devastating third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, particularly surrounding the highly infectious Delta variant, has been ravaging Southeast Asia, leading to a record number of deaths and daily infections linked to the virus. Many have noted that most countries in the region are experiencing their “worst outbreaks since the pandemic began,” due to the emergence of the more aggressive forms of variants, lack of vaccines and spread of misinformation. Here’s the latest update on how other nations are doing in Southeast Asia. Indonesia is the new epicenter Indonesia has become the new epicenter of the pandemic as of this week. The country is ranked the highest in Southeast Asia, third in Asia, and 16th in the world. With a reported 2,911,733 million cases and 74,920 deaths, Indonesia has surpassed India and Brazil to become the country with the world’s highest daily count of new infections. But the exact numbers — including cases with asymptomatic patients, patients who have not been tested or those who have died at home — could be much higher. Much like Thailand, social media in the country is flooded with news of those affected by the outbreak, with netizens pleading for help and grieving the loss of their loved ones. Hospitals are overcrowded, and burial sites are running out. The current situation and economic hardship also make social isolation almost impossible, especially for those living on a daily wage. Many experts have cautioned that the country still hasn’t even reached the peak of the pandemic yet, and it may surpass India’s number of infections in the near future. Aside from the startling rise in infections, Indonesia is also facing a situation that Dr. Pandu Riono, a prominent epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia, calls “herd stupidity” due to widespread and rampant misinformation. According to Dr. Pandu, Indonesian government officials have been sending mixed messages and making poor decisions throughout this outbreak. Many citizens have also refused to follow strict health protocols and social distancing, as well as refusing vaccinations based on religious conspiracy theories. The vaccine rollout in Indonesia has been incredibly low, with only 6 per cent of the population vaccinated out of its 270 million inhabitants. So far, the government has only tested 15,793,858 of its entire population. The World Health Organization, since the onset of the pandemic last year, has already urged the country to perform more tests on its people, especially on suspected patients. Myanmar’s military coup The February coup in Myanmar, followed by the subsequent protests and civil disobedience movement led by citizens and healthcare workers alike, has crumbled the country’s healthcare system and deepened its already ailing economic recession. A nationwide lockdown and additional holidays have been imposed from July 17 – 25, in an attempt to contain the outbreak. But the country’s Covid-19 testing system and vaccination rollout, in fact, have collapsed ever since the military coup took place. In defiance of the military government, many citizens have refused treatment and vaccination. Doctors and patients have fled military-run hospitals because of anger and fear toward the military authorities and their refusal to cooperate with the regime. Families are searching for treatment and oxygen on their own, according to The Asian Times. According to the latest report by CNN, as many as one-third of all people tested in Myanmar have tested positive for the virus, with the UN’s special rapporteur for human rights warning that the junta-run country could become the next “Covid-19 super spreader state.” Myanmar is in a crisis. Hospitals and crematoriums are overwhelmed and are unable to keep up with the surge. Volunteers have been going door-to-door to collect the rising number of victims dying at home. Out of a population of 54 million, the junta-struck country has reported 234,710 cases and 5,281 linked to the coronavirus outbreak. Vietnam’s latest surge Vietnam was previously hailed as one of the world’s Covid-19 success stories, until the latest surge ravaged the country. Its largest city, Ho Chi Minh City, is now on the verge of medical collapse as the virus has spread rampantly into the commercial and supply chain hub since the beginning of June. “Vietnam is now officially entering the pandemic,” noted a prominent Vietnamese doctor, Dr. Tran Van Phuc, while adding that the country is also suffering through a low vaccination rollout. As of July 17, the communist-led nation has administered 4,261,252 vaccine doses across the country out of its 96.46 million inhabitants, accounting for only up to around 4.5 per cent of its total population. However, only 309,791 have got two doses. Over half of the country’s infections occurred during the past month, with 60,180 reported cases and 334 deaths linked to the virus. Health authorities believe that it all started with Ms. Loan, who started experiencing symptoms in April, attending a church service where people were not wearing masks back in Hanoi earlier in April of this year. To control the outbreak, the Vietnamese government advised its citizens in the capital city of Hanoi to stay at home and stopped all non-essential services. There has been a nationwide closure of indoor dining, salons, gyms, as well as a halt to domestic travel via rail and bus. “This outbreak is not the same as the previous ones,” said the country’s health minister Nguyen Thanh Long on Sunday. “We are preparing and standing ready for worse and worse scenarios.” Malaysia’s white flag In Southeast Asia, Malaysia has the third highest number of infections after the Philippines and Indonesia, with 927,533 cases and 7,148 deaths. The country is currently battling its worst pandemic to date, seeing an all-time high in daily infections consecutively last week, with its death toll tripling in the past two months. Due to the staggering rise in cases since May, Malaysia has gone into “full lockdown” nationwide since June 1, 2021, which includes an 8 pm curfew in the capital Kuala Lumpur and the neighboring state Selangor. The spike in cases has caused hospitals in some regions to reach full capacity, running severely low on medical supplies, with the entire healthcare system as a whole on the brink of collapse. Only 8 per cent of its 32 million people are fully inoculated, while 19 per cent have received at least one jab of the Covid-19 vaccine. Besides having severe economic effects on the country, the pandemic has caused major political instability and uproar against the government. Many Malaysians are now struggling for their lives and pleading for help. Statistics indicate that the suicide rate has gone up to alarming levels, with a total of 468 suicides reported during the first five months of 2021, up from 631 during the same period in 2020. With the #benderaputih (“white flag”) campaign, Malaysians, namely those belonging to lower-income households, have been flying white flags outside their homes and posting them on social media as a plea for help. Much like Thailand, celebrities, businesses and other citizens have offered their help by providing food and other necessities. Following the “white flag” campaign, some people have responded to the movement with another one by flying the black flag, a new campaign urging Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to resign. This was led by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who tweeted three black flag emojis earlier in July. https://www.thaienquirer.com/30156/southeast-asias-worst-wave/

From Thai Enquirer Thailand moves to join COVAX Thailand will now join the COVAX programme, the National Vaccine Institute (NVI) said on Wednesday, after holding out from joining the international cooperation framework for months. “Even though we have tried our hardest, the vaccines that we have procured so far are still not enough for the current outbreak situation,” said Dr Nakorn Premsri, the director of the NVI, adding that there had been “many agencies and many regulations involved with the procurement.” To supplement current supplies, “we are looking to bring in second-generation vaccines that are effective against the mutation and we are expecting them to arrive by the first quarter of next year,” he said. The institute is at the stage of “beginning of the negotiation and the sending of a letter to Gavi to state the intention to join the COVAX programme.” The COVAX programme aims to provide equitable access to Covid vaccines globally and is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization (WHO). There are currently 172 countries participating as donors, recipients or some combination according to the WHO website. Thailand has so far been one of just a handful of countries not to join, which also includes Turkey and Russia. https://www.thaienquirer.com/30268/thailand-moves-to-join-covax-to-address-vaccine-shortfall/ =============================== From Bangkok Post Ambulance service overstretched, bodies left lying in streets Critics accused the government of allowing public health services to collapse after three people died on the streets of Bangkok and one was left lying in the middle of the road for hours before an ambulance finally arrived. The body that lay on the road for 12 hours was later found to be infected with Covid-19. The most mentioned case on social media was a man who collapsed and later died in the middle of Soi Ban Phan Thom, off Phra Sumeru Road. Chana Songkhram police chief Pol Col Sanong Sanemanee said on Traffic Police radio station that the man died about 5pm despite emergency responders' efforts to keep him alive. An ambulance did not arrive until 10.30pm, and took away the body. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2152531/health-system-in-crisis-critics-tell-government ==================================== Record 13,002 new Covid cases There were a record 13,002 new Covid-19 cases, and 108 more fatalities, over the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry reported on Wednesday morning. There were 11,953 cases in the general population and 1,049 among prison inmates. Since April 1, around when the third wave of Covid-19 began, there have been 410,614 Covid-19 patients, 277,030 have recovered. Since the pandemic started early last year, there have been 439,477 Covid-19 cases, 304,456 of whom recovered. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2152383/record-13-002-new-covid-cases

From Pattaya Mail When Pattaya first shut down at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Alisa Phanthusak Kunpalin thought that the iconic Tiffany’s Show she heads would be closed for at most three months. Sixteen months later, the stage lights remain dark, the seats empty and the feathered headdresses dusty. Alisa, Tiffany’s managing director, now fears it will be that way for some time. “I thought the government could control it,” Alisa said of the coronavirus’ spread. “But unfortunately, there are no signs of recovery.” The Tiffany’s Show, which had run continuously for 46 years until Pattaya shut down in March 2020. In between the three waves, the Beach Road theater reopened briefly and only on weekends and holidays, but it wasn’t enough to sustain the Tiffany cast of dancers, crew and administrative employees. “We were responsible for a huge slice of tourism income that poured from our sweats and tears,” one of the Tiffany transgender dancers, “Nong Kuk-Kik”, wrote on her Facebook page this week. “But now we face an indescribable situation with our income and daily lives.” To be fair, all of Pattaya’s entertainment sector has been wiped out by the three waves of business closures. The transgender cabarets are not unique. Thousands of women once worked as bar hostesses or go-go dancers on Walking Street, Soi LK Metro and the side streets in between. Hundreds of men did likewise in the city’s gay bars. Transgender women, with far fewer employment options, toiled in dingy Soi 6 brothels with only the youngest, tallest and fairest “ladyboys” lifting themselves out of the sex industry to join the famed Tiffany’s and Alcazar choruses. Continues with photos https://www.pattayamail.com/news/glamourous-life-just-a-memory-for-pattayas-ladyboy-cabaret-dancers-364103