Professor: Olympics should be postponed because of Zika
With the Opening Ceremonies in Rio de Janeiro less than three months away, a Canadian professor has called for the Olympics to be postponed or moved because of the Zika outbreak, warning the influx of visitors to Brazil will result in the avoidable birth of malformed babies.
“But for the Games, would anyone recommend sending an extra half a million visitors into Brazil right now?” University of Ottawa professor Amir Attaran, who specializes in public health, said in an article published this week in the Harvard Public Health Review.
Attaran’s position is not shared by Olympic and global health authorities, who insist the Aug. 5-21 Games will not be derailed by the virus.
The Raiders have signed free-agent defensive end Greg Townsend Jr., whose father was a two-time Pro Bowl pick with the team and won Super Bowl XVIII as a rookie with Los Angeles in 1984.
The Bills announced that they will be retiring Smith’s number at halftime during the team’s prime-time home opener against the New York Jets on Sept. 15.
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and seven-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal also advanced in straight sets on the red clay courts at the Foro Italico.
In women’s action, Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka and last week’s Madrid Open winner, Simona Halep, each lost.
Iowa State announced Emmanuel Malou will skip his remaining college eligibility and enter the NBA draft.