| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Monday, August 2, 2021 by Robert MacMillan | Hello Here's what you need to know. Belarusian sprinter seeks asylum after refusing to return home, Square drops $29 billion on Afterpay, Fauci says the U.S. won’t lock down again | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is seen inside a police box at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, August 1, 2021. Reuters/Issei Kato World Sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, 24, walked into the Polish embassy in Tokyo to seek asylum, a day after refusing to board a flight home to Belarus. The Belarusian team took her to the airport against her wishes on Sunday following her complaints on Instagram about her coaches. Once there, she sought protection from Japanese police.
Madeira, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura… Drawn by sun, sea and speedy Wi-Fi, remote workers are converging on Europe's southernmost islands to try "workcationing" before employers order them back to the office.
Australia rolled out the army to make sure people in Sydney obey rules to stay at home as New South Wales and neighboring Queensland slog through an outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta variant.
The Biden administration will launch a new program to resettle certain Afghans as refugees in the United States, with an official announcement to come on Monday. Some Afghans risk Taliban retaliation because of their association with the United States during the 20-year U.S. war. |  Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks during a Senate committee hearing in Washington, D.C., July 20, 2021. Stefani Reynolds/Pool via Reuters U.S. The United States will not enter another COVID-19 lockdown, but things will get worse because the Delta variant is fueling a rise in cases, mostly among the unvaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci says.
The largest public-works legislation in decades arrived after lengthy negotiations. Senators on Sunday introduced the $1 trillion plan to invest in roads, bridges, ports, high-speed internet and more, with some predicting the chamber could pass the bill this week.
A pandemic-related ban on residential evictions expired over the weekend, putting millions of American renters at risk of being forced from their homes.
A fundraising group run by former President Donald Trump raised $62 million in the first half of the year but only spent $3 million, with the biggest chunk of money going to a pro-Trump research center and more than $65,000 to Trump's own hotels, according to federal records. |  The Afterpay app seen on a mobile phone. Illustration by Loren Elliott/Reuters Business Square Inc, the payments firm of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, will purchase buy now, pay later company Afterpay Ltd for $29 billion. The takeover underscores the popularity of a business model that has upended consumer credit by charging merchants a fee to offer small point-of-sale loans which their shoppers repay in interest-free instalments, bypassing credit checks. AfterPay’s founders stand to become billionaires.
Zoom agreed to pay $85 million and bolster its security practices to settle a lawsuit claiming it violated users' privacy rights by sharing personal data with Facebook, Google and LinkedIn, and letting hackers disrupt Zoom meetings in a practice called Zoombombing.
Disney took off the cute mouse gloves and aimed a few punches at Scarlett Johansson after she sued them, saying she showed “callous disregard” for doing so during a pandemic. It's a sign that her lawsuit, alleging breach of contract over the streaming release of the film "Black Widow" caught Hollywood’s attention.
Heineken has a pretty good head to display atop its financial results for the first half of the year, but rising costs of commodities such barley, sugar and aluminum, along with the end of hedging contracts to mitigate those increases, could flatten things out for the brewer over the next year. | | | | | | | | | Video of the day  Japan says Belarusian athlete is 'safe' in Tokyo | | | | And finally… Pandas, of course  Huan Huan and her twin cubs are seen inside their enclosure at the Beauval zoo in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, France, August 2, 2021. ZooParc de Beauval via Reuters. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
