Monthly Archives: July 2021

Novak Djokovic won in straight sets, but it was three really tough sets. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Novak Djokovic is in his 30th Grand Slam final with a semifinal victory in straight sets at the All England Club on Friday, but it was far from an easy task. Djokovic was challenged throughout, edging Canadian Denis Shapovalov by the slim margins 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5 to get through.

Djokovic, ranked No. 1 in the world, is going for a calendar Grand Slam having won the Australian and French Open in 2021. He's also going for a 20th major championship, which would tie him with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for most all-time. The 30th final berth is the second most all-time behind Federer's 31.

"I don't think that the scoreline says enough about the performance and the match," Djokovic said in the on-court interview.

Shapovalov, the No. 10 seed, had chances to win the first set, which would have changed the entire match for the 22-year-old against one of the game's greats. Djokovic said afterward the young player should have won that first one, and was "probably the better player for most of the second set."

He struggled on break points in his first Grand Slam semifinal, allowing Djokovic to do just enough and advance. Shapovalov couldn't live up to the big moments he needed. He had 35 unforced errors while winning one of 11 break points.

"I would like to give him a big round of applause for everything hes done today, and these few weeks," Djokovic said of his opponent immediately after the win. "Were going to see a lot of him in the future, definitely. Hes a great player.

Djokovic, 34, is in his seventh Wimbledon final and enters it having won 18 consecutive sets. He forced a tiebreaker and closed the first set after Shapovalov sent a forehand wide. In the second, he broke at 5-5 and served his way out to the win. And in the third he did it again, feeling the impending victory coming on a slam to win the penultimate game.

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Matteo Berrettini of Italy had little trouble against Hubert Hurkacz of Poland to advance to the Wimbledon final. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Matteo Berrettini stormed into his first Grand Slam final behind a 6-3, 6-0, 6-7(3), 6-4 over Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinals at the All England Club on Friday.

He is the first Italian man to reach the Wimbledon final and is coming off a semifinal appearance at the French Open.

"I think I never dreamed about this because it was too much for a dream," Berrettini said in the on-court interview. "I'm just so happy."

Berrettini, seeded seventh, relied on his serve and forehand to lay in winners and took advantage of 11 straight game victories. Hurkacz came back in the final set to give the Italian a tough time and forced a fourth set. Berrettini used his serve to get out of it and move into his first Grand Slam final of his career.

It was Hurkacz, 24, who took control of the match early with big serves and a comeback from 0-40 in the fourth game. But then the 25-year-old Berrettini, trailing 2-3, took full control for a match and a half. He stormed through and won 11 straight games to go up 6-3, 6-0, 1-0 en route to a finals berth.

Hurkacz, who came into Wimbledon having lost six straight matches, rediscovered his serve in the third set. He drew even with the Italian at each step in the third and forced a tiebreaker. He nearly won every point in the tiebreaker and looked sharper than he had all day, eventually surviving to go another set.

Berrettini finished it off with five aces in his second-to-last service game and eventually won out in the end.

Hurkacz, the No. 14 seed, made it this far with a stunning straight-sets victory against Roger Federer. It was the first time in 19 years Federer had lost in straight sets and Hurkacz finished it off with a 6-0 set. He came into his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal having defeated the No. 2 and No. 6 seeds in the tournament draw.

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Wimbledon 2021: Novak Djokovic reaches 30th Grand Slam final, will face Matteo Berrettini - Yahoo Sports

In early October 2018, just a few days after Jamal Khashoggi had disappeared inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, White House officials first saw the TV footage that stopped them in their tracks.

A supposed Khashoggi look-alike a heavy-set man wearing the journalists clothes and glasses could be seen walking out of the consulate as though he didnt have a care in the world. Kirsten Fontenrose, then the director of Gulf affairs at the National Security Council, suspected right away what this was: a scene clumsily crafted to cover up a murder.

When that footage kept playing, all of us were looking at each other saying, OK, does this mean they premeditated this? Is this what were looking at here? says Fontenrose, who knew Khashoggi and would regularly have coffee with him every few weeks near the White House. Because this is a disaster. This is crazy. Can this really be happening?

President Donald Trump shows a chart highlighting arms sales to Saudi Arabia during a White House meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March 2018. (Evan Vucci/AP)

The story of how the Trump White House responded to Khashoggis gruesome murder and ultimately helped cover up the crime is the subject of Anatomy of a Cover-up, the eighth and final episode in the Yahoo News Conspiracyland podcast series, The Secret Lives and Brutal Death of Jamal Khashoggi.

It is a story in which American values and rhetorical support for human rights around the world collided head first with perceived U.S. strategic and economic interests in the region. And it is a tension that carried over into the Biden administration when the new president, having pledged during his campaign to turn the Saudi kingdom into a world pariah, chose not to impose any penalties on the person who the CIA had concluded was responsible for Khashoggis murder: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS.

It is also a story related in a special episode of Conspiracyland, Training the Assassins in which Trump officials maneuvered to remove American fingerprints from the crime. President Donald Trump had nominated Louis Bremer, a managing director of the New York-based investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, to be assistant secretary of defense for special operations. But Bremer whose boss, Steve Feinberg, served as chair of Trumps intelligence advisory board had potential baggage: He served on a five-person board of Tier 1 Group, an Arkansas-based company owned by Cerberus that had a State Department license to train Saudi intelligence operatives. The training took place at a compound outside Memphis, where former members of U.S. Special Forces conducted paramilitary courses in staging commando raids, evasive driving and rapid-fire shooting, according to Tier 1's website and YouTube videos it has posted.

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When Bremer appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee for his confirmation hearing on Aug. 6, 2020, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., grilled him intensely. Was he aware of reports that Tier 1 may have specifically trained members of the Saudi Tiger Team that killed Khashoggi? Had the company conducted any investigation into whether that had happened? Bremer demurred, acknowledging that I do know that we train Saudi nationals as part of our engagement with the kingdom, but saying he had no recollection of being told that some of them had participated in the Khashoggi murder. He promised, however, to check and provide written answers to the committee.

When Bremer did so, and submitted those responses for review to the White House, officials were stunned and realized they had a serious PR problem on their hands. Bremer confirmed his company had indeed conducted such training, and there were invoices for members of the Saudi hit team, said one former senior Trump official who was flabbergasted after reading the written responses.

Rather than disclose the American connection to Khashoggis murder, the White House never forwarded Bremers responses to the Senate and his nomination to the top Pentagon post was allowed to die. (Bremer and Cerberus declined to respond to repeated requests for comment from Yahoo News, but the former nominee recently confirmed his responses to the New York Times, telling the paper that Tier 1 Group conducted training of members of the Saudi Tiger Team that was protective in nature. The training provided was unrelated to their subsequent heinous acts, Bremer told the paper.)

Louis Bremer at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in August 2020 to consider his nomination as an assistant secretary of defense. (Rod Lamkey/CNP/Shutterstock)

Khashoggis murder sparked a crisis inside the Trump White House. Trump and his top aides, including son-in-law Jared Kushner, had made the Saudis the centerpiece of their Middle East strategy. The president had extolled the Saudis as a bulwark against Iranian aggression. He had taken his first foreign trip to Saudi Arabia and cultivated MBS, welcoming him to the White House and gushing in front of the TV cameras about the billions of dollars in weapons the Saudis were buying from U.S. defense contractors.

But the murder of Khashoggi, a U.S.-based journalist writing for one of this countrys leading newspapers, threatened to upend all that. And top officials scrambled to contain the fallout.

Get the full story out, whatever the full story is, former national security adviser John Bolton says he and Kushner told the crown prince in a phone call shortly after Khashoggis disappearance. But Bolton acknowledged he never asked MBS directly the most obvious and important question of all: Did he order the murder? No, I didnt, because I hadn't spoken to the president at that point, Bolton said in an interview for Conspiracyland. It was not something that I wanted to raise before I knew what direction Trump was going to go in.

Soon enough, Trump himself was on the phone to both MBS and his father, King Salman, pressing for answers as well, according to Fontenrose, who monitored the calls.

The president had multiple calls with MBS and with King Salman, specifically asking them, 'Did you know anything about this?' she says. The president would flat out ask, I mean, up to a dozen times on any individual phone call, whether it was with King Salman or with MBS or both of them, Did you have any knowledge of this operation? Did you know this was going to happen? Did you give this order?

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi enters the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018. (CCTV/Hurriyet via AP)

And every time it was, No, no, no, we didn't know anything, and we're still looking and we're still searching. Yes, Donald, we totally understand this makes things difficult for you, and we're trying to get to the bottom of it.'

One piece of intelligence in particular had gotten Trumps attention. U.S. officials had concluded that the Saudis had used a bone saw to carve up Khashoggis body.

I mean, he would go back to it and back to it and back to it, trying to press them and telling them, you know, This will change everything, you guys. Weve got to know. Were with you. We're standing behind Saudi Arabia ... but weve got to get to the bottom of this. Was there a bone saw? Was there a bone saw?

Ive been in difficult negotiations. Ive never had to take a bone saw.

At one point Trump turned to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to Fontenrose, and asked: Have you ever had to take a bone saw into negotiations? No, Mr. President, ha-ha. And pressing, pressing, pressing, and every time, No, no, no, Donald, we didn't know anything about it. Were still trying to get to the bottom of this."

While these talks were going on, the Saudis were issuing an ever-shifting series of denials. At first, three days after the murder, MBS had insisted in a Bloomberg interview that Khashoggi had left the consulate and the Saudis had no idea what happened to him. Then, as Turkish officials started to leak details of secret audiotapes they had made from inside the consulate, the Saudis declared that Khashoggi had died in a fistfight.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in December 2018, leaves a briefing on the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia in regard to Khashoggi's murder. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

Finally they settled on a different narrative: Khashoggi had been murdered by rogue killers who acted on their own. It was a formulation Trump immediately adopted and proclaimed to the world.

I just spoke with the king of Saudi Arabia, who denies any knowledge of what took place with regard to, as he said, his Saudi Arabian citizen, Trump said on Oct. 15. It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows?

The message was clear. Trump was determined to protect the Saudis even if, as Bolton suggests, he knew the Saudi leaders denials were lies.

I think this was a case where Trump very decisively and flatly decided he was going to continue to support the Saudis on a very realpolitik basis. Thats unpleasant, to be sure, but we live in an unpleasant world, Bolton said. Look, I think Trump knew and acted on the assumption that the highest levels of the royal family were involved in it, and he made his decision in any event. And at that point, the issue was closed for the rest of us, for Mike Pompeo, for myself. The president had made up his mind.

Trump also made that reasoning perfectly clear when speaking to reporters on Nov. 20.

If we abandon Saudi Arabia, it will be a terrible mistake," Trump said. "Theyre buying hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of things from this country. If I say, We dont want to take your business, if I say, Were going to cut it off, they will get the equipment, military equipment and other things from Russia and China. And Im not going to tell a country thats spending hundreds of billions of dollars and has helped me out [to] do one thing very importantly, keep oil prices down so they're not going to 100 and 150 dollars a barrel. And Im not going to destroy the economy for our country by being foolish with Saudi Arabia. Its about America first.

Trump talks to reporters about a meeting with the king of Saudi Arabia, Oct. 15, 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trumps formulation that the Saudis needed to be protected over their role in a ghastly murder so as not to disrupt lucrative arms deals was too much for Sen. Bob Corker, then the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. To equate the probable murder of a journalist who worked for a U.S. institution, to equate that with our ability to sell arms it was hard to believe that any president would stoop to that level of equivocation, he said. It was a low moment, in my opinion, as far as the moral leadership of the United States of America.

And yet as he looks back on it, Bolton who would famously break with Trump in a tell-all book continues to defend the White House response, comparing MBS to the notorious Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza, who was backed by the U.S. for decades despite a lengthy record of human rights abuses.

Franklin Roosevelt once said of Anastasio Somoza, a Central American dictator, He may be an SOB, but he's our SOB. I'm with Roosevelt on this, said Bolton in his interview for Conspiracyland. I don't know where the rest of you all are, but that's just the way it goes.

Are you saying that MBS is your SOB? he was asked during the Conspiracyland interview.

No, I'm saying he's the U.S.s SOB, he responded. If somebody's got a different idea of how to deal with Saudi Arabia, then lets hear it.

While running for president, Joe Biden suggested he did have a very different idea. We [are] going to in fact make them pay the price and make them in fact the pariah that they are, and so they have to be held accountable, he said during a 2019 debate when asked about Khashoggis murder.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

But when he had the chance to do so in February, the price was a marginal one. Bidens new director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, released a report that had been withheld by the Trump White House and that found that MBS did approve the operation that killed Khashoggi.

But the report was skimpy, containing few new details about what the U.S. intelligence community knew about the murder. And the administration declined to impose any sanctions or punishment for MBS or any other high-level Saudi figures a failure that Secretary of State Antony Blinken struggled to defend at a press conference.

I would say the relationship with Saudi Arabia is an important one, Blinken said. We have significant ongoing interests. We remain committed to the defense of the kingdom. So what weve done by the actions weve taken is not to rupture the relationship but to recalibrate it to be more in line with our interests and our values. This is bigger than any one person.

And as if to underscore the point, the Pentagon confirmed that just days before the release of the report essentially accusing MBS of murder, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called his counterpart in Riyadh, the Saudi defense minister, the very same MBS. The purpose, according to a Pentagon readout of the call, was to reaffirm the strategic defense partnership between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In case you missed it:

Episode 1: Exclusive: Saudi assassins picked up illicit drugs in Cairo to kill Khashoggi

Episode 2: Arms, harems and a Trump-owned yacht: How a Khashoggi family member helped mold the U.S.-Saudi relationship

Episode 3: I just fell apart crying heartbreak to you: A murdered journalists years-long relationship with Osama bin Laden

Episode 4: From royal insider to target: How the Arab Spring propelled Jamal Khashoggi into the Saudi leaderships crosshairs"

Episode 5: A personality type that feels absolutely no guardrails: How Saudi Arabias leader charmed Washington while cracking down on opponents

Episode 6: A direct trail of blood drops' leads from a Twitter hack to Jamal Khashoggi's murder

Episode 7: 'He gave nobody a full view of his life': In his final days, Jamal Khashoggi juggled a secret wife in the U.S. and a fiance in Turkey

Bonus Episode 1: "Training the assassins"

Cover thumbnail photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: courtesy of Hanan Al-Atr (2), Dylan Martinez/Reuters

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'Was there a bone saw?' How Trump helped the Saudis whitewash the murder of Jamal Khashoggi - Yahoo News

The continued spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 has put vaccination rates in the U.S. under the microscope.

Currently, 58.4% of those in the U.S. over the age of 18 are fully vaccinated, and 67.2% have received at least one dose of the vaccine. However, this varies significantly by state and, in many areas with low vaccination rates, more cases are emerging.

According to data from Johns Hopkins, states with lower vaccination rates are seeing an average of 6 cases per 100,000 every day, while states with higher rates are reporting an average of just 2.2 cases per 100,000.

Its why public health experts are calling on Americans both vaccinated and unvaccinated to continue wearing masks in crowded or indoor settings until things settle down.

Err on the side of caution, Dr. Anthony Santella, professor of health administration and policy at the University of New Haven, told Yahoo Finance Live on Wednesday.

Thats really my bottom line here. Weve worn masks for so long. To wear them indoors or in crowded places just for the next few months isnt a bad idea," he added.

President Biden takes off his face mask he meets with NATO Secretary General during a NATO summit at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on June 14, 2021. (Photo by STEPHANIE LECOCQ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Santella isnt the only one encouraging others to be cautious. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, revealed that despite being fully vaccinated, he is still wearing masks in areas with low vaccination rates.

Santella is taking the same approach, and stated that he carries his mask everywhere with him.

I use my best judgment now, he said. I have the luxury of being a public health scientist and I study infectious and communicable diseases, so I know a little bit more than the average person. But, I judge the situation Im in or the surrounding area I'm in.

Though cases are down in states with high vaccination rates, thats not the situation with states on the opposite end of the spectrum.

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For example, states like Missouri, Arkansas, Nevada, and Utah are seeing some of the biggest increases in the number of cases yet their full vaccination rates are all below 50%, and their economies are fully open. The blurred lines make things even more difficult in terms of public safety.

You never really know whos vaccinated just because there are these local jurisdiction and state guidelines that say if youre unvaccinated you can do this, if youre vaccinated you can do this, Santella said. You cant make assumptions about people just based on if you see them wearing a mask or not.

People wearing facemasks outdoors are seen at a Covid-19 vaccine site in Los Angeles, California on July 6, 2021. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

In the meantime, Santella and others in the public health space are urging those who are unvaccinated to reconsider opting out of getting the shot.

While were in a good place in terms of the United States pandemic response, we cant let down our guard, Santella added.

COVID-19 variants like the Delta strain and the new Lambda version are calling into question the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccines, though some studies have indicated the vaccines are mostly effective against the Delta variant.

The Delta variant is an important part of our conversation, Santella said. Its very transmissible. Its causing severe illness and hospitalizations, particularly amongst those who are unvaccinated, but this shouldnt surprise us too much because this is what viruses do they evolve. They mutate as they replicate and spread through the community.

In other words, the more time that people are unvaccinated, the more opportunities the virus gets to mutate and create another variant.

Until there is widespread vaccination on a global level, Santella advised against traveling to other countries, or even parts of the U.S. with low vaccination rates, in order to curtail community spread.

While travel is safe, you have to decide whats best for you, he added. I know everyone really is fatigued when it comes to all things COVID, but were so close to being in a place where we can resume our normal daily activities as if they were pre-pandemic. But were just not there yet.

Adriana Belmonte is a reporter and editor covering politics and health care policy for Yahoo Finance. You can follow her on Twitter @adrianambells and reach her at adriana@yahoofinance.com.

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Health expert: 'Err on the side of caution' as COVID, variants rise in key areas - Yahoo Finance

(Bloomberg) -- Jeff Bezos is leaving the rest of the world behind when it comes to wealth accumulation.

The worlds richest man reached a record $211 billion net worth Tuesday after Amazon.com Inc. shares rose 4.7% after the Pentagon announced it was canceling a cloud-computing contract with rival Microsoft Corp. The rally raised Bezoss fortune by $8.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The last time anyone in the Bloomberg ranking neared this amount was in January, when Tesla Inc.s Elon Musk briefly hit $210 billion. The two men spent the first part of the year trading the top spot as the worlds richest person, but Bezos has cemented his hold on No. 1 since mid-March as Amazon shares climbed almost 20% during that time.

Soaring stock prices in recent months have boosted the fortunes of a group of tech titans including Musk. He remains in second place behind Bezos with a $180.8 billion net worth even as Tesla shares fell Tuesday. French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault is third at $168.5 billion.

Bezoss record haul is even greater than during a 2020 Amazon stock surge, when his net worth topped out at $206.9 billion as the pandemic turbocharged the companys price. Bezos, 57, officially stepped down as Amazons chief executive officer this week after a 27-year run. He still owns about 11% of the company and serves as the firms executive chairman.

The Pentagon said Tuesday it was scrapping a $10 billion cloud-computing contract awarded in 2019 to Microsoft Corp. after several years of wrangling between the government and some of the biggest U.S. tech companies over the deal. The decision indicates it planned to split the work between Microsoft and rival Amazon.

Read more: Pentagon Moves to Split Its Cloud Deal Between Microsoft, Amazon

MacKenzie Scott, Bezoss ex-wife and the 15th-richest person in the world, saw her wealth jump $2.9 billion Tuesday, eclipsing the $2.7 billion shes given away so far this year. Its just a reminder that some billionaires cant give their money away faster than they make it.

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Jeff Bezos Hits Wealth Record of $211 Billion on Pentagon Move - Yahoo Finance

Despite their mundane product, insurance commercials have become one of the wackiest parts of almost any TV ad break. Phoenix Suns star Chris Paul turns into a basketball for State Farm, cave men hawk Geico, and Progressive's (PGR) long-running character Flo does absolutely nothing.

The sector's unlikely penchant for jokes owes in large part to the Aflac (AFL) duck, which made its debut more than 21 years ago and almost immediately transformed the fortunes of the company. But the ad campaign almost never happened.

Aflac CEO Dan Amos tells Yahoo Finance in a recent interview that he was "very reluctant" to go forward with the ad because it risked making light of the company's name. But the ad made Aflac a household name, exploded sales, and was soon released by the company's Japan operation to similar effect, he said.

"The advertising agency that we had was sitting on a park bench in New York City, and heard the ducks quacking, and one of them said, 'That is what we need to go for,'" Amos said. "I said that I would never do it at that time you didn't have the Geico ads, you didn't have all of the other ads.".

"We took a big chance making fun of our name, because you're not just doing it, you're actually making fun of your name,"he says. "And yet, it forever changed our life and doubled our business in three years in the U.S."

The duck even got the job over actor Ray Romano, then a major TV star on "Everybody Loves Raymond," who taped a test commercial with Aflac.

"It tested an 18 50% better than anything we had ever tested," Amos says. "The Aflac Duck tested a 27. Three, almost two and a half times better. So which one do you go with?"

While Geico's gecko may not have been on screens when Aflac designed its duck, the gecko was the first to be released into the wilderness. It made its television debut in 1999, and the Aflac duck followed soon after on Jan. 1, 2000.

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"It was Y2K and we thought we were gonna have all these problems," he adds. "So we had all these ads that we had booked on CNN, and other places to be ready for it."

"Well, then when there were no problems, [and] they didn't have anything to talk about with the news. So our commercials ran over and over and over again. And overnight, we realized that we had a hit. We actually had more hits on the internet the first week than we had the entire year before," he says.

Over the next 14 years, Aflac's brand recognition leapt from 11% to 94%, making it one of the most well-known companies in the world, Aflac says. From January 2001 to January 2014, Aflac's stock rose 85%, far-outpacing the S&P 500 (^GSPC), which rose 35% over that same period.

Initially, the voice behind the duck was longtime comedian Gilbert Gottfried. But the company fired Gottfried in 2011, after he tweeted a series of insensitive jokes about a tsunami that struck Japan, where Aflac operates a significant portion of its business. He was replaced with Daniel McKeague, a sales manager from Minnesota.

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 25: Aflac Duck attends 2018 Billboard Power 100 List at Nobu 57 on January 25, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/WireImage)

Amos, whose father Paul Amos co-founded Aflac, began at the company in 1973 as a regional sales director. In the ensuing years, he climbed the ranks as president and then CEO. In 2001, he was also named the company's chair.

Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Amos explained how the company adapted the duck for a Japanese audience, changing the premise of the sketch and even the volume of the quack. The company also has become well known in Japan since the duck ad launched there in 2003, Amos said.

"They used a softer duck because they don't like loud noises in Japan," he says. "So we turned around and made it the Japanese style and it took off."

"Today, our name recognition is even higher in Japan than it is in the U.S.," he adds.

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Most people in the United States believe that Biden administration officials, and not President Joe Biden, are directing the country's agenda and policy, according to a national poll.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents to a Convention of States Action and Trafalgar Group poll said the president is not fully executing the duties of his office. Thirty-six percent said they were confident that he was directing all policy and agenda matters.

There was a disparity between political ideologies, as nearly 59% of Democratic voters said they thought Biden was in charge of the administration. Thirty-two percent said he was not in charge.

TRUMP TO SUE BIG TECH CEOS MARK ZUCKERBERG AND JACK DORSEY OVER CENSORSHIP

Eighty-four percent of Republican voters said they did not believe Biden was fully executing the duties of his office. Only 11% of GOP voters believe he is directing all policy and agenda matters.

Fifty-eight percent of independent voters said they did not believe Biden was fully executing the duties of his office, while 36% disagreed.

Nearly 10% of Democrats and 5% of Republicans and independent voters answered that they were not sure if Biden was directing the administration.

The results of the poll prove that people deserve to know about Biden's physical and mental health, said Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States Action.

"President Lincoln's famous refrain that you can't fool all of the people all of the time has never been more relevant and critical to the survival of our American republic," Meckler said. "The American people deserve transparency from the Biden administration as to the true state of the presidents mental and physical health, and leaders in both parties in Congress need to follow through on this immediately."

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"The continued failure to ask hard questions and demand real answers is a disgrace to the foundation of our democracy, he added.

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The poll was conducted between June 23-25 among 1,086 respondents and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.97 percentage points.

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Majority believes Biden officials, not the president, are secretly running the country: Poll - Yahoo News

MLB teams each played their 81st game of the season in recent days, which represents the mathematical midpoint of the season. This point of the year offers fantasy managers a great opportunity to easily project their players end-of-season stats by doubling the cumulative totals they have accumulated so far. Here are some players whose progress may surprise you.

Acuna and Tatis would clearly both be top-5 picks if leagues were redrafted today. Managers should note that a trio of players are just short of a 30-30 pace, Trea Turner, Cedric Mullins and Ozzie Albies. Turner is a first-round caliber player, while Albies has likely pushed his way to Rd. 2 status and is a terrific trade target for those who seek a versatile, impact bat. Mullins is by far the most surprising name on this list. The Orioles leadoff man roared out of the gate in April before dipping in May and then posting an eye-popping 1.172 OPS in June. At this point, its easy to be a Mullins believer.

Brantley and Frazier both have fantasy value, but they may not make much of an impact to those who are no longer in tight batting average races. Brantley leads the Majors in batting average (.340) but has yet to steal a base and is on pace for roughly 10 homers and 60 RBIs. Meanwhile, Frazier sits second in the Senior Circuit in batting average (.324) but is on pace for single-digit totals in both homers and steals. Finally, David Fletcher is the epitome of an empty batting average, batting .286 with zero homers, four swipes and 26 RBIs. Those who have Fletcher rostered should consider dropping him right away.

Four players are on pace to do something that has happened just 13 times in Major League history. And of course, the knee-jerk reaction of fantasy managers is to push these high-strikeout players off their squad. But a little bit of research shows that the 13 200-strikeout seasons include four seasons of at least a .260 average, eight campaigns with more than 37 homers, and the same number with at least 90 RBIs. Chapman hasnt been too productive, but the other three can be considered for trade by those who have some wiggle room in batting average. Gallo could be especially productive, as he leads the Majors in walks and is on pace for 40 homers and a double-digit steals total.

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Just three pitchers reached the 10-win plateau by midseason, and none of these three arms has made it to 11 victories. I have a strong hunch that we wont see a 20-win season this year. Civale is injured, while both Hendricks (3.98 ERA) and Urias (3.81 ERA) have not been especially stingy. Also, Hendricks pitches for a middling team and Urias may have his innings monitored by the Dodgers. The lack of elite win totals from starters has made setup men who rack up wins even more valuable. Brent Suter, Jonathan Loaisiga, Yusmeiro Petit and John King are all on pace for 12-plus victories while working high-leverage relief innings.

Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Julio Urias is one of only three pitchers on pace to hit the 20-win mark this MLB season. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

There are plenty of relievers who are racking up whiffs, but most of them are rostered in Yahoo leagues. Still, those who need saves while also hoping to make a move in strikeouts should target one of the closers on this list. The hidden gems in this group may be Barlow and Mayers. Barlow has been the best Royals reliever and recently secured two saves, while Mayers could move into the closers role if the Angels trade Iglesias this month.

These six closers are incredibly valuable in the current fantasy landscape. When the season reached its midpoint, just 13 relievers were on pace for 30 saves and a total of 22 were on pace for 20. We are currently living in a polarized ninth-inning environment, where several teams share opportunities and others remain dedicated to a single fireman. The value of a reliever who can deliver 40 saves, 100 whiffs and low ratios has never been higher, making the names listed above coveted commodities in trade talks.

A pair of Marlins pitchers could be this years recipient of the Jacob deGrom award which goes to a starter who is credited with few wins despite pitching effectively over a large volume of innings. Alcantara (five wins, 2.96 ERA) and Lopez (four wins, 2.97 ERA) have been incredibly unlucky despite pitching very well across a large volume of innings. There could perhaps be a window to acquire one of these starters via trade, as their current manager may be frustrated with the low win totals.

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Fantasy Baseball Midseason Takeaways: Top MLB surprises and disappointments - Yahoo Sports

Bank stocks have taken a dive lately as investors assume a wait-and-see approach ahead of second quarter earnings from the space coming out soon. But the weakness may be the opportune time to strike on a select few bank names, according to Goldman Sachs.

"We continue to see further upside to the group, given: (1) the improving outlook for economic growth should result in both higher interest rate and loan growth optionality being priced into bank stocks; and (2) the June rotation out of value back into growth brought bank valuations to a more manageable level," said Goldman Sachs bank analyst Richard Ramsden in a new research note Tuesday.

Banks stocks are trading on a forward price to earnings multiple of 12.5x, per Ramsden's research, a greater relative discount to the S&P 500 than historically. Ramsden estimates that bank stocks have 34% average upside based on his bull case scenario for 2022 earnings.

However, all bank stocks are not worth investors salivating over right now, Ramsden cautions.

Ramsden is bullish on Morgan Stanley and PNC into their respective second quarter earnings reports. For Morgan Stanley, Ramsden believes the market isn't properly valuing a strong capital markets backdrop and how the white-glove investment bank is benefiting. PNC is seen prospering from its recent acquisition of BBVA USA Bancshares.

FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2019, file photo the logo for Citigroup appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. On Monday, July 15, 2019, Citigroup Inc. reports financial results. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

The analyst is most bearish on Citigroup near-term, citing the prospects from weaker than expected revenue and higher than anticipated expenses.

Goldman's call arrives as bank stocks have taken a pause in recent weeks as investors fret about the downtrending 10-year Treasury yield. Traders have also lacked a bullish catalyst in the wake of generally impressive capital return plans following the passing of the Fed stress tests.

The Invesco KBW Bank ETF has shed 6.5% over the past month, compared to a 3% gain for the S&P 500. Among the largest bulge bracket firms (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo), Citigroup shares have fared the worst in the sector's month long pullback its stock is down 11.5%.

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Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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Bank stocks have gotten slammed, but Goldman says it's a perfect time to buy - Yahoo Finance