Claycourt master Rafael Nadal started his quest for a record-extending 13th French Open title with a straightforward 6-4 6-4 6-2 first-round win against Belarusian Egor Gerasimov.
Rafa Nadal Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Spaniard, looking to equal Roger Federer's record of 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles, is used to slow starts at Roland Garros and this year's debut was no different.
On the revamped court Philippe Chatrier, whose roof stayed open throughout, Nadal converted all of his five break points to set up a meeting with American Mackenzie McDonald.
The second seed, who had complained about the new balls being too heavy, did not appear too bothered in front of some 200 fans, wrapping up the match with a service winner.
Austria's Dominic Thiem showed no sign of a hangover from his U.S. Open triumph as he began his campaign with an impressive straight sets win over Marin Cilic.
Third seed Thiem, beaten by Rafa Nadal in the last two French Open finals, was handed a tough first round against the Croatian former U.S. Open champion, but was straight into the groove under the roof on Court Phillipe Chatrier.
France won one of it's stars with eighth seed Gael Monfils beaten by Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in four sets.
In the women's draw sixth seed Serena Williams battled sluggish conditions to defeat fellow American Kristie Ahn 7-6, 6-0 to open her campaign.
Playing against an opponent she defeated at the same stage at the U.S. Open less than a month ago, Williams found herself trailing twice in the opening set at the Court Philippe Chatrier but rallied each time to force a tiebreaker.
Williams, who has won three of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles at Roland Garros, raised her level in the tiebreaker and did not look back from there, handing the 102nd-ranked Ahn a bagel in the second set.
The 39-year-old had to dig deep to find a way to win points in the cold and heavy conditions and needed five match points to seal the victory and set up a second round meeting against Tsvetana Pironkova, who earlier beat Andrea Petkovic 6-3 6-3.
2016 champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain narrowly avoided a first-round exit when she battled for three hours to beat Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek 7-5 4-6 8-6.
Other first round winners in the women's draw included Elina Svitolina, Kiki Bertens and Petra Kvitova.
-Reuters
Members of the East Grinstead Rugby Football Club have paid tribute to London Met Police officer, Matiu Ratana - known as Matt to his friends, who was a role model to many as their coach.
On Friday, Sergeant Ratana was shot dead by a handcuffed suspect who was in custody.
The club held two periods of silence on Sunday - at 9.30am and 11am - to remember Sergeant Ratana and flew the club's flag at half-mast alongside the New Zealand flag and the All Blacks flag to honour his roots.
At the 11am minute, there were about 500 to 700 people and when the minute's silence was up, Sussex's East Grinstead Rugby Football Club assistant coach Ryan Morlen said no one wanted to move.
East Grinstead Rugby Football Club's tribute to Matt Ratana. Photo: East Grinstead RFC / Facebook
"It was just in that moment then it felt a little more real. It felt as everyone had really lost a true friend, a true role model ... and then as they do how Matt would have liked it, they picked up a rugby ball and played again."
Morlen told Morning Report he knew Ratana for about five to six years through the gym and then rugby.
"[He was] really really passionate about rugby ... just a really kind bloke who could speak to absolutely anyone.
"That was just Matt, he was just the loveliest of blokes."
Morlen said he found out about Ratana's death when he saw the news that a sergeant had been shot at in Croydon.
"At that moment it was unofficial but kind of tying things together it was highly likely it was going to be Matt. I knew he was on that shift there."
He said Ratana as head coach had built a strong foundation for the rugby club.
"Everyone's devastated.
"He really has left a mark on so many people from senior men's rugby to women's rugby, to juniors. At that rugby club he's had the chance to coach everyone. He's just a real club man, he's really bought in ... he's laid the foundation.
"His passing is terribly difficult for a lot of people at that rugby club."
Clubs around the country have been holding a minute's applause in memory of Police Sergeant Matiu Ratana.Matt was Director of Rugby @RugbyEGRFC and a huge part of our rugby family. https://t.co/cW0Li2MvKI
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) September 27, 2020
Morlen said although Ratana was involved in the coaching and training, he also sunk his teeth into various aspects like getting sponsors and deciding the type of kits.
"He just wanted what was best for others. he was not a selfish person at all ... just a superb bloke."
Morlen, who has been at the club only six months, hopes to carry on Ratana's legacy.
"We need to continue building the rugby club as a community. Stopping now is not what he would have wanted."
Ratana's cousin, Adrian Rurahwe, said friends and family are devastated by the news.
"Not only to lose a close relative but the nature in which he was taken," Rurahwe said.
The family was looking to hold a commemoration, but needed to take into consideration travel and health restrictions in light of Covid-19.
He said the distance between New Zealand and the UK had also made things more difficult.
"We're half a world away, so that's impacted on our ability to carry out all of the cultural aspects of losing someone close to you."
He said family members were looking to go over to the UK and were in contact with friends of Ratana there.
@WorcsRugbyClub girls junior section paying respects to #SgtMattRatana and all others in the #ThinBlueLine @metpoliceuk @RugbyEGRFC #NationalPoliceMemorialDay pic.twitter.com/ucGhgRQFNs
— Butters Ant (@rugby_dad_146) September 27, 2020
Thank you to all the wonderful residents who have attended the police station with flowers, cards and pure love for #SgtMattRatanaWe are very taken aback and really appreciate your gestures. pic.twitter.com/ZkBhediB5Z
— Hackney Police (gov.uk/coronavirus) (@MPSHackney) September 27, 2020
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A man has been arrested on suspicion of supplying a firearm as part of the investigation into the fatal shooting of New Zealand-born police officer Matiu Ratana in London.
Matiu Ratana was fatally shot as a handcuffed suspect was being taken into custody in Croyden, London, on Friday. Photo: Hackney Police
The 54-year-old custody sergeant died in hospital after being shot at the Croydon custody centre as a handcuffed suspect was taken into custody on Friday morning. The man is then believed to have turned the gun on himself, and remains in hospital.
"He is in a critical condition and consequently we are not able to speak to him," the police said.
Police said another man was arrested in the early hours of Sunday in Norwich, Norfolk, on suspicion of supplying a firearm.
The second arrest came as Sgt Ratana was remembered by friends and teammates at East Grinstead Rugby Club, where he was head coach.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Morning Report Police Commissioner Andrew Coster was in contact with his counterpart in the UK over the "tragic loss" of Ratana, who had family here and other ties to New Zealand.
If his family were to travel there for the funeral and return, the cost of their managed isolation would be covered by the 'humanitarian reasons' exemption, Ardern said.
The West Sussex club's vice chairman Matt Marriot said they had to arrange two separate minute's silences because the "interest has been pretty enormous", with "people coming from all over the country".
He said Sgt Ratana, who was known as Matt, had been "a role model, a mentor and often a father figure", and the club mourned him "as a family member".
PC Sarah D'Silva, who plays for the club's women's team as well as working at Croydon Police Station, said it felt "extremely poignant" joining the minute's silence.
She wore her police uniform to pay her respects to Sgt Ratana, who she described as "an absolutely fantastic character, full of life, with the biggest smile you've ever seen".
Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, speaking at the National Police Memorial in central London earlier, said she "hadn't been surprised at all" by the number of tributes paid to him.
"Matt was an extraordinary person... he had a wonderful personality and he was very good at his job," she said, adding that he was a "proud Kiwi".
Prince Charles also paid tribute to Sgt Ratana during a National Police Memorial Day service, saying his death was the "latest heartbreaking evidence of the risks".
Searches continue at Croydon Custody Centre, where the shooting happened, an address in Park Road, Banstead, Surrey, and an address in Southbrook Road, Norbury.
Residents near one of the search areas, in Banstead, Surrey, reported hearing a loud noise on Saturday morning. and were later told that a controlled explosion had taken place.
The Banstead address is down a long driveway and its land contains a series of concrete bunkers. A marked police car has been guarding the entrance to the property.
- Reuters / BBC / RNZ
Residents of Lake Jackson, Texas, have been urged not to use tap water because it might be contaminated with a deadly brain-eating microbe.
File photo. Photo: 123RF
The local water authority warned of the potential contamination of its supply to the town - home to about 27,000 people - by Naegleria fowleri.
The amoeba typically infects people when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. It is usually fatal.
Infections are rare in the US, with 34 reported between 2009 and 2018.
Eight Texas communities were told on Friday night not to use their water supply for any reason except to flush toilets. But the warning was lifted on Saturday for everywhere but Lake Jackson.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said residents of Lake Jackson should continue to avoid using tap water "until the water system has been adequately flushed and samples indicate that the water is safe to use".
It said it is not yet known how long this will take.
Naegleria fowleri is found around the world. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the majority of infections in the US have been caused by contaminated freshwater in southern states.
The CDC says people cannot get infected by swallowing contaminated water, and it cannot be passed from person to person.
Those infected with Naegleria fowleri have symptoms including fever, nausea and vomiting, as well as a stiff neck and headaches. Most die within a week.
An infection was previously confirmed in the US state of Florida earlier this year. At the time, health officials there urged locals to avoid nasal contact with water from taps and other sources.
- BBC
Susan Ryan, a trailblazing figure for women in politics who later served as Australia's first age discrimination commissioner, has died aged 77.
Susan Ryan, former Australian minister. Photo: Supplied / Twitter
Ryan served as a minister in Bob Hawke's Labor government, holding titles including special minister of state, minister for education and minister assisting the prime minister for the status women.
She was the first woman to hold the portfolio relating to women's affairs, and the first female minister from the Labor Party.
Key laws enshrining opportunity and rights for women were legislated on her watch, including the Sex Discrimination Act.
She would later be quoted as calling the Sex Discrimination Act "probably the most useful thing I've done in my life".
Ryan was elected to the Senate in 1975 as one of the first representatives for the ACT after it was granted two seats in the Senate.
She remained in Parliament for 12 years before retiring in 1987.
In 2011 she was appointed Australia's first age discrimination commissioner, later also serving as disability discrimination commissioner.
- ABC
US President Donald Trump announces Amy Coney Barrett as his nomination for the Supreme Court. Photo: Getty Images
US President Donald Trump has announced conservative appellate judge Amy Coney Barrett as his third US Supreme Court appointment, setting off a scramble in the Republican-led Senate to confirm her before Election Day in five-and-a-half weeks.
Barrett appeared at the White House with Trump as he made the announcement. Trump called her "one of our nation's most brilliant and gifted legal minds."
If confirmed to replace liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died at age 87 on 18 September, Barrett would become the fifth woman ever to serve on the top US judicial body and push its conservative majority to a commanding 6-3. With Trump's fellow Republicans controlling the Senate, confirmation appears certain, though Democrats may try to make the process as difficult as possible.
Barrett, 48, was appointed by Trump to the Chicago-based 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017 and is a favourite of religious conservatives, a key Trump voter bloc. Conservative activists have hailed Trump's selection, which surfaced on Friday night, while liberals have voiced dismay.
Like Trump's two other appointees, Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, Barrett is young enough that she could serve for decades. Barrett is the youngest Supreme Court nominee since conservative Clarence Thomas was 43 in 1991.
The White House ceremony was decorated with American flags arranged in a way similar to the day when President Bill Clinton nominated Ginsburg in 1993.
A makeshift memorial in honour of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in front of the US Supreme Court Photo: AFP
The selection kicks off a flurry of activity that must take place before the final confirmation vote, including public hearings in the coming weeks before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A White House source said the nominee on Tuesday will begin the traditional courtesy calls on individual senators in their offices, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell up first. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone is expected to shepherd the nomination.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, who mounted an angry defense of Kavanaugh during tense confirmation hearings in 2018, has signalled he expects to have Barrett confirmed as a justice by the 3 November election in which Trump is seeking a second term.
Democrats are still furious over McConnell's 2016 refusal to consider President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland because it came during an election year. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said the winner of the election should get to replace Ginsburg.
Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority. Only two Republican senators have opposed proceeding with the confirmation process.
Abortion rights advocates have voiced concern that Barrett, a devout Roman Catholic, could cast a vote for overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalising abortion nationwide.
Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, an anti-abortion group, in a statement on Saturday expressed confidence that Barrett "will fairly apply the law and Constitution as written, which includes protecting the most vulnerable in our nation: our unborn children."
Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, a faith-based advocacy group, added, "Catholics are thrilled with the expected nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett and believe she represents the best choice to protect the rule of law and our constitutional rights."
Abortion rights groups and other liberal-leaning organisations announced plans for a protest against her nomination on Sunday in front of the Supreme Court.
Barrett has staked out conservative legal positions in three years on the bench, voting in favor of one of Trump's hardline immigration policies and showing support for expansive gun rights. She also authored a ruling making it easier for college students accused of campus sexual assaults to sue their institutions.
Amy Coney Barrett. Photo: AFP / University of Notre Dame / Julian Velasco
She and her lawyer husband have seven children, two of whom were adopted from Haiti. Born in New Orleans, Barrett received her law degree from Notre Dame Law School, a Catholic institution in Indiana.
The other finalist mentioned by Trump to fill the vacancy was Barbara Lagoa, a Cuban-American federal appeals court judge from Florida who he appointed last year.
Trump has said he wants his nominee confirmed before the election so she would be able participate in any election-related cases that reach the justices, potentially casting a key vote in his favor. A US presidential election's outcome only once has been determined by the Supreme Court, in 2000 when it clinched Republican George W. Bush's victory over Democrat Al Gore.
Trump has repeatedly without evidence said voting by mail, a regular feature of American elections, will lead to voter fraud. He also has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election.
This marks the first time since 1956 that a US president has moved to fill a Supreme Court vacancy so close to an election. In that year, President Dwight Eisenhower three weeks before winning re-election placed William Brennan on the court using a procedure called a "recess appointment" that bypassed the Senate, a tactic no longer available for installing justices.
An emboldened Supreme Court conservative majority could shift the United States to the right on hot-button issues by, among other things, curbing abortion rights, expanding religious rights, striking down gun control laws, and endorsing new restrictions on voting rights.
It can be tempting to think of Covid-19 patients as falling into one of two categories.
Covid-19 patients have reported 'brain fog' months after being infected Photo: 123RF / Olga Yastremska and Leonid Yastremskiy
Category 1: young, otherwise healthy individuals who experience mild symptoms and recover at home.
Category 2: older people and people with pre-existing health conditions who become seriously ill and go to hospital.
While it's true that there is a spectrum of risk when it comes to severity of disease, it's become increasingly clear that not everyone fits neatly into one of these categories.
For many people, the labels of "mild" or "severe", "sick" or "recovered" are blurred by their experience of ongoing, sometimes debilitating symptoms weeks or months after they first were infected.
Both anecdotal reports and a growing body of research suggest persistent fatigue, breathlessness, "brain fog" and muscle aches, among other symptoms, are plaguing people some time after their infection has cleared.
So what do we know about the lingering health effects of coronavirus, and how concerned should we be?
Health effects can linger for months
It's difficult to say what proportion of people with Covid-19 face medium- to long-term health impacts given how new the virus still is, said Dr Kirsty Short, a virologist at the University of Queensland.
"It's definitely happening, I just don't think we have a grip on how common it is," Short said.
In July, researchers in Italy found almost 90 per cent of patients with acute infections were still experiencing symptoms two months later.
Research from the US and UK, following a much broader group of people affected by Covid-19, suggests symptoms persist in about 10 to 15 per cent of cases.
In the same way the virus can sometimes cause serious illness in young, otherwise healthy individuals, lingering symptoms appear to affect people of all ages, including those with no underlying health conditions.
Lasting effects are also not restricted to those who experience severe illness when they're first infected.
People who are asymptomatic or have a mild case of Covid-19 can also face prolonged illness. Sometimes, these symptoms take weeks or months to appear.
The virus affects multiple organs
SARS-CoV-2 is primarily thought of as a respiratory virus, but the damage caused by Covid-19 is not always restricted to the lungs.
The virus binds to the body's ACE2 receptors, which are found in large numbers in the respiratory tract, but also in the heart, blood vessels, kidneys, liver and gastrointestinal tract.
In some cases, it may be that the virus itself is causing damage to the body's organs.
But researchers suspect it's high levels of inflammation in the body - triggered by the immune system trying to get rid of the virus - that's wreaking havoc, even after the infection has cleared.
"Most likely, they've had this overwhelming inflammatory response - which we know happens in COVID-19 patients - and then that's had knock-on effects."
Covid-19 can damage multiple organ systems, including:
Lungs: Lungs can be damaged when the virus enters the cells of the airways. It can cause scarred, stiff tissue that makes it difficult for the lungs to do their job of oxygenating the blood - leaving people breathless.
Heart: The virus can cause inflammation of the heart muscle or heart failure when the organ doesn't pump blood as well as it should. The heart can also fail from lack of oxygen.
Brain: If the virus enters the brain, it can cause a sudden and severe infection. Neurological symptoms may also be a result of inflammation in the brain or strokes caused by blood clots.
Covid-19 coronavirus particles. Photo: AFP
Symptoms seen in other infections
Self-described as Covid-19 "long haulers", some patients describe debilitating fatigue, difficulty exercising, and general "brain fog" months after their infection has cleared.
Short said post-viral fatigue is seen in other viral infections too.
"We know that Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever, has also been linked to chronic fatigue syndrome," she said.
Similarly, there is evidence to suggest Covid-19 can cause heart damage, which is not unusual for a virus, said Dr Linda Gallo of the University of Queensland.
"We know from SARS that there was evidence of cardiovascular involvement," said Gallo, who is researching how coronavirus affects the heart.
"However it was generally considered to be pretty self-limiting, and not persisting beyond the period of recovery.
While research on long-term cardiovascular effects is limited, Gallo said some of the preliminary evidence is concerning.
"The fact there are people who [have] recovered at home and had fairly mild symptoms are now showing evidence of heart damage is problematic, and surprising."
Gallo is part of a study investigating the longer-term effects of Covid-19, especially on people with diabetes, and is currently looking for people who have had coronavirus to participate in a study.
Although it's too early to say what the impact is on people with existing diabetes, she said there is a possibility Covid-19 might be linked to the onset of diabetes.
"The thought is that the virus directly attacks the pancreas. That's just a hypothesis - there's not direct evidence of that at this point," she said.
"It could be multifactorial, so a combination of direct virus effects as well as an overall hyperinflammatory response."
A timely reminder
There are multiple studies now underway to investigate whether Covid-19 leaves a lasting health impact, and if so, to what extent.
Short said without long-term studies, it's difficult to know how concerned we should be about Covid-19 in contrast to other existing viral infections.
"The question is: If you took a virus of similar severity and similar duration, would you also see long-term complications?" she said.
"It's very possible that we're just seeing this with SARS-COV-2 because of the sheer numbers of people being infected."
Even still, the emergence of symptoms down the track is a reminder of why it's important to take precautions.
"I think it's just another reason as to why we're taking all these measures ... because you just don't want to get this virus if you don't have to."
- ABC
